Guest Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 This is a messy, and often ugly list. It's a list that Kirk Cousins belongs on, given his production, and team mediocrity. yet, he's only been with the Vikings 1 season. My overall criteria is that the players on the list had to play a minimum of two seasons. This is also the last list I will produce...training camp is almost here and we can focus on the present rather than the past. I hope you've found these lists, plus my "All Hail" reviews somewhat worthwhile in creating conversation. So, with all that aside, here are the Viking Top Ten Quarterbacks: 10. Brad Johnson: (1992-1998, 2005 - o6) Johnson was twice elected to the pro bowl team, but neither year was when he played for Minnesota. He passed for 29, 054 yards with 166 touchdowns to 122 interceptions. His career passer rating is 82.5. In 1997, Johnson completed a touchdown pass to himself. Moving on... 9. Rich Gannon: (1987 - 92) Gannon is a highly decorated quarterback, including league MVP...but none of those accolades came his way when playing for Minnesota. Interestingly enough, he has fewer passing yards and a lower quarterback rating than Brad Johnson! He is a little higher because he had a better arm than Johnson. Moving on... 8.Wade Wilson: (1981-91) Wilson's Viking career can be described by the word "serviceable." His time on the team was mostly spent as Tommy Kramer's backup. He was elected to the pro bowl in 1988 and guided the Vikings to the NFCCG in 1987. His passer rating is 75.6. Sadly, Wade Wilson died earlier this year. RIP. Moving on... 7. Tommy Kramer: (1977 - 89) Tommy Kramer really only had one outstanding season. In 1986 he was All Pro, went to the pro bowl, was comeback player of the year and passer rating leader for the NFL. He is also on the list of 50 Greatest Vikings. He was known as "Two Minute Tommy" after he took over the starting role when Tarkenton retired. He was very good at last minute heroics, including completing a pass against the Browns in 1980, with 6 seconds remaining in the game, that not only won the game, but also gave the Vikings another Division title. He was often injured, which is why Wade Wilson is on the list. And, he unfortunately developed a serious issue with alcohol during his career with Minnesota. Moving on... 6. Warren Moon: (1994-96) Moon barely makes the criteria to be on this list. Yet, the man played professional football for 23 years, and his Viking stint was pretty darn good...statistically. He passed for over 4200 yards in his first two seasons in Minnesota. He broke his collarbone midway in the 1996 season, which gave the starting role to Brad Johnson the remainder of the season. He was released after the 96 season when he refused a pay cut and demotion to a back up role. As a pure passer, there is no one on this list that compares to Moon. Moving on... 5. Dante Culpepper: (1999 - 05) Dante went to three pro bowls, was all pro twice, was the NFL Passing TD leader in 2000, and NFL passing yards leader in 2004. His passer rating was 87.8. In his first year as a starter (2000) the Vikings finished the season 11-5 and went to the NFCCG. Things seemed to be all sunshine and rainbows for Culpepper after that season, yet the next year Culpepper led the team to a 5-11 record. He suffered his first knee injury towards the end of the season. His struggles continued the next season when he threw 23 interceptions and only 18 touchdowns and the Vikings record was 6-10. Culpepper righted the ship in 2003 and he had a historical season for a Viking QB in 2004. The Vikings were only 8-8, but went to the playoffs. He finished the season with 4, 717 yards passing, 39 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions. 2005, was a disaster for Culpepper. He played the first two games and threw 8 interceptions and no TD's. He started to get things going, however, on Oct 30, against the Carolina Panthers, Culpepper had a devastating knee injury. He never played for the Vikings again. Yet, the years he played with Randy Moss, they hooked up for some highlight reel TD's! 4. Joe Kapp: (1967-69) Joe went to the pro bowl in 1969 and during the 69 season threw for 7 TD's in one game! He led the Vikings to an NFL Championship and represented the league in Super Bowl IV. He is one of the 50 Greatest Vikings. Just as Warren Moon might be the best pure passer on my list, Joe Kapp was the worst! His statistics wouldn't rate any notice on any other team. However, Joe is on this list for all the intangibles he brought to the team. He was tough, he was fiery, and he had a will to win. In 1969, the Vikings offense was one of the best in the league. Couples with THE best defense in the league, they...and Joe...were a force to be reckoned with. 3. Brett Favre: (2009-10) When Favre finally retired after the 2010 season, he owned virtually every QB record in the book. His Viking stint included the magical 2009 season when he took the helm of the most exciting Viking team, maybe since 1969! The Vikings finished 12-4 and went to the NFCCG, losing a nail biter to the New Orleans Saints. Favre had his best passing season completing a remarkable 68% of his passes and throwing single digit interceptions for the season. For one magical season, Viking fans got to see what remarkable quarterbacking looked like in purple and gold. 2. Randall Cunningham: (1997-99) I love Randall Cunningham! When he was on his game, he was the most exciting player of his era. Mostly known for his running prowess when he was in Philadelphia, Cunningham became known as a fine passer as a Viking. He was the NFL Passer Rating leader in 1998, which earned him a pro bowl invitation. He also won the Bert Bell trophy that season. He guided an offense in 1998 that included Robert Smith, Cris Carter and Randy Moss. The offense set many records that season. They lost in OT to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFCCG. He played well in the 6 games he appeared in 1999, but got injured. 