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October was a pretty good month for the Vikings’ front office. Twenty-five years after the failed Herschel Walker trade, the Vikings have seen first-round picks Anthony Barr and Teddy Bridgewater begin to blossom. Likewise, Seattle’s decision to give receiver Percy Harvin to the Jets for a bowl of room-temperature gazpacho validates Minnesota’s no-intent deal that brought in a first-round pick, a third-round pick, and a seventh-round pick for a guy who no longer wanted to be there and they no longer wanted.

Now, the player on whom they took the biggest gamble in 2014 free agency has been named the NFC defensive player of the month.

Defensive end Everson Griffen, whose $42.5 million contract was based largely on potential and not production, racked up six sacks in four October games. He has 8.0 sacks in eight games, putting him third in the league and first among all defensive ends.

He’s the first Viking to win the award since the guy he replaced, Jared Allen, did it in 2011.