No. 1
Adrian Peterson (2007-16)
11,747 yards
97 touchdowns
No. 2
Robert Smith (1993-00)
6,818 yards
32 touchdowns
No.3
Chuck Foreman (1973-79)
5,887 yards
52 touchdowns
No. 4
Bill Brown (1962-74)
5,757 yards
52 touchdowns
No. 5
Ted Brown (1979-86)
4,546 yards
40 touchdowns
No. 6
Dave Osborn (1965-75)
4,320 yards
29 touchdowns
No.7
Darrin Nelson (1982-89, '91-92)
4,231 yards
18 touchdowns
No. 8
Tommy Mason (1961-66)
3,252 yards
28 touchdowns
No. 9
Michael Bennett (2001-05)
3,174 yards
12 touchdowns
No. 10
Chester Taylor (2006-09)
2,797 yards
18 touchdowns
***
When scanning through the Top 10 rushing leaders in the Vikings' history, the first thing that jumps out to me is that seven of the ten were first round picks. Including the very first pick in franchise history, Tommy Mason. He was also the first pick in the 1961 NFL Draft. The three that weren't first round picks:
Bill Brown: acquired from Bears in 1962
Dave Osborn: 13th round pick in 1965
Chester Taylor: free agent in 2006
It's easy to feel bad for Chester Taylor. His first four seasons in the league were with the Baltimore Ravens. He waited behind Jamal Lewis for his chance to play. He finally got the chance to be the #1 back for a team when the Vikings signed him in free agency. He had a fine 2006 season in Minnesota as he ran for 1,216 yards. Then the Vikings selected Adrian Peterson in the 2007 NFL Draft.
Dalvin Cook is 693 yards from bumping Taylor from this list. If Cook improves only slightly on his breakout 2019 season, he would pass Mason for #8. Here's hoping that Cook is in Minnesota long enough to join Adrian Peterson at the top.
Ted Brown is very underrated in Vikings' rushing history. Talk of Minnesota runners focuses on Peterson, Chuck Foreman, and Robert Smith. Bill Brown, Dave Osborn, and to a lesser extent Mason get attention from the old-timers as the best of the team's first decade-plus. Ted Brown gets little attention but he was a productive back. Unfortunately, he was drafted to replace Foreman. That's an unfortunate task.
Speaking of Foreman. Jim Marshall is the player that most Vikings' fans consider to be the biggest Pro Football Hall of Fame snub. For me, that player is probably Foreman. He was great for 5-plus years. He was the most versatile back, if not the best back, in the league for at least four years. In 1975, Foreman was six rushing yards short of leading the NFC in rushing, receptions, and touchdowns. No back has ever come so close to such a thing.
Adrian Peterson. How can you speak on the best backs in Vikings' franchise history without speaking on Adrian Peterson. He was a beast. If the 2014 season hadn't been yanked from him by the commissioner, his franchise rushing totals would top 13,000. With his running style it's incredible that he mostly avoided injuries. That durability was just one of the traits that made him great. He spent half of his ridiculous 2012 MVP season coping with a sports hernia. He often played injured. The great ones do. If it weren't for the few injuries that did cost him games, Peterson might've exceeded 15,000 rushing yards in Minnesota. That might've put him within reach of Emmitt Smith's career numbers.
I visited the Minnesota Vikings' museum on the campus of TCO Performance Center last fall. It's a magical place. Of all the wonderful exhibits in the museum, the exhibit that impressed me most was the one put together honoring Tommy Mason. Not only was he the first pick in franchise history he was one of the team's early stars. He went to three Pro Bowls and was All-Pro once in his first four years in the league. Then injuries started to derail his very promising NFL career. I mentioned Ted Brown as being underrated. Mason is somewhat forgotten. It was wonderful to see him remembered with a terrific exhibit in the Vikings' museum.
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