100 Greatest Minnesota Vikings Players: 90-81

The Flea Flicker countdown of the 100 Greatest Minnesota Vikings Players continues with players ranked 90-81. 

100 Greatest Minnesota Vikings Players: 90-81

  90. Lance Johnstone, DE

  89. David Dixon, OG

  88. Paul Flatley, WR

  87. Paul Dickson, DT

  86. Ted Brown, RB

  85. Darrin Nelson, RB

  84. Ben Leber, LB

  83. Milt Sunde, OG

  82. Rickey Young, RB

  81. Joe Kapp, QB

Lance Johnstone was an underrated free agent signing. The Vikings really had no pass rushing presence after John Randle left following the 2000 season. Johnstone signed in 2001 and started sacking quarterbacks. His best seasons were as a situational pass rusher. 

The Vikings have a strong receiver tradition. Paul Flatley started that. He was the first Vikings receiver to take home Rookie of the Year honors. His five years in Minnesota weren’t nearly enough. 

Darrin Nelson might be best remembered by Vikings fans for not being Marcus Allen. I’m not sure if the Vikings decision-makers had Chuck Foreman in mind when they drafted him over Allen. Nelson might’ve been that sort of player at Stanford. He wasn’t built to be that sort of player in the NFL. I always liked Nelson but he was never going to be the type of running back that the Vikings drafted him to be. 

Ben Leber was an easy football player to like. He was always steady. He was always around the ball. And he made a lot of big plays. He was the third linebacker to EJ Henderson and Chad Greenway. That was a great linebacking trio. Leber may have been the trio leader in big plays. 

Rickey Young is probably higher on my list than most lists of Vikings greats. He was an excellent pass-catching back. His best rushing season was 1979 with 708 yards. His reception totals were ridiculous for a back. 88, 72, and 64 over his first three years in Minnesota. His 88 receptions in 1978 led the league.  

With his recent passing in mind, #82 feels way too low for Joe Kapp. He was such a pivotal player in the Vikings evolution from an expansion team to an annual contender. Kapp was the Cal football coach during my school days on the Berkeley campus. He’s a personal favorite due to his playing and coaching days at Cal and his too-brief playing career with the Vikings. He was never the prettiest quarterback (other than his 7-touchdown day) but he sure was a fun quarterback.