List of Minnesota Vikings first-round draft picks

The Minnesota Vikings joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1961. The Vikings' first draft selection as an NFL team was Tommy Mason, a running back from Tulane University. The team's most recent first-round selection is Jordan Addison, a wide receiver from the University of Southern California.

Adrian Peterson, the Vikings' seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft.

Every April, each NFL franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through a collegiate draft known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", more commonly known as the NFL draft. Teams are ranked in reverse order based on the previous season's record, with team with the worst record picking first, the team with the second-worst record picking second, and so on. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always picks last and the Super Bowl loser always picks second-last. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.

The Vikings have selected number one overall twice. The Vikings received the first pick in 1961 as an expansion franchise and then again in 1968 when the franchise chose Ron Yary, an offensive tackle from the University of Southern California. The Vikings have used first-round selections on players from the University of Southern California five times, Michigan State University four times, and from the University of Notre Dame, Oklahoma State University, Ohio State University, Florida State University and North Carolina State University three times. The Vikings have drafted 10 running backs, the most common position drafted by the franchise, followed by defensive end (9), defensive tackle (8), defensive back (8) and wide receiver (8). Six eventual Hall of Famers have been selected by the Vikings in the first-round: Carl Eller, Alan Page, Chris Doleman, Randall McDaniel, Ron Yary and Randy Moss.^[1]

Key

B	Back	K	Kicker	NT	Nose tackle
C	Center	LB	Linebacker	FB	Fullback
DB	Defensive back	P	Punter	HB	Halfback
DE	Defensive end	QB	Quarterback	WR	Wide receiver
DT	Defensive tackle	RB	Running back	G	Guard
E	End	T	Offensive tackle	TE	Tight end
^	Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
§	Enshrined in the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
†	Indicates the player was selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.
*	Selected number one overall
—	The Vikings did not draft a player in the first round that year.
Year	Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft.
Pick	Indicates the number of the pick within the first round
Position	The player's position
College	The player's college football team

Player selections

Minnesota Vikings first-round draft picks
Year	Pick	Player name	Position	College	Notes
National Football League, Early Era (1950–1969)
1961	1	Tommy Mason † *	RB	Tulane
1962	No pick				^[2]
1963	3	Jim Dunaway	T	Ole Miss	^[3]
1964	6	Carl Eller † § ^	DE	Minnesota
1965	8	Jack Snow	WR	Notre Dame	^[4]
1966	7	Jerry Shay	DT	Purdue
1967	2	Clinton Jones	RB	Michigan State	^[5]
	8	Gene Washington †	WR	Michigan State
	15	Alan Page † § ^	DT	Notre Dame	^[6]
1968	1	Ron Yary † § ^ *	T	USC	^[5]
1969	No pick				^[7]
National Football League, Modern Era (1970–present)
1970	25	John Ward	T	Oklahoma State
1971	24	Leo Hayden	RB	Ohio State
1972	10	Jeff Siemon †	LB	Stanford	^[8]
1973	12	Chuck Foreman † §	RB	Miami (FL)
1974	17	Fred McNeill	LB	UCLA	^[9]
1974	25	Steve Riley	T	USC
1975	25	Mark Mullaney	DE	Colorado State
1976	25	James White	DT	Oklahoma State
1977	27	Tommy Kramer †	QB	Rice
1978	21	Randy Holloway	DE	Pittsburgh
1979	16	Ted Brown	RB	NC State
1980	9	Doug Martin	DT	Washington
1981	No pick				^[10]
1982	7	Darrin Nelson	RB	Stanford
1983	19	Joey Browner † §	DB	USC
1984	13	Keith Millard †	DE	Washington State
1984*	13	Allanda Smith	CB	TCU	^[11]
1985	4	Chris Doleman † § ^	LB	Pittsburgh	^[12]
1986	14	Gerald Robinson	DE	Auburn	^[13]
1987	14	D. J. Dozier	RB	Penn State	^[14]
1988	19	Randall McDaniel † § ^	G	Arizona State
1989	No pick				^[15]
1990	No pick				^[16]
1991	No pick				^[16]
1992	No pick				^[16]
1993	21	Robert Smith †	RB	Ohio State
1994	18	Dewayne Washington	CB	NC State	^[17]
1994	19	Todd Steussie †	T	California
1995	11	Derrick Alexander	DE	Florida State	^[18]
1995	24	Korey Stringer † §	T	Ohio State
1996	16	Duane Clemons	LB	California
1997	20	Dwayne Rudd	LB	Alabama
1998	21	Randy Moss † § ^	WR	Marshall
1999	11	Daunte Culpepper †	QB	UCF	^[19]
1999	29	Dimitrius Underwood	DE	Michigan State
2000	25	Chris Hovan	DT	Boston College
2001	27	Michael Bennett †	RB	Wisconsin
2002	7	Bryant McKinnie †	T	Miami (FL)
2003	9	Kevin Williams †	DT	Oklahoma State	^[20]
2004	20	Kenechi Udeze	DE	USC	^[21]
2005	7	Troy Williamson	WR	South Carolina	^[22]
2005	18	Erasmus James	DE	Wisconsin
2006	17	Chad Greenway †	LB	Iowa
2007	7	Adrian Peterson †	RB	Oklahoma
2008	No pick				^[23]
2009	22	Percy Harvin †	WR	Florida
2010	No pick				^[24]
2011	12	Christian Ponder	QB	Florida State
2012	4	Matt Kalil †	T	USC	^[25]
2012	29	Harrison Smith †	S	Notre Dame	^[26]
2013	23	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida
	25	Xavier Rhodes †	CB	Florida State	^[27]
	29	Cordarrelle Patterson †	WR	Tennessee	^[28]
2014	9	Anthony Barr †	LB	UCLA	^[29]
2014	32	Teddy Bridgewater †	QB	Louisville	^[30]
2015	11	Trae Waynes	CB	Michigan State
2016	23	Laquon Treadwell	WR	Ole Miss
2017	No pick				^[31]
2018	30	Mike Hughes	CB	UCF
2019	18	Garrett Bradbury	C	NC State
2020	22	Justin Jefferson †	WR	LSU
2020	31	Jeff Gladney	CB	TCU
2021	23	Christian Darrisaw	T	Virginia Tech
2022	32	Lewis Cine	S	Georgia
2023	23	Jordan Addison	WR	USC
2024	10	J. J. McCarthy	QB	Michigan
2024	17	Dallas Turner	DE	Alabama

By college

College	Draftees
USC	6
Michigan State	4
Notre Dame	3
Oklahoma State	3
Ohio State	3
Florida State	3
NC State	3
Stanford	2
Miami (FL)	2
UCLA	2
Pittsburgh	2
California	2
Wisconsin	2
Florida	2
Ole Miss	2
UCF	2
TCU	2
Alabama	2
23 colleges	1

By position

Position	Draftees
Running back	10
Defensive back	9
Defensive end	10
Defensive tackle	9
Wide receiver	9
Offensive tackle	8
Linebacker	7
Quarterback	5
Guard	1
Center	1

Footnotes

References

Alder, James. "NFL Draft Basics: Determining Order of Selection". football.about.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
"Draft History – Minnesota Vikings". NFL.com. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
"Minnesota Vikings Draft History". DatabaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
"Pro Football Draft History". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
"Draft by Year". DraftHistory.com. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
"Hall of Famers by Franchise". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 19, 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
"Minnesota Vikings". Sports E-cyclopedia. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
"Professional Football Transactions Archives". NC Systems. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.

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