On the Vikings Upcoming Draft, Think about Randy Moss.

On the Vikings Upcoming Draft, Think about Randy Moss.
Randy Moss

Exiting the 1997 season, the Minnesota Vikings holstered Cris Carter and Jake Reed as wide receivers on the team’s roster. Minnesota won a playoff game in New Jersey that season, recommitting to Brad Johnson for another year with Robert Smith, Carter, and Reed ready to take a crack at the NFC North in 1998.

Wide receiver was not a team need as the 1998 NFL Draft approached — it was actually a strength — but general manager Jeff Diamond still scooped Randy Moss from the 1st Round of the event nevertheless. Do you regret it?

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Let’s hope not.

Moss was masterful — immediately — an emphatic byproduct of Diamon’s best player available philosophy. The Marshall alumnus would remain with the Vikings for eight seasons, plotting a path to the Hall of Fame, climbing all-time NFL leaderboards, and most importantly, creating a vast generation of Vikings fans — because of one man.

So, take this historical tale, and apply it to the 2022 Vikings. You can choose to insert a WR into the analogy or any position, for that matter. Minnesota, for long-term roster planning, needs cornerbacks and EDGE rushers. And that isn’t too debatable.

Yet, you should not care. The 1st Round of any draft — and arguably the 2nd Round, too — should be used to find the best football players humanly available. If a cornerback or EDGE rusher is that guy at #12 for Minnesota, well, great. Two birds with one stone type stuff there.

Photo courtesy of vikings.com

It’s not just Moss, either. Adrian Peterson, in 2007, joined the Vikings at a time when Minnesota showcased a 1,000-yard rusher named Chester Taylor. Theoretically, the Vikings would’ve been “fine” with Taylor, but Peterson, like Moss, fundamentally changed the franchise with Hall of Fame legs.

In 2014, the Los Angeles Rams (St. Louis) had Michael Brockers on the inside of its defensive line, a player drafted in the 1st Round of the 2012 NFL Draft. They drafted Aaron Donald anyway. You get the point.

The 2022 Vikings can reasonably plan for life after Adam Thielen — who isn’t young — get better on offense, and attempt to channel Justin Jefferson’s magic by drafting a player like Garrett Wilson, Drake London, or Jameson Williams.

“Not needing” a wide receiver should never be a deterrent for a general manager drafting the best player available at the 1st-Round draft spot. If the team has roster holes, use 3rd-Round-or-lower draft capital to fortify depth.

In a league trending toward offensive firepower, the Vikings don’t have to be monanthous at WR. And the tale of Randy Moss’ addition to the 1998 team is the most glaring example available.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

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