1. Fran Tarkenton: (1961-66. 1972-79) Who else would be number 1? The Vikings have been trying to replace Tarkenton for over 40 years!! I'm not going to list all his achievements. Just know that he retired with every meaningful QB record in the book. He guided the Vikings to 3 Super Bowl appearances. He was league MVP in 1975. He set the standard for QB play in Minnesota that has not been sniffed at by any other Viking QB. That's it guys and gals! I'm done! Now onto training camp and the 2019 season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 That is a sad, sad list. I'm not going to make any argument because that position has been so weak beyond Tarkenton, it's not even worth an argument. It's so sad that if he just completes his contract, Kirk Cousins will already be in the top 10. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDBrocks Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 Wow. That is... pitiful? I don't know another word that can describe this list. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikes_Bolts1228 Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 No Bubby Brister? This list is invalid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Vikes_Bolts1228 said: No Bubby Brister? This list is invalid. At least you could have thrown out Kelly Holcomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDBrocks Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 Spergon Wynn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP_allday2869 Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Brooks Bollinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Bob Lee before any of the other guys that have been mentioned!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 1 hour ago, Virginia Viking said: Bob Lee before any of the other guys that have been mentioned!! Not Gary Cuozzo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krauser Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Culpepper is too low here at 5th. His 2004 season was the best passing year a Vikings QB ever had, statistically. Moss only had 767 yards receiving that year -- Nate Burleson was his WR1. He went to 2 Pro Bowls was an inconsistent and somewhat limited player (too many fumbles), but we never got to see how good he might have become -- his injury happened at the age of 28. Imagine how different the Vikings history would be if he'd stayed healthy. He deserves to rank 2nd, behind Tarkenton. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidvikingfan Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Krauser said: Culpepper is too low here at 5th. His 2004 season was the best passing year a Vikings QB ever had, statistically. Moss only had 767 yards receiving that year -- Nate Burleson was his WR1. He went to 2 Pro Bowls was an inconsistent and somewhat limited player (too many fumbles), but we never got to see how good he might have become -- his injury happened at the age of 28. Imagine how different the Vikings history would be if he'd stayed healthy. He deserves to rank 2nd, behind Tarkenton. The problem with that is he was playing at a horrible level even before that injury occurred we may have been bailed out by that injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krauser Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 1 hour ago, solidvikingfan said: The problem with that is he was playing at a horrible level even before that injury occurred we may have been bailed out by that injury. No way. Culpepper was a franchise QB. He was an MVP candidate in 2004, thanks to what may have been the best single season by any Vikings QB ever. Daunte had a few bad games in 2005 before the injury, part of a terrible season for the team in general (that was the year with Love Boat, Tice selling playoff tickets and Onterrio Smith’s Whizzinator). There’s no reason to think Culpepper would have been washed up as a QB just because he struggled in early 2005. He was only 28. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heimdallr Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 4 of the top 6 only played 3 seasons or less with the team. Ouch. I predict Cousins will be #2 on this list by the time he retires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Buck Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) Christian Ponder anyone? I know he wasn't much of a quarterback, but he did marry a pretty nice looking lady. That accomplishment in, and of itself, should probably elevate him to somewhere in the bottom four of our top ten QB's. Sadly, this kind of tells the story of our history at the position. Seriously, though, I think this look back the history of our lack of success with QB's probably tells us a lot about how deficient we have been in the coaching department when it comes to QB's. Rich Gannon summed it up for me in a radio interview a few years ago when he talked about how he didn't really learn to be an NFL quarterback until he went to the Kansas City Chiefs and started getting coached by their OC, a guy by the name of Mike McCarthy. Edited July 21, 2019 by Uncle Buck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Brad Johnson should be higher, Randall was great but only really played two years so hard to have him #2 overall. And Brett freaking Favre? #3? How can any real Viking fan like Brett Favre even when he is in Purple? The guy is a Packer and it was dead awful when he was a Viking, worst 2 years of my life! Sure they were kind of good at the time but I still hated it and that stupid experiment of bringing him in set the organization back what 4-5 years. Never did turn it back around till Zimmer took over in 2014. It was just awful and the Vikings really need to stop just bringing in QBs. Thought we had something with Teddy but he is so damn thin in the legs and fraile. It is Tarkenton all the way at #1 then like a few miles later it might be someone else on the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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