MINNEAPOLIS -- The video arrived on Andre Patterson's phone -- of the lithe boxer popping his sparring partner with thundering hands -- and the Minnesota Vikings' defensive-line coach tried to contain his excitement by concealing it in a joke.

"I told him, 'Don't show that to anybody else, and be careful who you talk to about it,'" Patterson said Wednesday. "'Someone's going to try to talk you into becoming a real boxer.'"

The sparring session -- from one of the workouts Danielle Hunter and Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson did this offseason at Adrian Peterson's gym in Houston -- was but one element in the ongoing effort to bring Hunter's considerable talents to bear as the NFL's next pass-rushing terror. The Vikings took the 21-year-old in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft, believing they could boost his low sack numbers once they cleaned out the byproducts of an elementary rush approach. The operation yielded more in 2015 than even Patterson could have expected, resulting in six sacks during Hunter's rookie season. And as Hunter prepares for Year 2 looking more chiseled and more fierce than he did a year ago, there's no telling what he'll be able to accomplish.

Danielle Hunter takes down Cardinals QB Carson Palmer for one of the six sacks he compiled as a rookie in 2015. Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

"I wish somebody would give me $5 every time I’ve been asked that question," Patterson said with a laugh Wednesday. "I think he can be as good as he allows himself to be. I do not want to put a barrier on him. I don’t want to say he can be as good as this guy or that guy. Who knows? He might be better than all of them."

The Jamaican-born Hunter lured the Vikings with his tantalizing frame -- 6-foot-5 and 252 pounds, with 34¼-inch arms and 10½-inch hands -- and his riveting speed (he ran a 4.57-second 40-yard dash at the 2015 combine). But when Patterson turned on the tape of Hunter at LSU, he saw the same thing over and over: All that speed was going to waste in Hunter's long, loping routes to the quarterback.

"If the tackle sat back and waited for him to come to him, by the time he made contact with the quarterback, the ball was out," Patterson said. "He never would stress the tackle at his speed."

After the Vikings took Hunter with the 88th pick last year, Patterson sat him down to watch a clip of every rush he'd attempted at LSU. Without being prompted, Hunter brought a notepad to the meeting and jotted down everything Patterson said.

"That wasn’t me telling him to do that -- he did it on his own. He said, 'Coach, nobody’s ever told me that before,'" Patterson said. "He didn’t change immediately when he hit the field -- he took the wider, arcing rushing lanes. I had to stay on him and put him in drills so he could feel that."

Patterson set up barriers on either side of Hunter, confining him to one rush lane as he challenged an offensive tackle. As the Vikings noticed Hunter's tendency to pop up when he rushed, they gave him the freedom to attack the quarterback from a two-point stance. But coach Mike Zimmer and Patterson stayed on Hunter to stay low and use his leverage, and the defensive end eventually started to internalize what he needed to change.

"One of the big things that I’ve been talking to him all the time is being low and coming off the ball," Zimmer said. "His first step, he’s got a great first step and he’s got to make sure he threatens the offensive line with that and being an athlete, really."

It's hard not to look at Hunter and see Everson Griffen, the electric pass-rusher who realized only a fraction of his potential when the Vikings kept him on a five-year, $42.5 million deal in 2014. Griffen posted 12 sacks in his first year with Zimmer and Patterson, returning with 10.5 sacks and a Pro Bowl appearance in 2015. Clips of the 28-year-old showed up in Patterson's first tutorial with Hunter, and one element of Griffen's game continues to be a benchmark for Hunter.

"The one thing that Everson Griffen does, to me, better than most of the DEs in this league is, got a bunch of guys that are fast and have a good get-off, but Griff is so explosive with his hands," Patterson said. "That’s why he can punch a 6-7, 350-pound dude and lift him off his feet, because that punch is so explosive. If Danielle can develop that, he's going to be tough to stop."

It's what prompted the weightlifting sessions this spring, and the sparring sessions at Peterson's gym. The Vikings believe their directions, in the hands of an eager 21-year-old, could help Hunter combine with Griffen, Johnson and Brian Robison to create one of the NFL's most menacing pass rushes. The one thing no one is willing to do with Hunter is limit their expectations of him.

"I wished I was that coachable when I was that young," Griffen said. "He's only 21; he's probably still the youngest player in the NFL right now. The big thing for him is to use what God gave him -- his speed, his length, his bend -- and he'll be unstoppable."