Since the year 2001, the Minnesota Vikings have seen several talented running backs on their roster. Here are the five best to suit up in the 21st century!
The Minnesota Vikings have seen numerous talented players on their rosters over the course of franchise history. While those brilliant players spanned multiple positions for the franchise, one place that never lacked was the running backs.
Consistently looking for players to lead the charge on the ground, Minnesota was never afraid to spend a top draft pick on a ball carrier or spend money in free agency to the guys they really wanted.
Their persistence continued in the 21st century when some of the most skilled running backs to ever play for the franchise showed off their skills and helped to add a big threat to the Vikings offense.
Let’s take a look at the five best running backs to play for the Minnesota Vikings since the 2001 season starting with a player who is often overlooked for how much he contributed to his team!
5. Moe Williams (1996 – 2000, 2002 – 2005)
When talking about some of the greatest players ever to play running back for the Minnesota Vikings, Moe Williams sometimes slips through the cracks because of his blue-collar play and the fact he never broke 1,000 yards rushing during a season.
However, there is still plenty to love about Moe. It’s hard to forget his 2002 season where he scored 11 of his 21 career touchdowns as a complimentary player to starter Michael Bennett during all 16 regular season games.
Williams played 9 of his 10 NFL seasons with the Vikings, spending only one season with the Baltimore Ravens. He finished his career with a healthy 4.2 yards per carry average and totaled 1826 yards on the ground, only fumbling six total times.
Perhaps more impressive is what he added to the passing game, where he added 1,511 receiving yards and 4 more touchdowns to his career stat sheet. In fact, Williams had 644 receiving yards during his 2003 season.
4. Jerick McKinnon (2014 – 2017)
Drafted as a change-of-pace running back for Adrian Peterson, McKinnon saw himself thrust into the role of a starter when injuries and suspensions hit their star running back. Yet, the shifty young player did everything that was asked of him.
Only spending four years with the Vikings, McKinnon has moved on to the San Francisco 49ers, but not before leaving his mark on Minnesota. As part of a duo with Matt Asiata, Jerick proved he could be relied on for a solid rushing attack to keep the team in games.
Starting 14 games for Minnesota and playing in a total of 58, McKinnon ran for 1,918 yards and 7 touchdowns while adding 142 catches for 984 yards and 5 touchdowns, only fumbling three times during his time with the Vikings.
The drafting of dynamic running back Dalvin Cook and re-signing of Latavius Murray made McKinnon able to pursue a team where he could find a bigger role with, and the sky will be the limit for him in San Francisco.
3. Chester Taylor (2006 – 2009)
Like McKinnon, Taylor only got to spend four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, but he made a definite impact when he was there. While with the Ravens at the beginning of his career, he flashed the potential to be a featured running back in the NFL.
He delivered on that potential in his first year with Minnesota in 2006, gaining 1,216 yards on the ground and 6 touchdowns to go with 42 catches for 288 yards. However, that would be the only year he would crack 1,000 yards rushing.
Had he remained the team’s starter, he may have been able to continue to be a featured player for Minnesota. However, the drafting of Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson after he fell to the Vikings in the 2007 NFL Draft ensured that wouldn’t happen again.
Taylor ended up playing for 4 teams during his 10 season NFL career, gaining a total of 4,740 yards and scoring 26 touchdowns while adding 2,324 yards and 6 touchdowns in the passing game.
2. Michael Bennett (2001 – 2005)
A first-round draft selection of the Vikings in the 2001 NFL Draft out of the University of Wisconsin, Michael Bennett established what it meant to be a running back in Minnesota during the 21st century.
His rookie year, he rushed for 682 yards in 13 games, and found a lot of success during his second year on the ground for Minnesota, gaining nearly 1,300 yards during his 2002 campaign where he started all 16 contests.
After that, Bennett missed several games due to injury and never broke 500 yards in a season again, but stuck with Minnesota through the 2005 NFL season before moving on to Kansas City, Tampa Bay, San Diego, and Oakland before retiring after the 2010 season.
Bennett made the Pro Bowl in 2002, but was never the same after his injury and the question of just how great he could have been is something Vikings fans have to continue wondering. Still, he ranks ninth on the list of Minnesota’s all-time leading rushers.
1. Adrian Peterson (2007 – 2016)
As controversial as he may be off the football field, there is absolutely no denying what running back Adrian Peterson was able to do on the football field as a member of the Minnesota Vikings during his 10 seasons with the team.
He set the NFL record for rushing yards in a single game (296), came within a handful of yards of besting the league’s record for rushing yards in a season during Minnesota’s 2012 campaign (2097), and is the franchise’s all-time leading rusher with 11,747 yards.
Add in an MVP, 7 Pro Bowls, 7 All-Pro teams, and a Rookie of the Year award to his resume and it’s easy to see just how great he was during his time in Minnesota and just how much having him in the backfield meant to the team.
It’s crazy to look back and see that he carried the ball 2,418 times for Minnesota in 10 seasons…and he even missed 37 games in that time. That kind of workhorse player is the kind of individual who not only meant a lot to a franchise but WAS the franchise.
Next: 5 best Vikings quarterbacks of the 21st century
Notable mentions include Robert Smith, who missed the cut by making the 2000 season his last with the Minnesota Vikings and Dalvin Cook, who has the potential to rise to the top of this list rather quickly if he continues to showcase his talents going forward.