The Best Defensive Ends in Minnesota Vikings history

The best defensive ends in Minnesota Vikings history

NFL defensive ends have varied responsibilities on the field; they have to contain runners with the ball to the inside - no one should get to their outside. They must be able to shed blockers to get to the ball and make tackles behind the line, as well as shut down screen passes. Most importantly they have to pressure quarterbacks on passing plays, either sacking them for a loss or hurrying them into throwing an incompletion or interception.

Some of the Vikings' defensive ends have been the best in NFL history. Here are the top ten:
 

10) Neil Elshire: From 1981-1986 Elshire appeared in 63 games, starting 27, and registered 19 QB sacks in six seasons, with a high of 9.5 in 1983.

9) Ray Edwards: In five seasons from 2006-2010 Edwards played in 72 games, starting 58, and recorded 29.5 sacks, with 8.5 coming in 2009.

8) Al Noga: Scoring two touchdowns on one interception and three fumble recoveries, Noga had 29.5 QB sacks in five years from 1988-1992, with 11.5 in 1989. He played in 73 games, starting 56.

7) Brian Robison: In eleven seasons from 2007-2017 Robison has played in 173 games, starting 103. He has registered 60 QB sacks, forced 13 fumbles, and recovered 8.

6) Everson Griffen: Named to three Pro Bowls in eight seasons from 2010-2017, Griffen has played in 121 games, starting 63. He has 61 sacks, forced 9 fumbles and recovered 6, returning one for a TD, and also intercepted one pass, running it in for a score.

5) Doug Martin: A former first round pick, Martin started and ended his career with the team on controversial notes, but was a pretty good player on the field in ten seasons from 1980-1989. He played in 126 games, starting 94, and recorded 60.5 sacks and 7 fumble recoveries.

4) Jared Allen: Named to the Pro Bowl four times in his six years with the team from 2008-2013, Allen's 88.5 sacks place him sixth in team history. He also intercepted 4 passes, forced 16 fumbles, recovered 9, and registered 4 safeties while starting all 96 games he appeared in at right end.

3) Chris Doleman: A six time Pro Bowl selection, Doleman played in 154 games, starting 142, in 10 seasons with the Vikings from 1985-1993 and 1999. He leads the team with 33 forced fumbles, is fifth in sacks with 96.5, sixth in fumble recoveries with 16, and seventh in tackles-for-loss with 60. He also intercepted five passes, scored two touchdowns, and recorded two safeties.

2) Jim Marshall: Starting all 270 games in which he played as a Viking at right defensive end from 1961-1979, Marshall is second in team history with 127 QB sacks, first with 29 fumble recoveries, and fourth in tackle-for-loss with 74. A two time Pro Bowl selection, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

1) Carl Eller: The team's all-time leader in QB sacks with 130, Eller was selected to six Pro Bowls. He ranks second in tackles-for-loss with 87, second in fumble recoveries with 23, and seventh in forced fumbles with 15. He also blocked 15 kicks. Eller played in 209 games, fourth in team history, and started 201 from 1964-1978. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2004, an honor that was long overdue. Eller is the best defensive end in Vikings' history as well as one of the NFL's all-time bests.

 

 

The best individual seasons for Minnesota Vikings' defensive players

It can be difficult to measure a defensive player's season statistically, since a variety of factors can affect the numbers of a lineman, linebacker or defensive back. Also, some stats such as sacks were recorded by teams but not recognized as official by the NFL. So for this article available statistics, honors such as being named to the Pro Bowl, and the team's overall success during the season were considered. Since some players have had more than a few outstanding seasons, only one season has been included for each player.

10) Bobby Bryant, CB, 1973: A key player on a Vikings defense that dominated opponents, Bryant led the unit with 7 pass interceptions, returning them for 105 yards and one touchdown, plus returning another pick for a score in the NFC championship game that sealed a win against the Cowboys.

