Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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7. Percy Harvin, 2009 (12 points)
Brett Favre signed with his longtime rival team in 2009, and he gained quite the talented target in first-round draft pick Percy Harvin.
The wide receiver played 15 games as a rookie and racked up 780 yards and six touchdowns through the air. Harvin, who averaged 13.2 yards per catch, made an appearance on several highlight reels throughout the season for a Minnesota team that went 12-4 and advanced to the NFC Championship Game.
8. Sammy White, 1976 (11 points)
Three years after Foreman went to the Super Bowl as a rookie, Sammy White did so, as well.
White was a second-round draft selection by Minnesota and burst quickly on the scene, making three catches for 71 yards and a touchdown in his debut game at New Orleans.
Teamed up with future Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton, White put on a show for Vikings fans. In his second game, he hauled in nine catches for 139 yards and a score. His biggest outing came against the division-rival Lions in Week 9, during which he recorded a franchise-record 210 yards and two touchdowns.
According to Sid Hartman’s column in the Minneapolis Tribune, Tarkenton had predicted a positive showing for White.
“The Lions are a blitzing team,” the Vikings quarterback told his rookie receiver. “You’re going to have a big day against them. You’ll catch six or seven passes for 150 or so yards. I’m going to be looking for you when they start coming.”
In the Vikings three postseason games, including Super Bowl XI, White totaled four 141 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, his 77 yards and a score against the Raiders weren’t enough for Minnesota to take the title.
T9. Cordarrelle Patterson, 2013 (9 points)
One of three first-round draft picks by Minnesota in 2013, Cordarrelle Patterson made an immediate impact on the Vikings special teams.
The former Tennessee Volunteer stepped in as Minnesota’s primary kick returner and left opposing teams guessing. In his second-ever NFL game, Patterson ran the opening kickoff back 105 yards for a touchdown against the Bears at Soldier Field.
Patterson also set an NFL record for longest kickoff return when he took the opening boot of the Vikings-Packers game in Minnesota 109 yards. He finished the season with 1,436 return yards, second only to – ironically – Chicago’s Devin Hester.
Patterson also totaled 45 catches for 469 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver. Following the season, he was selected to the Pro Bowl and received First-Team All-Pro honors.
T9. Blair Walsh, 2012 (9 points)
In Blair Walsh’s first NFL game, he made a 55-yard field goal to help the Vikings even the score against Jacksonville and in overtime knocked through the game-winning 38-yard field goal.
Walsh also kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired in Minnesota’s final regular-season game, a Border Battle against Green Bay.
The sixth-round pick made 35 of his 38 field goal attempts as a rookie and was perfect on 36 PAT attempts. Walsh made all 10 field goals he attempted from 50-plus yards.
Walsh was selected to the Pro Bowl and received First-Team All-Pro honors.