Top 10 Minnesota Vikings Defensive Ends

After the tragic events of this weekend, it’s difficult to go on with this time-passing exercise. I guess a return to normalcy is necessary. So, the defense is up next. 

Ever since the Purple People Eaters of the late 1960s and 1970s, the Minnesota Vikings have a very good to great defensive tradition. Starting with the defensive ends, here’s a look at some of the players that make up that tradition.

Top 10 Minnesota Vikings Defensive Ends

1.   Carl Eller (1964-78)

2.   Chris Doleman (1985-93,99)

3.   Jared Allen (2008-13)

4.   Danielle Hunter (2015-23)

5.   Jim Marshall (1961-79)

6.   Everson Griffen (2010-19, 21)

7.   Brian Robison (2007-17)

8.   Doug Martin (1980-89)

9.   Mark Mullaney (1975-86)

10. Lance Johnstone (2001-05)

Carl Eller and Chris Doleman are in the Hall of Fame. Jared Allen should’ve joined them this summer and will probably join them next summer. Danielle Hunter is putting together a Canton-worthy career. Then there’s Jim Marshall. He’s been on the Hall’s wait list for so long that it’s bordering on the ridiculous. 

Speaking of Hall of Fame waits, Carl Eller had about a 20-year wait. You look at his career and accolades and have to wonder, “how can that be?”. 

1970s First-team All-Decade

5x 1st-team All-Pro

6x Pro Bowl

He also made 2nd-team All-Pro in a year he didn’t make the Pro Bowl

3x Top-10 in MVP voting

2nd to teammate Alan Page in the 1971 Defensive Player of the Year voting

A player has a career of that quality today and he’s probably going into the Hall on his first vote. Eller’s 20-year wait is one of the great mysteries of that voting process. 

On a Christmas night in 1989, I had a pretty good idea that Chris Doleman would end up in Canton. That was the night that he ran past and through Cincinnati Bengals all-everything tackle Anthony Munoz. He finished with 21 sacks that season. 

Jared Allen topped Doleman’s 21 sacks with 22 in 2011. The trade for Allen in 2008 was one of the best in Vikings franchise history. He was the final piece to an emerging defense. The defensive line of Allen, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, and Ray Edwards rivaled that of the Purple People Eaters. 

It was a damn sad day to see Danielle Hunter sign with the Houston Texans this offseason. He had a brilliant eight-year career in Minnesota. He sat behind Brian Robison for a couple seasons. Despite playing limited snaps, he collected 12.5 sacks in his second season. There was no sitting after that. If he hadn’t missed all of the 2020 and most of the 2021 seasons, he would’ve collected over 100 sacks in those eight years. Five years after his career is done, there will be a Hall of Fame argument for Hunter. 

There’s been about a 40-year Hall of Fame argument for Jim Marshall. This is a very sensitive subject for Vikings fans. They see no argument. It’s sensitive because Marshall might be the most important player of the team’s first 20 years. He was the heart, soul, and leader of the great Vikings teams that went to four Super Bowls. He was also a great football player. 

Everson Griffen’s career was interesting. He sat behind Jared Allen for his first four years. And Allen rarely came off the field. Despite playing very limited snaps, everyone could see Griffen’s talent. The Vikings tried him at linebacker one training camp just to get him on the field. He was a gunner on punts. A 275-pound gunner! His first year as a starter was the first year of his second contract. He received a big second contract despite never having been a full-time player. He showed immediately that he deserved the payday. He was one of the league’s best pass rushers for the rest of his career. 

Brian Robison played all of his 11 seasons in Minnesota. Fitting, as he was always and always will be a fan favorite. He was the less heralded member of a 2007 Vikings draft class that included Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice. Robison’s career would be a lot like his status in that draft class. Initially, he played behind Ray Edwards for four years. Then he played in the shadow of Jared Allen and Everson Griffen. He even played in the shadow of Danielle Hunter while starting ahead of him. Through it all, Robison was a very good and productive football player. 

Doug Martin and Mark Mullaney had the misfortune of being drafted to replace legends. Even though I thought and hoped that Carl Eller and Jim Marshall would play forever, their great Vikings careers were going to eventually end. It was hoped that Martin and Mullaney would simply continue the team’s great defensive tradition. Those are brutal expectations. Martin got off to a decent start. His 11.5 sacks in the strike-shortened 1982 season led the league. He followed that up with 13 sacks in 1983. Sack-wise those were the best of his 10 years in Minnesota. He had a couple nine-sack years later in the decade. Mullaney’s career was a little less productive be he was a strong contributor on the defensive line for all of his 11-year career.

Lance Johnstone edged out Al Noga and Ray Edwards for #10. I decided that he had a greater impact in fewer snaps. Johnstone is one of the Vikings most underrated free agent signings. He played in Minnesota from 2001-05. His only season as a full-time starter was 2002. He was the definition of a designated pass rusher. He collected 41 sacks over those five years. He had 10 sacks 2003 and 11 in 2004. He was an impact pass rusher for the Vikings.