9) John Randle, DT, 1997: Constantly disrupting opponents, Randle's play helped shut down offense's running games and harassed quarterbacks. He led the NFL with 15.5 sacks, which was also his career high. Randle also forced two fumbles and recovered two while being named to the Pro Bowl and first team All-Pro.

8) Carl Lee, CB, 1988: Part of one of the best defensive units in franchise history, Lee intercepted 8 passes, returning them for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He was named first team All-Pro and was selected to the Pro Bowl.

7) Paul Krause, S, 1975: The NFL's career leader in interceptions, Krause picked off a career high 10 passes, returning them 201 yards for the NFL's number one ranked defense in 1975. He was selected to the Pro Bowl and first team All-Pro.

6) Jim Marshall, DE, 1969: Selected to the Pro Bowl as part of one of the best defenses in NFL history that shut down the run and hurried quarterbacks, Marshall registered 14 sacks in 14 games. He also recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pass.

5) Jared Allen, DE, 2011: The Vikings single season leader in sacks with 22, Allen also forced 4 fumbles, recovered 4, intercepted a pass and recorded a safety. What is most impressive is that he reached these numbers without a strong supporting cast around him, unlike most of the others on this list. Named first team All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl.

4) Keith Millard, DT, 1989: Named the NFL's defensive player of year for this season, Millard stuffed the run and sacked the quarterback 18 times, to go along with an interception and fumble recovery. Among his many postseason honors was a selection to the Pro Bowl and first team All-Pro.

3) Chris Doleman, DE, 1989: A major piece of the Vikings strong defenses in the late 1980's, Doleman recorded 21 sacks from his right end position. He also forced 5 fumbles and recovered another 5 balls. Selected to the Pro Bowl and named first team All-Pro.

2) Carl Eller, DE, 1969: Eller had a number of great seasons for the Vikings so it's difficult to select one. He recorded double digit sack numbers five years in a row from 1973-1977; and in 1977 he had 86 total tackles and 17 sacks - his career high - in a 14 game season, plus three more in the NFC championship game against the Cowboys. But 1969 may have been his most dominant season. He had 15 sacks and was part of a defense that allowed only 133 total points. Eller was named to eight post-season first-team all star teams, including the Pro Bowl and All-Pro.

1) Alan Page, DT, 1971: Like Eller, it's difficult to pick any one best season for Page. In 1971 he became the first defensive player to win the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. To date only one other defender has won the MVP award - Lawrence Taylor. In 1969 Page was part of one of the best defenses in NFL history, pressuring quarterbacks and making tackles behind the line of scrimmage. In 1970 he recorded 10.5 sacks and recovered 6 fumbles; in 1974 he had 146 total tackles, impressive for an interior lineman, plus 13 sacks. In 1975 he also registered 13 sacks and forced 7 fumbles, the Vikings' single season record. In 1976 he recorded 19 sacks in a 14 game season to go along with 121 total tackles. So we'll go with his MVP season as his best.

sources for statistics: http://min.scout.com/
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/

Vikings would have been better off trading Peterson, Allen

The rumors swirled for days but trade deadline came and went without the Vikings trading defensive end Jared Allen. Too bad.  Although it's unlikely anyone would have given up a first round pick for a two month player rental, it would have been great if Minnesota had landed a first rounder for Allen. 

The Vikings have many holes, since general manager Rick Spielman and his scouting crew have swung and missed on too many draft picks and free agents in the past few years, so any additional help through the draft would have been useful for next year.

What would have been even better if the Vikings had been able to pull off a Herschel Walker type of trade. If I was Minnesota's GM and another team had offered their first, second, and third round picks for 2014, 2015, and 2016, I would have taken it.  It would be better for the Vikings to add more good players to their roster, instead of relying on one extraordinary player to do everything for them.  Adrian Peterson may be the greatest running back in NFL history, but the Vikings are still mired at the bottom of the league with a 1-7 record.

The Cowboys were able to draft outstanding players because of the Vikings generosity twenty four years ago, and won two Super Bowls as a result. Too bad no one out there in NFL land is as stupid today as former Vikings GM Mike Lynn was back in 1989.

