The Minnesota Vikings have two of the most underrated stars in the NFL 

Both Danielle Hunter and Eric Kendricks have been absolute studs for the Vikings in 2019.

The Minnesota Vikings are sitting at 10-4 with two more divisional games left in the regular season. The defense has been a talking point with a struggling secondary, but that shouldn’t negate the fact that the Vikings have two of the league’s best front seven players. 

Mike Zimmer, Rick Spielman and the rest of the Vikings’ scouting department has done a fantastic job at not only drafting great talent, but keeping that talent in Minnesota. The 2015 draft is one that comes to mind, with four of the Vikings starters coming out of the draft. 

The four players that were taken in the 2015 draft consists of Trae Waynes (1st), Eric Kendricks (2nd), Danielle Hunter (3rd) and Stefon Diggs (5th). These four have been a huge reason for the Vikings success in recent years, and the biggest play that comes to mind is Diggs’ Minneapolis Miracle play. 

As great as the miracle was, it has gotten a ton of attention by the national media. What two of these four players have done thus far in their careers tends to go unnoticed, but that shouldn’t stop them from getting the exposure they deserve. 

Both Kendricks and Hunter have been two bright spots for the Vikings defense, and for some reason it tends to stay under the radar. 

Hunter is coming off of the most dominant two-game stretch of his career, where he has 13 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He is also tied for third in the NFL with 13.5 total sacks on the season. Not only has he had a dominant 2019 season, but he also became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 sacks in his career, helping him reach his second Pro Bowl. 

Coming out of LSU in 2015, Hunter was looked at as a pass rusher with not many different tactics to get to the quarterback. Vikings defensive line coach Andre Patterson worked his magic with Hunter, and turned him into one of the league’s best pass rushers. If Hunter can keep up at his current pace, his jersey isn’t going to be the only thing on its way to Canton, Ohio. 

The NFL Defensive Player of the Year award should be wide open with some of the big names having down seasons, and another Vikings player should be on that list with Hunter. Kendricks, who should have his name in the running for DPOY,  got snubbed for yet another year not making it to the Pro Bowl. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Kendricks has been the highest rated linebacker throughout the 2019 season. 

 

This is proving the fact that Kendricks is so under the radar, that he doesn’t even make it to the Pro Bowl while having the best season of any linebacker in the NFL. He has two forced fumbles on the season, leads the Vikings in total tackles and broke the PFF record for the most ever passes defended by a linebacker. 

Not having Kendricks get to the Pro Bowl should be considered a crime, but for some reason his play goes unnoticed nationally. He has proven time and time again that he has one of the better noses for the football in both the run and pass game. 

Both Kendricks and Hunter deserve to get more credit than they do, and that should have started with Kendricks making the Pro Bowl. Both of these stars should not only have been shoe ins for the trip down to Orlando, but they should be towards the top of the list for All Pro honors at the end of the season and in the running for DPOY.