Sorry for the quasi-late post on this, kids. Some bounty stuff came up which I had to put up, and I was able to finally talk to my Dad about the scandal...which I'll post in a bit. Trust me, you'll love it.
Four rounds into our all time draft, our selections have been:
1) Adrian Peterson, RB...summary here
2) Jim Kleinsasser, TE...summary here
3) Fran Tarkenton, QB...summary here
4) Roy Winston, LB...summary here
So we're halfway home in our little exercise. We'll do seven standard round and then an all encompassing 8th round. That will give any player ever taken from the 8th round on an opportunity to be selected, as the NFL draft used to be much longer than the current 7 round format.
So far, we have two Purple People Eater-era Vikings, and two modern era players; three offense, and one defense. There's really only been one obvious choice in the first four rounds, and that was Fran Tarkenton in the third. Every other round had multiple guys that would have been worthy candidates, and I'd even go so far as to call Adrian Peterson and Jim Kleinsasser upset picks, but that's probably just as much the 'get off my lawn' old guy coming out as anything.
So, we move on to round 5, and we have even more difficult picks to choose from the later into our draft we go. There aren't as many, but I think this might be the toughest round yet.
Your options, after the jump.
Ed Sharockman, 1961, CB: The Minnesota Vikings franchise has been around over 50 years, and Sharockman, who played in a run dominant era, is still third in team history with 40 interceptions. He played 12 years, started 10, and averaged 4 picks a year as a starter, nabbing as many as 7 picks once, and 6 three times. Sharockman's name has kind of been forgotten as time has worn on, but he's one of the best defensive backs in team history.
Brent McClanahan, 1973, RB: Arguably the best fullback in team history, McClanahan was fairly overlooked with Chuck Foreman as the starting tailback, but McClanahan was a good blocker, had really good hands for a guy that wasn't a huge part of the offense (40 and 34 catches in '76 and '77) and could get some tough yards between the tackles--see 1976 divisional playoff game against Washington, where he had over 100 yards rushing. BUT..he has one horrible, awful, no good play that I might not ever get over. McClanahan was the guy that completely killed early Super Bowl XI momentum for the VIkings, momentum they never got back. The Vikes had blocked a Ray Guy punt and were set up on the two, poised to score and take an early lead. Tarkenton handed off to Mac, who fumbled, Raiders recover, the 'here we go again' feeling set in, and the rout was on. To this day I never understood why Foreman didn't get the ball there.
Hassan Jones, 1986, WR: Jones was a very, very solid WR playing opposite Anthony Carter. He had good hands, had a pretty decent yards per catch average, and averaged over 40 catches and 700 yards a year over a decent three year stretch from 1988-1990. Jones put up those numbers with pretty pedestrian quarterbacks (Wade Wilson and Rich Gannon), but gradually got pushed out once Cris Carter was signed and started producing big time. Had the Vikings not taken the now legendary $100 waiver claim on CC, one could argue that Jones might be remembered as one of the best receivers in team history. As it is, he is remembered as a pretty good #2 and #3 receiver who was replaced by what ended up being one of the best receivers in NFL history.
Ed McDaniel, 1992, LB: McDaniel was the classic undersized overachiever that played at an elevated level for 9 years. Although there were Hall of Famers playing around him (John Randle, Chris Doleman), for several years McDaniel was the heart and soul of a good to very good Vikings defense from the mid to late '90's, earning his lone Pro Bowl berth during that incredible 1998 season. My lasting memory of Ed McDaniel was the 2000 Thanksgiving Day game against Dallas. Emmitt Smith either took a hand off or short pass in the flat, cut up against the grain, and it looked like a big play was developing. Eddie Mac came from seemingly nowhere and LAID OUT Smith, causing a fumble and if I remember correctly, knocked Emmitt out cold. One of the biggest hits I've ever seen.
I think this might be a battle royale between Sharockman and McDaniel, but you can make strong cases for McClanahan and Jones as well.
Right now I have no idea who I'm going to select. Who are YOU going to take?