Vikings' coaches are dumb

Being a Minnesota Viking fan can drive a person crazy. Only the Chicago Cubs can be a more difficult team to root for.
 

Sunday's 27-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys is just another excruciating loss for the Vikings. What is hard to understand, as usual, is the thinking of the coaches. Why defensive coordinators slack off at the end of games when they have a lead is beyond me. They allow the opposing team to march down the field and score seemingly at will. Why not just keep playing the same way the entire game. Rushing more guys and keeping pressure on Tony Romo would have made more sense than trying to cover all the Cowboys receivers, especially since the Vikings were missing safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Chris Cook to injuries.
 

Why would head coach Leslie Frazier opt to try the Cowboys offsides on a 4th down, instead of letting kicker Blair Walsh try a 54 yard field goal? The fact that Walsh pushed an extra point attempt wide does not matter. Walsh is recovered from his hamstring injury and has made field goals over 50 yards look routine. It would have made more sense to just let the offense go for it on that 4th down instead of trying to draw the Cowboys offsides.
 

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave continues his conservative play calling, making us wonder what he's thinking. Tackle Phil Loadholt is 6'8" and weighs 345 pounds, yet can't move anyone off the line.
 

Defensive coordinator Alan Williams said last week he wasn't "changing anything" despite the fact the Vikings' defense is at the bottom of the league in most statistical categories and the team is sporting a 1-7 record.
 

Rick Spielman and his scouting staff have obviously swung and missed on some players - Josh Robinson, Brandon Fusco, Charlie Johnson, John Carlson, Toby Gerhart, Erin Henderson, and Mistral Raymond to name a few - haven't amounted to much and are some reasons why the team has only won one game so far this season.

 
If Frazier and his crew don't win some games during the second half of this season, it's time they, along with Spielman, be shown the door in January, and Vikings fans will have to once again look to the future for some hope.

Minnesota Vikings are a lost cause

Only the Chicago Cubs can come close to the agony that the Minnesota Vikings put their fans through.

I doubt if we'll ever know the truth behind the recent signing of quarterback Josh Freeman.

Was it ordered by owner Zygi Wilf, because Wilf was disgusted with the team's quarterback play, namely Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel? Did Wilf instruct head coach Leslie Frazier to start Freeman, even though he wasn't ready to play even at the minimum level required for a professional quarterback?

Did Frazier want Freeman on the team because he's a black quarterback? Did Frazier start Freeman because he's a black quarterback?

Did general manager Rick Spielman and the scouting staff push to sign Freeman because of his impressive physical tools?  Scouts tend to get excited about athletic players - even if they have lousy on-field statistics.  He's got a cannon for an arm - so what if he only completed 40% of his passes in a season.

Freeman overthrew his receivers so many time in Monday Night's loss to the Giants he must have thought they were all eight feet tall.

At the start of the season I was optimistic and thought the Vikings would go 11-5 and reach the playoffs, although probably not get past the first round. Now I'm not so optimistic. I'm afraid Viking fans might be looking at another 3-13 season.

Minnesota has talented players who are not playing up to their potential (see cornerbacks Josh Robinson and Chris Cook), were over-rated by the coaches and scouts (see quarterback Christian Ponder and guard Brandon Fusco), or just aren't that good in the first place (see offensive tackle Phil Loadholt and guard Charlie Johnson).

It's time for the  coaches to scrap the Tampa-2 defense, which clearly isn't working anymore, either due to the scheme itself or because the team doesn't have the right players to operate it effectively.

The offense has no creativity at all. The play calling was conservative and boring even before Freeman's start on Monday.

Maybe this team needs new ownership (again) to go along with a new GM, scouts and coaches. For now Viking fans can only dream about the day when their team will be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Vikings, Spielman made dumb move in releasing Winfield

Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has made some decent draft picks in the last couple of years (Harrison Smith, Matt Kalil) but made a huge mistake in releasing cornerback Antoine Winfield this past winter. Winfield played well in 2012 and probably had one more good year in him at age 36. Perhaps if the Vikings had approached him when the season ended about restructuring his contract for 2013, he would have been agreeable.

