2023 Pre-Season Rank #41, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #55, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #55, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #54.  Peak Period 2016-20

It is usually easy to rank former Defensive Players of the Year, but as we are ten years deep into the career of Stephon Gilmore, we now know what we have. After a decent run in Buffalo, Gilmore had an out-of-nowhere DPOY year in 2019 (though it did follow a good 2018), though he has not matched that year since.

Since then, Gilmore has been a hired gun, playing one year each in Carolina, Indianapolis, and Dallas, and is now on a one-year deal with Minnesota.  His veteran presence still makes him valuable, but bouncing between teams could impact his perception.

While Chuck Foreman was drafted 12^th Overall in 1973, the Minnesota Vikings weren’t certain whether they were going to use him at Full Back or Running Back as he bounced around both positions at the University of Miami (FL).  Foreman was told that he wasn’t going to be able to cut it at Running Back at the NFL by his coaches at Miami, and he was determined to prove them wrong, and did he ever!

Everson Griffen came to the Minnesota Vikings as the 100^th Overall Draft Pick in 2010 and it was a slow build for him to really find his place in the NFL.  Griffen was mostly used on Special Teams as a rookie and morphed into a pass rushing specialist until 2014 when he became the starting Defensive End. Griffen went to four Pro Bowls over a five-year period, and he had three 10-plus Sack seasons while wearing the horns.  Griffen played for the Vikigs for ten years before he signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a Free Agent.  

Griffen returned in 2021 for another year, bringing his Sack total in Minnesota to 79.5.

As of this writing, Harrison Smith has played all twelve of his seasons in the National Football League, with five straight (2015-19), and a sixth (2021) seeing him go to the Pro Bowl.

A First Round Pick from Washington State in 1984, Keith Millard made the team that drafted him (Minnesota) wait a year, as he went into the USFL for one season with the Jacksonville Bulls. 

Gary Anderson made a lot of history as a Place Kicker, the first of which was becoming the first South African to play a game in the NFL.  Anderson would not just play a game or two, as he would play 353, which as of this writing, places him second all-time.

Playing his entire NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, Matt Blair was one of the quickest players in football, using his speed at the Outside Linebacker position to bottle up opposing offensive stars.  Blair would have a six-year streak of Pro Bowls from 1977 to 1982, with 1980 seeing him earn a First Team All-Pro Selection.  Blair was not just a star Linebacker, but a beast on Special Teams, as he blocked 20 kicks over his career.  He is a member of the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor.

There was a time where Joey Browner was considered to be the best Cornerback in the National Football League, and this was not just an opinion in the state of Minnesota...it was thought throughout the entire country.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #72, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #79, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #90, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #72.  Peak Period: 2015-19.

The five-year streak of Pro Bowls ended in 2020, but two seasons ago, Smith was back on the Pro Bowl roster, claiming number six. Smith is, however, not close to any of the MPAs and will need to keep up his current pace into his mid-30s. That isn’t impossible, but it is more likely that he will regress instead.

Chad Greenway announced that after 11 seasons in the National Football League, all of which were with the Minnesota Vikings, that he is calling it a career.

The former 1st Round Pick (17th Overall) from the University of Iowa would become a two time Pro Bowl Selection (2011 & 2012) and would start 144 of his 156 Games at Linebacker for the Vikes.  Greenway would record 18 Quarterback Sacks and 11 Interceptions.  He was named one of our top 50 Minnesota Vikings when we put that out last year.

Greenway is not likely to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he will be eligible in 2022.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank Chad Greenway for a memorable career and we wish him the best in his post-playing career. 

Yes, we know this is a very slow process!

We have another Top 50 All Time to announce and we have returned to the National Football League, specifically the NFC North, where we tackled the monstrous legacy of the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions previously.  This time we look at their division rival, the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota went to four Super Bowls in the 1970’s, all in losing efforts, but to get to that many title games you know that team was loaded with talent in that era.  Not surprisingly, that is where many of our Top 50 come from.

This was a very hard process for us, perhaps the hardest one to date!

The entire list begins here:

We invite you to click through to see where Fran Tarkenton, Adrian Petersen, Cris Carter, Alan Page and Randy Moss are, but we will tell you who we ranked #1, and we know it will shock you a little.

It is Hall of Famer, Carl Eller.

We bet while you weren’t expecting that one, were you?

This list is up to the end of the 2015 Season.

We look forward to your feedback and remember the intent is to change this annually, so your opinions and comments do matter!

Henry Thomas (AKA: Hardware Hank) came out of LSU and shortly took over the starting Left Defensive Tackle slot.  Thomas would go to the Pro Bowl twice as a Viking and record 56 Quarterback Sacks for the team.  Thomas was a Viking for eight of his fourteen years in the National Football League.

A Second Round Pick out of Grambling State, Sammy White made an immediate impact in the NFL winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year and earning the first of two Pro Bowl Selections.  White never left the Vikings and caught 393 passes for an even 6,300 Yards.  Too bad he is most known for taking a vicious hit from Jack Tatum in the Super Bowl!

Already a star Offensive Lineman when he signed with the Vikings, Steve Hutchinson would rattle off four straight Pro Bowls as well as three First Team All-Pro nods when he joined the team.  Hutchinson was only a Viking for six years but there was no doubt who led the O-Line when he played there.

Hutchnson was selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.

A four-time Pro Bowler, Ahmad Rashad (the one who really had Mrs. Huxtable) always seemed to secure clutch passes.  Rashad would finish in the top ten in Receptions five times and had well over 5,000 Receiving Yards for the Vikings.  Most notably, Rashad caught a Hail Mary pass in 1980 that won Minnesota the NFC Central Division Title.  We guarantee that this reception alone has earned him many free drinks in Minneapolis!

The popular player entered the Vikings Ring of Honor in 2017.

After he began his professional career in the USFL, Anthon Carter would find a home in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.  The former Michigan Wolverine star would go to three Pro Bowls and rattle off three consecutive seasons where he would go over 1,000 Yards Receiving.  Carter would also lead the NFL in Yards/Reception in 1987.

After bouncing around with limited success with the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers, Wally Hilgenberg found a home with the Minnesota Vikings.  Hilgenberg would become the permanent starting Right Linebacker in 1969 and would become part of the famed Minnesota defense of the following decade.  He would play in all four Vikings Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s.

Drafted as the successor to Fran Tarkenton (no pressure!), Tommy Kramer would have a thirteen year run as the Vikings Quarterback.  Kramer would battle injuries throughout his career but “Two Minute Tommy” would battle it all and would have an excellent 1986 season where he would win the Comeback Player of the Year and lead the NFL in Passing Rating.

Daunte Culpepper has always been a polarizing Quarterback for some.  Culpepper put up some excellent statistics but he had Randy Moss to throw to.  The counter is that he was a man who could beat you with both his arm and his leg.

A Minnesota Viking for all but his final season, Tim Irwin patrolled the right side of Minnesota’s O-Line for over 180 Games.  The Right Tackle may never been a member of the Pro Bowl, but his solid and consistent presence was welcomed by Vikings QBs and RBs alike.