The draft is the lifeblood of an NFL team. The talent acquired has the best of all worlds on their side: youth, untapped potential, and team control on a rookie-scale contract. Championship teams can be built when several of these players are acquired in a short time, opening up a Super Bowl window.
Although the Minnesota Vikings haven’t been able to break through with a Super Bowl run, they have drafted some of the best players in the NFL over the past 25 years. That’s given them memorable seasons, like 2009 and 2015, which were built primarily through several years of exceptional drafts.
With the 2025 draft less than a week away, today we look at the 11 best draft picks by the Vikings since the 2000 season.
11. Dalvin Cook, 2nd Round, 41st Overall, 2017
Cook was the latest in a great line of running backs to be drafted by the Vikings. He missed 12 games in his rookie season with an ACL tear and was hampered by a hamstring injury in 2018. But Cook broke out in 2019, gaining 1,654 all-purpose yards en route to his first Pro Bowl and winning Comeback Player Of The Year.
Cook made the Pro Bowl each of the following three seasons. In six seasons with Minnesota, he gained 7,787 yards from scrimmage and scored 52 touchdowns.
10. Brian O’Neill, 2nd Round, 62nd Overall, 2018
The Vikings got another gem in the second round one year later, drafting O’Neill, a former tight end. Although viewed as a project and perceived as a player who needed time to grow physically and mentally in the position, O’Neill got his first start in Week 5 of his rookie season. He’s been a regular starter at right tackle ever since, making the Pro Bowl in 2021 and 2024.
9. Eric Kendricks, 2nd Round, 45th Overall, 2015
Kendricks is the first player from the 2015 draft to make this list. The middle linebacker got his first start in Week 4 as a rookie, making an impression with four sacks over the next three weeks. He started 113 games as a Viking, racking up 21.5 sacks, intercepting nine passes, and scoring three defensive touchdowns. He was a First-Team All-Pro in 2019, also reaching his lone Pro Bowl.
8. Everson Griffen, 4th Round, 100th Overall, 2010
The list starts to become more difficult here. Griffen fell in the draft due to character concerns and was arrested twice in three days at the end of his rookie season. The team, enamored with his athleticism, used him as a gunner on the punt team in 2011. He continued to earn a bigger role before becoming a full-time starter in 2014, when he finally broke out.
Griffen notched 12.0 sacks in 2014 and made his first of four Pro Bowls the following season. Griffen played 156 games for the Vikings, making 94 starts. He registered 79.5 sacks, two interceptions, and scored two defensive touchdowns.
7. Stefon Diggs, 5th Round, 146th Overall, 2015
Diggs is the second player from the 2015 draft to make the list. His tenure wasn’t as long as anyone else on the list. Diggs only played 70 games, making 63 starts, in five seasons with the Vikings. Surprisingly, he never made the Pro Bowl with the team, despite having over 1,000 yards in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
But Diggs was on the receiving end of the “Minneapolis Miracle”, the greatest play in Vikings history. His 61-yard touchdown reception as time expired sent the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game.
The following week was as humbling as the excitement of the “Miracle” was, but Diggs will always hold a special place in team history for the moment.
6. Danielle Hunter, 3rd Round, 88th Overall, 2015
Hunter gets bumped above the other two members of the 2015 draft because he was a project coming out of college. He only had 4.5 sacks in three seasons at LSU, leading some to question the move.
But his impact was felt immediately. Although it took him three years to become a starter, Hunter got 18.5 sacks off the bench during his first two years. He made his first of four Pro Bowls in 2018, registering 14.5 sacks.
Hunter played 136 games as a Viking, tallying 89.5 sacks and scoring two touchdowns. With Griffen, the duo formed one of the league’s most ferocious pass-rush duos in the late 2010’s.
5. Chad Greenway, 1st Round, 17th Overall, 2006
Greenway is the only player on the list to retire after playing his entire career as a Viking. His rookie season was cut short due to an injury in the team’s first preseason game against the Raiders (sound familiar?). But that was only a short-term setback for the former Iowa linebacker.
In his second season, Greenway proved he would be counted on to play every Sunday. He didn’t miss another game until the 2014 season. Greenway produced, too, returning an interception for a touchdown and recovering four fumbles in 2007.
After the Vikings drafted Kendricks in 2015, Greenway became the team’s third linebacker behind him and Anthony Barr. Greenway helped the duo mature into a dynamic duo while still holding his own on early downs. In his final ten seasons, Greenway played 156 games, making 144 starts, tallying 18.0 sacks, and intercepting 11 passes, returning two for touchdowns.
