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

4. Stefon Diggs (2015 – 2019)

• 70 games
• 365 receptions
• 4,623 yards
• 30 touchdowns

Stefon Diggs comes in fourth place on this list. A fifth-round draft pick of the Vikings in 2015, Diggs made an immediate impact on the offense, starting nine games and leading the team with 720 receiving yards as a rookie. In five seasons with Minnesota, he led the team in receptions three times, yards twice, and touchdowns three times.

Diggs proved to be a reliable deep threat for the Vikings and that will need to be replaced. Last season, he ranked fourth in the league with an average of 17.9 yards per reception. In his tenure with Minnesota, he averaged 66 yards per game—the second-highest career average by a receiver in franchise history.

Diggs leaves the Vikings ranked eighth all-time in receiving yards and touchdowns. In his five years with Minnesota, he caught passes from five different quarterbacks, proving that it wasn’t just one good signal-caller who made him such an effective receiver.

3. Anthony Carter (1985 – 1989)

• 72 games
• 256 receptions
• 4,720 yards
• 32 touchdowns

Anthony Carter came to the Vikings in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, who selected him in the 12th round of the 1983 NFL draft. Carter, who played for Michigan in college, opted to join the USFL and starred for the Michigan Panthers where he played with quarterback Bobby Hebert.

Carter made an immediate impact with the Vikings in 1985, leading the team in receiving yards and touchdowns. That season he averaged 19.1 yards per reception with Tommy Kramer as his quarterback.

Carter’s most memorable year came in the strike-shortened 1987 season. In 12 games, his downfield prowess was once again on display as he led the league with 24.3 yards per catch while also leading Minnesota in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.

Carter was also dominant in the postseason. In six playoffs games during his first five years, he amassed 582 yards on 34 receptions. His best game came on a record-setting playoff matchup in San Francisco in 1987 when he caught 10 passes for 227 yards during the Vikings’ upset victory over the 49ers.

He played nine seasons with Minnesota in total and finished his professional career where it started—in Michigan, playing two years with the Detroit Lions.

In Vikings franchise history, Carter still ranks fourth all-time with 478 receptions and third with 7,636 receiving yards and 52 touchdowns.