Our All Time Top 50 Minnesota Vikings have been revised to reflect the 2025 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we maintain and update our existing Top 50 lists annually. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 revision of our top 50 Minnesota Vikings.
As for all of our top 50 players in football, we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, the Vikings had a phenomenal season, finishing 14-3, but were taken out in the opening round by the Los Angeles Rams. There were two elevations on our Top 50.
As always, we present our top five, which remain unchanged.
1. Alan Page
2. Fran Tarkenton
3. Randall McDaniel
4. Carl Eller
5. Mick Tingelhoff
You can find the entire list here.
Safety Harrison Smith rocketed to #19 from #28.
The second elevation was Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson, who made a significant jump to #30 from #46.
We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.
Our All-Time Top 50 Minnesota Vikings Have Been Revised to Reflect the 2023 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2023 revision of our top 50 Minnesota Vikings.
As for all of our top 50 players in football, we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, Minnesota had a losing record (7-10) but still saw some fluctuation in our Top 50 with one new entrant and three elevations.
As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:
1. Alan Page
2. Fran Tarkenton
3. Randall McDaniel
4. Carl Eller
5. Mick Tinglehoff
You can find the entire list here.
Safety Harrison Smith inched up one spot to #28.
Defensive End Danielle Hunter, now with the Houston Texans, moved to #30 from #36.
Now, with the Atlanta Falcons, Quarterback Kirk Cousins has moved from #38 to #43.
The lone new entrant is former Offensive Player of the Year, Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson. He debuts at #46.
We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.
Our All-Time Top 50 Minnesota Vikings have been revised to reflect the 2022 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top 50 Minnesota Vikings.
As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, the Vikings had an excellent regular season, but were unable to go deep into the playoffs. There were three new elevations and one new entrant based on the 2022 Season.
As always, we present our top five, which was not affected by the last season:
1. Alan Page
3. Randall McDaniel
4. Carl Eller
You can find the entire list here.
Safety, Harrison Smith, inched up one rung to #29.
Running Back, and (as of this writing) Free Agent, Dalvin Cook, advanced nine spots to #32.
Defensive End, Danielle Hunter climbed up four spots to #36.
Quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who added his third Pro Bowl in Minnesota went from #48 to #43.
The new entrant is Linebacker, Eric Kendricks, who is now with the Los Angeles Chargers. He enters at #50.
It is notable that Wide Receiver, Justin Jefferson, just missed out on a spot despite only playing three seasons.
We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.
The Top 50 Minnesota Vikings are now up!
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!
2. Randall McDaniel
Arguably the greatest offensive lineman in Vikings history, Randall McDaniel took over the starting left guard position almost immediately after being drafted 19th overall from Arizona State in 1988. He started 15 of 16 games as a rookie and quickly showed the combination of speed, strength, and technique that would define his career. McDaniel was known throughout the NFL for his versatility at the position, handling both run blocking and pass protection at a high level from the start.
In his sophomore season, he made the Pro Bowl and did so again in each of the next 10 seasons with Minnesota. He earned first-team All-Pro honors seven times during that stretch, including a long run of consecutive selections in the 1990s. That consistency set him apart even among the era’s other strong offensive linemen.McDaniel started every regular-season game for the Vikings from 1990 through 1999 and put together a streak of 202 consecutive starts that carried into his final years. He occasionally lined up as a fullback in short-yardage and goal-line situations, adding another dimension to an already versatile skill set. His ability to get to the second level and create running lanes helped multiple Vikings backs reach 1,000 yards.
The 1998 season stood out even by his standards. McDaniel allowed only 1.5 sacks that year while the Vikings set a then-record for points scored. He continued to anchor the line through the late 1990s as Minnesota remained a consistent playoff team. His presence on the left side gave the offense a reliable foundation week after week.
The Vikings released him after the 1999 season in a salary-cap move. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played two more seasons there, making one final Pro Bowl in 2000. McDaniel retired after the 2001 season, ending a 14-year career defined by durability and production.
With the Vikings, he started 188 games across 12 seasons and earned 11 Pro Bowl selections. He was a seven-time first-team All-Pro and part of the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team. The numbers reflected a level of sustained excellence that few offensive linemen have matched.McDaniel entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009, a year after his induction into Minnesota’s Ring of Honor. He was also named to the Vikings’ 40th Anniversary Team and the 50 Greatest Vikings list. His longevity, Pro Bowl streak, and All-Pro recognition left little doubt about his place among the franchise’s best.
