Who are the absolute best players to come out of each of the seven rounds in the NFL Draft during existence of the Minnesota Vikings franchise?
Throughout their 58-years of being an NFL franchise, the Minnesota Vikings have been able to draft some of the best players to ever play in the league. Among every selection the Vikings have ever made in the NFL draft, their choices include eight inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 25 All-Pro First-Team selections, and 62 Pro Bowlers.
A number of the players to be named an All-Pro were picked by Minnesota in the first round of the draft. But the Vikings have also had a number of impressive selections from each of the first seven rounds since the franchise’s very first season.
When looking at the first seven rounds of every draft Minnesota has ever participated in, who were the absolute best players to come out of each round since the team began picking players in 1961?
Carl Lee, CB
Drafted: 7th round (1983)
It took a little while for Lee to find his role with the Vikings after the team selected him in the seventh round of the 1983 NFL Draft. But once Minnesota made him their full-time starting right cornerback in 1986, he never looked back.
Lee spent four seasons from 1986 to 1989 as the Vikings’ starting right corner. During these four years, he was voted to two Pro Bowls and was selected as a member of the All-Pro First-Team in 1988.
In 1990, Minnesota moved Lee to the left side of the defense and he still managed to earn his third straight invitation to the Pro Bowl that year. He spent his final four seasons with the Vikings as the team’s starting left corner.
In 11 years with Minnesota, Lee racked up a total of 771 tackles and 29 interceptions in 169 appearances. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Vikings in 2010.
Matt Birk, C
Drafted: 6th round (1998)
The Vikings 1998 draft is pretty well-known for another player (who may or may not be also included in this list), but it was also the year the team selected Birk in the sixth round.
A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, the offensive lineman spent his first two seasons with the Vikings as a reserve before becoming the team’s starting center in 2000. From that year until 2008, Birk started in every game for Minnesota except for five.
As the Vikings’ starting center for eight seasons, Birk earned a total of six invites to the Pro Bowl. Minnesota definitely got great value from this sixth-round selection.
After the 2008 season, Birk went on to play four more years with the Baltimore Ravens. A place where he was a part of a Super Bowl-winning roster in 2012.
Like Lee, Birk was named one of the 50 Greatest Vikings back in 2010.
Ed McDaniel, LB
Drafted: 5th round (1992)
As was the case with Carl Lee and Matt Birk, McDaniel had to spend some time as a reserve with the Vikings first before he was able to crack the starting lineup. Minnesota’s fifth-round selection in 1992 became a full-time starter in 1994 and continued to keep that role until his final NFL season in 2001.
During his 10 years with the Vikings, McDaniel led the team in tackles four times. His best season came in 1998 when he was voted to the Pro Bowl for the first and only time in his career after finishing with 128 total tackles, seven sacks, and three forced fumbles.
McDaniel is actually the only player drafted in the fifth-round by Minnesota to ever make the Pro Bowl. Unfortunately for the linebacker, a knee injury prevented him from actually playing in the 1998 Pro Bowl.
In 10 seasons with the Vikings from 1992 to 2001, McDaniel finished with 794 total tackles, 19.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, and four interceptions.
Everson Griffen, DE
Drafted: 4th round (2010)
The only current player to appear on this list, it’s not hard to figure out why once one looks at the numbers Griffen has put up during his career with the Vikings.
Drafted out of USC in the fourth round back in 2010, the defensive end didn’t get a shot to be a starter until his fifth season with Minnesota. But since then, he has developed into one of the best pass-rushers the franchise has ever seen.
Since becoming a member of the Vikings’ starting defense in 2014, Griffen has been voted to three Pro Bowls and sacked opposing quarterbacks 43.5 times. His sack total during this time span is not only the most by any current Minnesota defender, but the second-most among every defensive end in the NFL.
Griffen’s three Pro Bowl invitations are the most among any current or former Vikings player drafted by the team in the fourth round.
Fran Tarkenton, QB
Drafted: 3rd round (1961)
Based on his career accomplishments, it’s pretty hard to believe that Tarkenton was not drafted until the third round of the 1961 NFL Draft. Of course, the third round in 1961 was basically the equivalent of the late-first or early-second today, but the quarterback still should have probably been selected much earlier.
Tarkenton was actually drafted by the AFL’s Boston Patriots in 1961 as well, but he opted to play for the Vikings instead. After his first game in which he threw for 250 yards and four touchdowns (and ran for another score) en route to a Minnesota win over the Chicago Bears, the Vikings knew they had drafted someone special.
The quarterback spent his first six years in the NFL with Minnesota before he was traded to the New York Giants in 1967. After five seasons with the Giants, the quarterback was traded back to the Vikings in 1972.
From 1972 to 1978, Tarkenton helped lead Minnesota to six division titles and three appearances in the Super Bowl. During that time period, the quarterback earned three trips to the Pro Bowl and was an All-Pro First-Team selection in 1975.
During his 18-year NFL career, Tarkenton was voted to the Pro Bowl nine times, he was the league MVP in 1975, and he lead the NFL in passing in 1978. His 3,674 career-rushing yards are also the sixth-most by a quarterback in league history.
Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, the Vikings certainly got the most out of the franchise’s first ever third-round draft pick.
Jim Kleinsasser, FB/TE
Drafted: 2nd round (1999)
Really? Kleinsasser is the Vikings absolute best second-round draft pick of all time?
Well actually, yes. While Minnesota has experienced some recent success with their players selected in the second round (Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks, Kyle Rudolph), none have really turned out to be an all-time NFL great.
With that being said though, Kleinsasser was an outstanding contributor for the Vikings during his time with the team. Drafted by Minnesota in 1999, he found plenty of ways to be an important part of the team despite never being selected to a Pro Bowl during his career.
Statistically, his best season came in 2003 when he caught 46 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns.
Kleinsasser definitely didn’t have the monster numbers that some of the others around the NFL in his position group put up during his time in the league. However, he still found a way to stay on the Vikings’ roster for 13 years.
Randy Moss, WR
Drafted: 1st round (1998)
Selecting who the greatest first-round pick in Vikings history was certainly a tough decision. Especially considering that six of them turned out to be Hall of Famers, 17 were All-Pro First-Team selections, and 31 were voted to at least one Pro Bowl.
But looking at everything, it really came down who stood out the most amongst their peers. Moss is really the only Minnesota first-round selection that is considered to be the best to ever play at his position in the entire NFL.
Of course, the opposition is going to always argue about Moss not being at the top of every statistical receiving category in league history. But his impact on the NFL and on the Vikings was about more than just numbers.
Perhaps this was the case for Jerry Rice, but Moss was really one of the first receivers opposing NFL defenses had to have a specific game-plan for. Normally, defenses just prepared for an entire opposing offense, but Moss was too good to be considered just a normal member of an offense.
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The receiver was also recently selected as an inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year on the ballot. Something no former Vikings first-round draft pick has ever accomplished before.