Instead Spielman made a classless move by calling Winfield upstairs while he was working out at the team's facility and unceremoniously dumped him. 

The Vikings could have adjusted Winfield's contract and remained under the salary cap, and still added the players that they did.

Now the team is 0-3, and the defense ranks 28th in the NFL against the pass. Toss in an injury to cornerback Chris Cook, and Minnesota now has a problem in the secondary.

Didn't have to be that way. Some days I just wonder how guys like Spielman get their jobs.

At least Frazier takes blame for latest Vikings debacle

Minnesota Vikings' fans ought to be used to losing games like Sunday's last second loss to the Chicago Bears. Even with a number of big plays, the Vikings still managed to lose somehow.

Jared Allen's sack and forced fumble of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler led to Brian Robison scooping up the fumble and racing down the field to score a touchdown. What a great play. Almost as good as Carl Eller and Jim Marshall of the old Purple People Eaters.

Letroy Guion's stripping the football off Bears running back Matt Forte was another awesome play. Cordarelle Patterson's 105 yard kickoff return to start the game was magnificent. Harrison Smith's interception of a Cutler pass was a thing of beauty, as he leaped into the air and snared the ball in front of the receiver. Just like Bobby Bryant and Paul Krause used to do.

Yet the Vikings still lost the game. Head coach Leslie Frazier told reporters afterwards, “That last two-minute sequence I could have done some things different. I told our players after the game, as a staff I don’t think we could have asked for any better preparation, any better fight from our team. But personally I have to do a better job in guiding our team in that last sequence and I wanted them to know that. At the end of the day, there were some things that I didn’t do in my role that could have helped our football team."

Frazier declined to get into specifics, but he said the personnel on the field for the Bears’ last meaningful drive wasn’t the problem.

“There were some things we could have done differently strategically and that’s my fault,” Frazier said.

OK.

The thing I'll never understand is, with a team like the Vikings, they have 23 assistant coaches. They practice and prepare for a week.  Then on game day the coaches don't make the right decisions?  Maybe having 23 assistant coaches is too many. What are all these guys doing?  Maybe there's so many X's and O' floating around out there that everyone is too confused to act.

An NFL training camp practice battle to watch: Minnesota Vikings' OT Matt Kalil vs. DE Jared Allen

The Minnesota Vikings' first round draft pick, offensive tackle Matt Kalil, is entering the NFL as the top-ranked lineman from the 2012 draft. It will be interesting to see how he fares in practice against All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen, the league leader in quarterback sacks with 22 last season.

Before the draft some scouts believed USC's Kalil was close to perfect as a blocker, and one of the most complete offensive tackles to come out of college since Tony Boselli - also from USC - who was the second player selected in the 1995 draft by Jacksonville.

Once the helmets and pads go on in July, the rookie will be tested by one of the best pass rushers - and all around ends - in the game today. Allen will undoubtedly make Kalil look less than perfect during training camp practices. But if Kalil can just hold his own against Allen, Vikings fans will have hope that the rookie will be able stand up against most opponents in the regular season.

The Kalil-Allen matchup will probably be reminiscent of practice battles in past years between Vikings' linemen. In the 1990's offensive guard Randall McDaniel and defensive tackle John Randle went head to head, and in the 1970's offensive tackle Ron Yary and defensive end Carl Eller lined up against each other.

All four of those players are now in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Vikings fans are hoping that Kalil and Allen will play up to the same high standards. If they do, Minnesota will be on its way to improving last season's 3-13 record. And, the future will look bright with Kalil at the key position of left offensive tackle. Last year's number one draft pick, quarterback Christian Ponder, won't have to worry as much knowing that his blind side is protected.



source for statistics: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/http://www.nfl.com/http://www.vikings.com/