11. Willie Howard – DE
Second Round (57th overall) – 2001
Throughout their history, the Vikings have certainly had some bad luck with a number of their early-round draft selections. A bunch had their NFL careers cut short by unfortunate injuries and Howard was among those that had to give up the game early.
The former Stanford defensive lineman didn’t even make it past his rookie season before suffering a career-ending injury.
During Minnesota’s Week 13 win over the Tennessee Titans in 2001, Titans offensive tackle Brad Hopkins delivered a cut block to Howard and it resulted in the Vikings defensive lineman tearing ligaments in his knee and breaking his right leg.
Howard never appeared in another game for Minnesota thanks to the decision made by Hopkins that day. The young Vikings defensive lineman finished his NFL career with 15 total tackles in eight appearances.