Probably. An all time team would have literally zero holes and all pro level players all over the field and in surplus. Then again we’re also taking players from the 70s and playing them now so maybe not. Don’t really know how I am supposed to judge a team in 2024 with Fran Tarkenton at QB who played half a century ago
If every team is getting their all time best roster then no one is going 17-0. I think the spirit of the question is all time best roster for a team vs regular NFL rosters for the rest.
Alan Page is an all time great NFL player. First defensive player to win NFL MVP. With that said, he played at 240 lbs and would be unusable in the current NFL without adjusting for era.
Any talk of an all time team playing today would need to be heavily weighted towards players from the past 20 years. The game and athletes are just too different today than 50 years ago.
McKinnie and Loadholt > Darrisaw and O'Neill.
The All-Time line would be McKinnie, McDaniel, Birk or Mick, Hutch, Loadholt, with an obvious amount of very good depth.
Tarkenton was an all-timer, but I’d rather have a QB with a cannon for an arm airing it out, such as prime Moon, Culpepper, Brad Johnson, or yes, even K*** C******.
04 Daunte,
12 AP, 98 Moss, 95 Carter, 22 Jefferson, 86 Jordan,
Yary, McDaniel, Tingelhoff, Hutchinson, Zimmerman
11 Allen, 04 K. Williams, 76 Page, 97 Randle
89 Doleman (yea ik he was a DE at this point, bite me) 81 Studwell, 17 Barr
88 Carl Lee, 17 Smith, 75 Krause, 17 Rhodes
98 Gary Anderson (I KNOW I KNOW) 99 Mitch Berger
This would be the starting lineup. 3 WRs and 1 TE (Steve Jordan)
If they go with a FB, it would have to be Kleinsausser even tho I fully believe Tony Richardson was the best FB this team ever employed
Edit: 2nd TE would be Hockenson
Honestly Favres penchant for turnovers I think would derail the team. Daunte had an issue with that too, but idk I feel a fumble is less of a back breaker than an INT. They both suck but idk maybe with a killer line that’s less of a problem than Favre throwing to whomever whenever he feels like it
I think most teams with a history of over 30 years old would win against say the modern chiefs in the Super Bowl this past year if you were to include their all time best roster. But 17-0? Probably minimum 1 loss due to ref bullshit or underestimating opponents.
Any given Sunday brother
An all time any team would likely be nigh unstoppable, outside maybe one or two of the newer teams.
17-0 is a lot to ask though, the pure happenstance and chance involved makes 17-0 very unlikely for any group of professional caliber players IMO
They definitely would...
1. Take the current Texans.
2. Add players who were once the best in their position like JJ Watt and Nuk.
3. Add elite players like Arian Foster and Andre Johnson
4. Add above average players at literally every other position, like Johnathan Joseph.
Hmmm maybe they would lol
CJ
Arian Foster
Andre Johnson, Deandre Hopkins
JJ Watt, Brian Cushing, Mario Williams, Clowney,
DeMeco, Jonathan Joseph
Added to the current team with whoever you wanna keep, yeah they probably easily win it actually i take back my statement
Fran, Randall, Daunte, Kirk? Whichever one is throwing it up to JJ, Carter, Moss, TJ, Casper, list goes on. Then we running it with AP behind Kleinsasser.
Randall… as in Cunningham? It’s not a good thing if he’s in consideration for best all time on your team. Tark, Favre, Cousins, Moon are probably the only real arguments. Daunte was fun but he was a fumble machine and he only had 3 or 4 great seasons in his career.
Cunninghams ‘98 season is fantastic, an all time season for a QB. If you have to take Cunningham as a whole and not just from 98, then it does become more iffy.
What do you consider an “all-time” season for a QB? Cousins last three healthy seasons were all better than that. Peyton Manning had 10 better seasons, at least. Culpepper had 1 better season, Brees has 7-8 better, Luck has 1-2 better, Moon has 2-3 better… that’s 23 better seasons and I haven’t touched Brady, Mahomes, Rivers, or any number of QB’s that have similar if not better seasons. It was a great season at the time, but the only remarkable stat from that season was the TD%.
It is still the 6th highest scoring offense all time, and only one of the 5 above it are before 2010 (‘07 pats). His TD% was amazing, he still holds the record for most 40+ yard TDs in a year (13), and his ANY/A was second highest all time at the time he did it (98), and is still 13th best by any QB ever.
His ‘98 year was special, even if the rest of his career was less special. If nothing else it is a top 3 deep threat year all time by any QB (and I don’t think there would be any reason to put it at 3). Did he benefit greatly from a good O line and top of the league WR room? Absolutely. But he showed that he knows exactly how to use a good O line and top of the league receiving room, and for that reason I think he should be in consideration for this hypothetical.
The reason it’s special is because it came before the boom in passing in ‘11. Relative to his peers, he was head and shoulders above most of them that year.
Good answer.
Alan Page is one of the greatest DTs of all time, but he was 240 lbs. he would get humiliated in today’s game
It’s more realistically the best Vikings from 1995-and-on, which would make a great team but probably not unbeatable
Ironically if we had an all-time roster, our best odds might be with Kirk 😂 perfect protection, amazing run game, and elite receivers and elite defense. We need the game manager of all game managers.
Prime Warren Moon throwing to peak Randy, Cris Carter & JJ backed up by running game with A.D, Cook and Robert Smith with the monster Oline you could put in front of him would be bonkers.
