8 best performances by a Vikings WR in their first 5 seasons with the team

8. Gene Washington (1967 – 1971)

• 69 games
• 154 receptions
• 2,828 yards
• 21 touchdowns

The Vikings selected Gene Washington from Michigan State in the first round of the 1967 NFL draft. The eighth pick overall, Washington led Minnesota with 384 receiving yards in his rookie season despite only starting four games.

In his next four years with the Vikings, he led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns every season. Washington’s career lasted seven years, six of them with Minnesota. As a member of the Vikings, he finished with 172 receptions for 3,087 yards and 23 touchdowns.

7. Adam Thielen (2014 – 2018)

• 80 games
• 293 receptions
• 3,897 yards
• 19 touchdowns

Adam Thielen has played alongside Stefon Diggs the entire time Diggs had been with Minnesota. Considered among the top wide-receiver duos in the NFL, it will be interesting to see if Thielen is prepared to pick up the slack after Diggs’ departure.

Thielen’s story is so well known. Despite being undrafted and uninvited to the NFL Scouting Combine, he never gave up and forced his way onto the Vikings’ roster.

A standout on special teams, Thielen did not break into the starting rotation at wide receiver until his third season with Minnesota. Despite that, he has led the Vikings twice in receptions and three times in receiving yards. He is also the first Viking to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since Randy Moss did it in 2002 and 2003.

The fact Thielen has played with seven different quarterbacks in his first five years, tied for the most in this ranking, helped raise his ranking slightly.