The Minnesota Vikings have gotten some great value out of the NFL Draft over the years and here are the six biggest steals in franchise history.
The 2023 NFL Draft is approaching at a rapid rate and fans of the Minnesota Vikings are hoping the team is able to select a great player to help take the franchise to the next level when they are on the clock.
Many draft picks don’t work out for teams and end up off the roster in four years or less while others stick around for many years and work their way into the team’s Ring of Honor or even the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Not every great draft pick has to be selected in the top five selections of the draft class. In fact, many great players can slip through the cracks and be a great value for the team that finally picks them.
Let’s take a look at six players who were great draft steals for the Minnesota Vikings over the course of franchise history who the purple and gold got in later rounds that probably shouldn’t have been available when they were on the clock.
Fran Tarkenton, QB – 1961 Round 3
Younger fans of the Minnesota Vikings may only be familiar with Fran Tarkenton from old highlight videos or their grandpa telling them stories of listening to games on the radio but for a while, he was the face of the franchise.
Tarkenton hosted Saturday Night Live back in the day and scored five total touchdowns in his debut game against the Chicago Bears. He was the league MVP in 1975, was named to the Pro Bowl nine times, and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Four fellow Hall of Famers were selected before him, but 28 players being picked before Tarkenton is surprising to look back on. However, the Vikings have to be happy the dynamic quarterback landed in their laps.
It is hard to imagine a history where Minnesota didn’t select Fran Tarkenton to lead their team into the future but it was definitely a possibility when many teams passed on him for less productive players.
Matt Birk, C – 1998 Round 6
Getting an eight-year starter who was named to six Pro Bowls and made the All-Pro Second Team with a sixth-round pick is an amazing steal and that is exactly what the Minnesota Vikings got from center Matt Birk.
A St. Paul, Minnesota native, Birk went under the radar as an offensive lineman at Harvard which caused many teams to opt to select other players. 172 players being picked ahead of Birk is a bit mind-blowing.
Birk ended his career with four years in Baltimore, but his impact was felt on the field when he was named a starter for the 2000 NFL season and off the field by being named Minnesota Vikings Man of the Year six years in a row.
Matt Birk is the definition of a draft steal. he was an excellent offensive lineman and was looked over many times before finally being selected by the Minnesota Vikings. His contributions from the sixth round were incredible.
John Sullivan, C – 2008 Round 6
Ten years after drafting Matt Birk in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings picked another center in the sixth round who went on to have an excellent career with the purple and gold.
Minnesota wasn’t in need of a center when selecting John Sullivan. They still had Birk through the 2008 season, but when a talented player falls into your lap late in the draft, it makes the decision to pick them an easy one.
Sullivan played well at Notre Dame but interior offensive linemen were severely devalued at the time and some quality players fell for that reason. But the Vikings got great value out of him, getting 93 starts out of 107 games played and taking over as the starter in 2009.
He may never have received Pro Bowl nods or All-Pro honors, but he provided a lot of stability for an offensive line that helped running back Adrian Peterson and a Minnesota Vikings run game succeed.
Brian Robison, DE – 2007 Round 4
The Minnesota Vikings tended to do well at the draft when they waited and grabbed a talented player who wasn’t in a position of need at that time. That was exactly the case for defensive end Brian Robison.
When Minnesota took him with pick 102 overall, they were enjoying a solid season from Ray Edwards and would acquire Jared Allen before the 2008 season, keeping Robison in a backup and rotational role in his first four seasons.
Robison didn’t become a full-time starter for the Vikings until the 2011 season and held that job for six years and retired after the 2017 season having never taken a snap for another NFL team in his career.
Robison may not be a Hall of Fame player or even been honored with Pro Bowl or All-Pro nods, but he was a very good player at a high-profile position for many years and was a steal in the fourth round of the draft.
Stefon Diggs, WR – 2015 Round 5
When talking about draft steals for the Minnesota Vikings, it’s difficult not to mention how the team was able to draft Stefon Diggs with pick 146 in the 2015 NFL Draft. He would eventually become a starter next to Adam Thielen, forming a dynamic pass-catching duo.
The Vikings got 4,623 yards and 30 touchdowns out of Diggs in his 70 games played for the Purple and Gold but he will always be best remembered by Vikings fans for being on the receiving end of the Minneapolis Miracle.
Sadly, things didn’t work out for the Vikings and Diggs and he was traded to the Buffalo Bills after the 2019 season. He would continue to be successful there, making the Pro Bowl all three years and All-Pro First and Second team nods.
There is no doubting the talent that Stefon Diggs has and the fact that 145 players were picked before him in the 2015 NFL Draft is a bit mind-blowing but he is still only 29 years old and has many great years of football left in him.
Brad Johnson, QB – 1992 Round 9
Although he spent two stints with the Minnesota Vikings, Brad Johnson will probably always be best known for being the starting quarterback of the Super Bowl XXXVII Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Johnson was picked 227 overall in 1992 and spent his first five years with Minnesota. During that time, he started 23 games and threw 44 touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions before going to play for Washington in 1999 and earning his first Pro Bowl.
He would spend two seasons in Washington and four in Tampa Bay before returning to the Vikings for two years and having mixed results. His final two seasons were with the Cowboys before calling it a career in 2009.
Any time you can land a starting-caliber quarterback outside of the first round, it has to be considered a draft steal. It’s sad Johnson couldn’t lead the Minnesota Vikings to a Super Bowl, but he still has a shiny ring nonetheless.