4. Justin Jefferson, WR, 22nd Overall, 2020
Perhaps too low, but this is only a sign of respect for the longevity of the players above Jefferson. The fifth wide receiver taken in the 2020 draft played sparingly in his first two games as a rookie. But in his third game, he broke onto the scene, scoring on a 71-yard touchdown while doing the Griddy as he trotted into the endzone.
Jefferson has 495 receptions for 7,432 yards and 40 touchdowns in 77 games with the Vikings. He’s averaged 96.5 receiving yards per game, nine more yards than the next closest receiver. The two-time First-Team All-Pro was voted the 2022 Offensive Player of the Year. A few more seasons will only push Jefferson further up this list and into the conversation as one of the greatest receivers in NFL history.
3. Harrison Smith, 1st Round, 29th Overall, 2012
Smith could be the second player on this list to play his entire career and retire as a Viking. He was the second of two first-round picks the Vikings had in 2012. “The Hitman” was a Day 1 starter, returning two interceptions for touchdowns as a rookie.
But it was in Year 3 that Smith was unleashed. Under new head coach Mike Zimmer, Smith was used all over the defense, being utilized like a Swiss Army Knife, doing everything from blitzing off the edge to intercepting passes deep downfield. He made the first of six Pro Bowls in 2015 and was a First-Team All-Pro in 2017.
Smith has played 192 games as a Viking, starting all but one. He is the league’s active leader with 37 interceptions, returning four for touchdowns, while also getting 20.5 sacks. That makes him only the sixth player in league history with at least 35 interceptions and 20 sacks. 2025 could be his final season, and a Super Bowl ring could help his case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2. Kevin Williams, 1st Round, 9th Overall, 2003
Perhaps it’s fitting that one of the most underrated defensive linemen of his era was acquired in a bizarre draft-day blunder by the Vikings. But Williams was a Day 1 starter and was a force as a rookie. Williams had 10.5 sacks as a rookie and was a First-Team All-Pro in 2004. What makes that more impressive is that the Vikings didn’t have a great defense surrounding Williams in his first three seasons.
Williams would be a First-Team All-Pro each season from 2006-09 as part of the “Williams Wall”. Even as a defensive tackle, Williams had a nose for the ball. He intercepted five passes as a Viking, returning two for touchdowns. Williams also scored on two fumble recoveries, including a 77-yard return that sealed a victory over the Jaguars in a 27-16 win in 2004. In 177 games, Williams racked up 60 sacks and recovered 13 fumbles, forcing eight.
He didn’t have a fancy sack dance. He didn’t talk a lot. And maybe even his name alone was too ordinary for ESPN to have weekly segments on him. But Kevin Williams was an absolute force as a Viking, and he should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s still waiting on his call from Canton.
1. Adrian Peterson, 1st Round, 7th Overall, 2007
The easiest choice on the list. Chester Taylor had just rushed for 1,216 yards in 2006, and the Vikings were rumored to be interested in Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Instead, the Vikings drafted for talent over need, landing Adrian Peterson, and the rest is history.
Peterson exploded onto the scene as a rookie. His first touchdown was a 60-yard reception in his first game against the Falcons. Four weeks later, he amassed 361 all-purpose yards at Soldier Field, the third-highest single-game total in NFL history. Three weeks later, he rushed for an NFL-record 296 yards against the Chargers, a record that has yet to be broken.
“All Day” was selected for his first of seven Pro Bowls as a rookie and also received Second-Team All-Pro honors. In 2008, he led the league in rushing, running for 1,760 yards and 10 touchdowns.
An ACL injury on Christmas Eve of 2011 was feared to derail Peterson’s promising career. His status for the 2012 season was in doubt, and there was fear he would never return to his pre-injury form.
But Peterson not only made a full recovery, but he also made the recovery in time to play the 2012 opener, less than nine months after his ACL tear. Peterson ran for 499 yards in the season’s first six games, far exceeding expectations. Little did anyone know that was just the beginning.
Peterson ran for 1,598 yards in the season’s final ten games, failing to reach 100 yards only once. Teams knew the Vikings would run the ball and still couldn’t stop Peterson, who had two 200-yard performances in that span.
The Vikings needed a win in the season finale to make the playoffs. Peterson was also 207 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record. But Peterson willed the Vikings to the playoffs, running for 199 yards, including a 26-yard run to set up the game-winning field goal. Peterson’s 2,097 yards is the second-highest single-season total of all-time, and he won NFL MVP.
In 123 games as a Viking, Peterson ran for 11,747 yards and 97 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. He added 1,945 yards receiving with five touchdown receptions as well. The star running back will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2027.