Once they crawled out of their early expansion days, the Vikings have remarkably been a consistently contending team. Over the past seven decades, losing seasons have been few and winning seasons have been many. The consistent success is remarkable because the Vikings always seem to be looking for a franchise quarterback. The only franchise quarterback in team history was Fran Tarkenton. He was drafted in the third round of the 1961 NFL Draft, the first draft in franchise history. Tarkenton was great. He was so great that the Vikings traded him away after the 1966 season. It’s rare for a team with no titles to have “glory days” but the Vikings had some. Those great years started not so much with Tarkenton’s departure as Bud Grant’s arrival as head coach. Within three years, Grant had the Vikings in the Super Bowl. The late ‘60s, early ‘70s Vikings were among the best teams in the league. The only thing missing from those teams was a franchise quarterback. To fix that problem, the Vikings traded for Fran Tarkenton. The only franchise quarterback in team history guided the Vikings to three more Super Bowls. Tarkenton retired after the 1978 season. He retired as the holder of every league career passing record. He held those records longer than any quarterback ever has. He has a bust in Canton. The Vikings have been looking for their next franchise quarterback since Tarkenton retired in 1978. When it looked like they’d found that quarterback, an incredible run of bad luck took that quarterback away.
Since their first season in 1961, the Vikings have selected five quarterbacks in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Tommy Kramer (1977)
Daunte Culpepper (1999)
Christian Ponder (2011)
Teddy Bridgewater (2014)
J.J. McCarthy (2024)
Tommy Kramer was always fun and often great when he was on the field. He wasn’t on the field enough. Daunte Culpepper was on an upward trajectory until a knee injury ended his time in Minnesota. Christian Ponder was drafted to be a quarterback that he never had the talent to be. As with Culpepper, a horrible knee injury ended whatever future Teddy Bridgewater might’ve had with the Vikings. Each of the four quarterbacks was drafted to be the next great Vikings quarterback. Three showed great potential and the fourth was Ponder. Now, we come to J.J. McCarthy. He lost his rookie season to a torn meniscus last summer. At least publicly, the plan wasn’t for McCarthy to start as a rookie. At least publicly, the plan was for former high-pick, now journeyman Sam Darnold to be the starting quarterback in 2024. That was then. The plan is for J.J. McCarthy to be the Vikings 44th starting quarterback. He must stay on the field. For the entirety of his long, great career.
Considering that Tarkenton is the Vikings all-time franchise quarterback, it’s shocking that the team traded him away. At least the same decision-makers had the bright idea to bring him back five years later.
43 quarterbacks. Here are those quarterbacks.
1961:
George Shaw (4)
Fran Tarkenton (10)
1962
Fran Tarkenton (14)
1963:
Fran Tarkenton (13)
Ron Vander Kelen (1)
1964:
Fran Tarkenton ((14)
1965:
Fran Tarkenton (14)
1966:
Fran Tarkenton (12)
Ron Vander Kelen (1)
Bob Berry (1)
1967:
Joe Kapp (11)
Ron Vander Kelen (3)
1968:
Joe Kapp (14)
1969:
Joe Kapp (13)
Gary Couzzo (1)
1970:
Gary Couzzo (12)
Bob Lee (2)
1971:
Gary Couzzo (8)
Bob Lee (4)
Norm Snead (2)
1972:
Fran Tarkenton (14)
1973:
Fran Tarkenton (14)
1974:
Fran Tarkenton (13)
Bob Berry (1)
1975:
Fran Tarkenton (14)
1976:
Fran Tarkenton (13)
Bob Lee (1)
1977:
Fran Tarkenton (9)
Bob Lee (4)
Tommy Kramer (1)
1978:
Fran Tarkenton (16)
1979:
Tommy Kramer (16)
1980:
Tommy Kramer (15)
Steve Dils (1)
1981:
Tommy Kramer (14)
Steve Dils (2)
1982:
Tommy Kramer (9)
1983:
Steve Dils (12)
Tommy Kramer (3)
Wade Wilson (1)
1984:
Tommy Kramer (9)
Wade Wilson (5)
Archie Manning (2)
1985:
Tommy Kramer (15)
Wade Wilson (1)
1986:
Tommy Kramer (13)
Wade Wilson (3)
1987:
Wade Wilson (7)
Tony Adams (3) - replacement games
Tommy Kramer (5)
1988:
Wade Wilson (10)
Tommy Kramer (6)
1989:
Wade Wilson (12)
Tommy Kramer (4)
1990:
Rich Gannon (12)
Wade Wilson (4)
1991:
Rich Gannon (11)
Wade Wilson (5)
1992:
Rich Gannon (12)
Sean Salisbury (4)
1993:
Jim McMahon (12)
Sean Salisbury (4)
1994:
Warren Moon (15)
Sean Salisbury (1)
1995:
Warren Moon (16)
1996:
Warren Moon (8)
Brad Johnson (8)
1997:
Brad Johnson (13)
Randall Cunningham (3)
1998:
Randall Cunningham (14)
Brad Johnson (2)
1999:
Jeff George (10)
Randall Cunningham (6)
2000:
Daunte Culpepper (16)
2001:
Daunte Culpepper (11)
Spergon Wynn (2)
Todd Bouman (3)
2002:
Daunte Culpepper (16)
2003:
Daunte Culpepper (14)
Gus Frerotte (2)
2004:
Daunte Culpepper (16)
2005:
Daunte Culpepper (7)
Brad Johnson (9)
2006:
Brad Johnson (14)
Tarvaris Jackson (2)
2007:
Tarvaris Jackson (12)
Kelly Holcomb (3)
Brooks Bollinger (1)
2008:
Gus Frerotte (11)
Tarvaris Jackson (5)
2009:
Brett Favre (16)
2010:
Brett Favre (13)
Tarvaris Jackson (1)
Joe Webb (2)
2011:
Donovan McNabb (6)
Christian Ponder (10)
2012:
Christian Ponder (16)
2013:
Christian Ponder (9)
Josh Freeman (1)
Matt Cassel (6)
2014:
Matt Cassel (3)
Teddy Bridgewater (12)
Christian Ponder (1)
2015:
Teddy Bridgewater (16)
2016:
Shaun Hill (1)
Sam Bradford (15)
2017:
Sam Bradford (2)
Case Keenum (14)
2018:
Kirk Cousins (16)
2019:
Kirk Cousins (15)
Sean Mannion (1)
2020:
Kirk Cousins (16)
2021:
Kirk Cousins (16)
Sean Mannion (1)
2022:
Kirk Cousins (17)
2023:
Kirk Cousins (8)
Jaren Hall (2)
Josh Dobbs (4)
Nick Mullens (3)
2024:
Sam Darnold (17)
43 Quarterbacks:
George Shaw
Fran Tarkenton
Ron Vander Kelen
Bob Berry
Joe Kapp
Gary Couzzo
Bob Lee
Norm Snead
Tommy Kramer
Steve Dils
Wade Wilson
Archie Manning
Tony Adams - replacement games
Rich Gannon
Sean Salisbury
Jim McMahon
Warren Moon
Brad Johnson
Randall Cunningham
Jeff George
Daunte Culpepper
Spergon Wynn
Todd Bouman
Gus Frerotte
Tarvaris Jackson
Kelly Holcomb
Brooks Bollinger
Brett Favre
Joe Webb
Donovan McNabb
Christian Ponder
Josh Freeman
Matt Cassel
Teddy Bridgewater
Shaun Hill
Sam Bradford
Case Keenum
Kirk Cousins
Sean Mannion
Jaren Hall
Josh Dobbs
Nick Mullens
Sam Darnold
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