6 Vikings Make Pete Prisco's Top 100 NFL Players
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- CBS Sports' Pete Prisco released his ranking of the top 100 NFL players Tuesday, and six Minnesota Vikings made the cut.
The top-ranked Viking is running back Dalvin Cook, who landed at No. 19. That makes him the second-best running back in the NFL, according to Prisco, behind the Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry, who's ranked 11th overall.
The next Viking lands at No. 45 -- wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
"He had an amazing rookie season, averaging 15.9 yards per catch on his 88 catches," Prisco wrote. "He barely looked like a rookie at all, which is scary going forward."
Two Vikings land in the mid-70s: defensive end Danielle Hunter at 75 and safety Harrison Smith two spots later at 77.
Hunter missed all of last season with a neck injury, but in 2019 became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 sacks.
Smith has been a stalwart in the Vikings' secondary since being drafted in 2012.
The last two Vikings on the list are quarterback Kirk Cousins, who sits 93rd, and wide receiver Adam Thielen, ranked 97th.
Cousins threw a career-high 35 touchdown passes last season, though he also tied his career high for interceptions with 13.
Thielen, meanwhile, caught a career-high 14 touchdown passes, good for third among wide receivers last year.
Prisco also named players who just missed the list. Among them are Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks, former safety Anthony Harris (now on the Philadelphia Eagles) and free agent addition Patrick Peterson, who comes to Minnesota from the Arizona Cardinals.
Only two teams -- the Green Bay Packers and the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- have more players on the list than the Vikings.
The No. 1 player in the NFL, according to Prisco, is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers came in third.
