The Minnesota Vikings have been drafting players since 1961. Here’s a look at the best draft picks by position for the Vikings:
OFFENSE
Quarterback: Fran Tarkenton, third round, 1961, Georgia. The first quarterback the Vikings ever drafted still holds franchise records for passing yards, touchdowns and wins. After playing six seasons for the team, he was traded to the New York Giants. He led the Vikings to three Super Bowl appearances in four years upon his return after five seasons in New York.
Running back: Adrian Peterson, first round, 2007, Oklahoma. He leaves the Vikings as their all-time leader in rushing yards (11,747) and rushing touchdowns (102), and is second only to Cris Carter in franchise history in overall touchdowns. Peterson's stirring 2012 MVP season will be remembered as one of the great individual performances in league history, and he won three rushing titles in 10 years with the Vikings, also setting the NFL's single-game rushing record as a rookie.
Wide receiver: Randy Moss, first round, 1998, Marshall. When Dennis Green decided to draft Moss, selecting the tantalizing talent when other teams had passed because of character concerns, he helped incite a revolution. Moss' electric 1998 season triggered the advent of Cover 2 defenses across the league, as teams sought to do what most couldn't during the Vikings' 15-1 season: slow down the game's most terrifying deep threat. Moss, who is Hall of Fame eligible for the first time this year, is third in receiving yards (15,292) and second in receiving touchdowns (156) in NFL history.
Tight end: Steve Jordan, seventh round, 1982, Brown. In a 13-season career -- all with the Vikings -- Jordan caught 498 passes for 6,307 yards, making six consecutive Pro Bowls from 1986 to 1991. His first Pro Bowl nod came after a season when he caught 58 passes for a career-high 859 yards, and Jordan would surpass 750 receiving yards twice more in his career.
Tackle: Ron Yary, first round, 1968, USC. The Vikings took Yary with the first overall pick in 1968, and he became a fixture on their offensive line through the rest of Bud Grant's heyday. Yary, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001, went to seven consecutive Pro Bowls from 1971 to 1977, earning first-team All-Pro honors the first six of those seasons.
Guard: Randall McDaniel, first round, 1988, Arizona State. Even now, it's tough to find guards as athletic as the 6-foot-3 McDaniel, who ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash and boasted a vertical jump of 37 inches. In 12 seasons with the Vikings, the Hall of Famer went to 11 Pro Bowls, earning seven first-team All-Pro selections while starting all but three games with the team.
Center: Matt Birk, sixth round, 1998, Harvard. With Hall of Fame center Mick Tingelhoff going undrafted, Birk gets the distinction of being the best center the team has ever drafted, after returning to his hometown team following his college career at Harvard. The loquacious center made six Pro Bowl teams before playing four more years and winning a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens.
DEFENSE
End: Carl Eller, first round, 1964, Minnesota. A five-time first-team All-Pro selection, Eller became one of the first pieces of the "Purple People Eaters," playing 15 seasons with the team before finishing his career in Seattle. The fearsome pass-rusher was voted the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1971.
Tackle: Alan Page, first round, 1967, Notre Dame. There's a strong case to be made that the defensive tackle is the greatest player in Vikings history. His arrival in 1967 helped turn the Vikings' defensive line into one of the great units of all time, and though Page's place in the NFL's all-time annals might lose some of its luster thanks to the fact the league didn't officially record sacks while he was playing, a closer look at his numbers reveals just how dominant he was. He recovered seven fumbles in 1970 alone, and he was named NFL MVP in 1971. He is unofficially credited with 148.5 career sacks, and his three career safeties are the fourth most in NFL history. He's also one of the most unique people to play in the NFL: Page attended law school while playing for the Vikings, became the first active NFL player to run a marathon and retired in 2015 after 12 years as a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Linebacker: Matt Blair, second round, 1974, Iowa State. Blair played on the Vikings' final two Super Bowl teams, and his individual performance peaked as the Vikings' fortunes slipped somewhat. In 1977, the season after the Vikings played in their last Super Bowl, Blair began a streak of six consecutive Pro Bowl appearances, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 1980.
Cornerback: Bobby Bryant, seventh round, 1967, South Carolina. A 13-season career, all with the Vikings, saw Bryant intercept 51 passes, also making two Pro Bowls and working as a kick and punt returner. His greatest performance might have come in the Vikings' last NFC Championship Game victory: He returned a blocked field goal 90 yards for a touchdown and intercepted two passes in the Vikings' 1976 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Safety: Joey Browner, first round, 1983, USC. The six-time Pro Bowler intercepted 37 passes in his career, picking off 22 in his final four seasons with the Vikings before finishing his career in Tampa Bay. He was named to the Vikings Ring of Honor in 2013, but he might not have a spot on this list forever: Harrison Smith has a chance to supplant Browner as the Vikings' top draft pick at safety.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker: Blair Walsh, sixth round, 2012, Georgia. The fact Walsh is here, after his ignominious exit from Minnesota, shows how many of the Vikings' kickers have been acquired from other teams over the years. Walsh's career got off to an impressive start, as he earned All-Pro honors while starting his career 10-for-10 on field goals of 50 yards or more in 2012. But his infamous 27-yard playoff miss in 2016, and the wild inconsistency that ensued the following season, led the Vikings to release him just nine games into the contract extension they'd given him the year before
Punter: Jeff Locke, fifth round, 2013, UCLA. We're again picking from a fairly small group -- the Vikings have drafted only five punters in their history -- but the team's willingness to stick with Locke lands him on this list. Locke, who spent four seasons as the Vikings' punter before leaving in free agency for Indianapolis this spring, is the only drafted punter in Vikings history to last more than three years.