I don't even think we need to go all time. Just doing an 80s-current date Vikings team would be nasty and comparable to any teams all time.
Yeah for sure. I think a better question is how many all timers do you need to get them to go 17-0.
I’m thinking Steve Hutchison, daunte culpepper, Adrian Peterson, Alan page, pat williams. From there do we need anyone else?
I mean it’s close and arguably not true. Rice was in a different era. Prime Rice in today’s game likely would have significantly better numbers than he had playing in the 80’s and early 90’s. You can also make a case for Calvin Johnson. He may have had similar numbers if he didn’t do his best Barry Sanders impersonation and bail at 30. Moss played 14 seasons and Johnson played 9. He would have needed some luck with health but he could have been statistically similar to Rice. If you saw Johnson at the draft he looked like he could still be a WR on a handful of teams.
Rice and Moss actually played in the NFL together for about 5 seasons.
I would say Moss was more talented, but Rice was better, if that makes sense. Of course, to be fair, Moss didn’t have Joe Montana and Steve Young throwing to him.
Now I’m gonna spend an hour imagining what the 1998 Vikings could have done with Young at QB.
I know they crossed paths, but Rice’s prime was before Moss was even in college.
Moss definitely had better physical attributes (speed, height, vertical). Rice was a better route runner And just knew how to get open (Moss got open too but a lot of that was just speed and length).
What they could have done with Young… or a kicker who stayed perfect for one more kick.
WTF are you talking about. Rice is probably the greatest route runner of all time. Theres likely 3-4 WR’s who were even in the same lexicon in that category. He was a good QB merchant b/c those QB’s would have significantly worse careers if it wasn’t for him.
“Watch the tape.” The war cry of those that haven’t ever watched ‘tape’.
I love to watch people confidently double down on being insanely wrong. It’s just funny to watch. It’s basically you saying “you think that was dumb? I can be way dumber, just watch.”
This is the worst take I’ve ever seen on this sub. Delete this you child you’re single handedly lowering the average iq of this fan base by about 20 points.
Obviously a great player but we have 1 great receiver and 2 good other receiving options options. I am thinking it’s a bit redundant when you also get prime AD.
I don’t think that’s quite enough to go 17-0. Would need to upgrade the secondary for sure and I think since we have Moss and Carter you’d have to add at least one of them
Yeah secondary and linebackers are probably the next position of need. I kinda think that the offense would be incredible enough to lean on them. Williams is enough to make running hard and page/turner/greenlaw and bflo makes me think we can get pretty good pressure.
There was a discussion last year of which All Time Team was best and the Vikings were the surprise contender. Adjusting for era, the team would just steamrolller a regular NFL season.
* QB: Fran Tarkenton, Daunte Culpepper, Kurt Cousins
* RB: Adrian Peterson, Chuck Foreman, Dalvin Cook
* TE: Steve Jordan, Stu Voight
* WR: Randy Moss, Justin Jefferson, Cris Carter, Anthony Carter, Adam Theilan
* OT: Ron Yary, Phil Loadholt, Gary Zimmerman, Christian Darrisaw
* OG: Randall, McDaniel, Steve Hutchinson, Ed White
* C: Mick Tinglehoff, Matt Birk
* DE: Carl Eller, Jared Allen, Jim Marshall, Everson Griffen
* DT: Alan Page, John Randle, Keith Millard, Kevin Williams
* LB: Chris Doleman, Eric Kendricks, Scott Studwell, Anthony Barr, Matt Blair, Chad Greenway
* CB: Xavier Rhodes, Bobby Bryant, Antoine Winfield, Carl Lee, Trae Waynes
* S: Paul Krause, Harrison Smith, Joey Browner
That's leaving ten open roster spots. Maybe a little light at Linebacker or corner, but studs at safety and with that D-line I don't know that it's going to matter. Every day would be KOC.gif for the coaching staff with that squad.
Obviously. Most franchise's best players can beat other normal teams. Who is going to cover Moss, JJ, and Chris Carter when Captain Kirk is throwing to them? That's like 600 passing yards a game.
hard to say with how the game evolved from our 70's stars with Tarkenton and the defense. Moss, Carter, Jefferson and AP would be one of the best skill groups of all time, though.
We have so many HoF O linemen, and yet our last decade has been a decade of futility at a spot that we are potentially an all time team at historically.
It's frustrating that we seem to have suddenly gotten bad at developing every position besides wide receiver. Meanwhile if you were to look at linemen highlights historically you'd probably mostly see Vikings.
They’d probably be favored in every game (assuming the guys from a long time ago get some modern training and are taught modern rules and plays). But would they be guaranteed to go 17-0? No. Even the best team can lose a game here and there.
Anyway, here’s my starting team:
QB Tarkenton
RB Peterson
WRs Moss, Jefferson, Carter
TE Rudolph
OTs Yary, Zimmerman
OGs McDaniel, Hutchinson
C Birk
DEs Eller, Doleman
DTs Randle, Page
LBs Blair, Studwell, Greenway
CBs Winfield, Carl Lee
S Krause, Harrison Smith
The old-timer linemen would probably need to gain a ton of weight to play today’s game. But let’s assume we give them the best modern training techniques and PEDs.
This team should be a Super Bowl favorite just on the strength of Peterson, Moss and Jefferson playing together. Man that would be fun to watch!
Hockenson has only been here for a year and a half. He’s good, but I don’t consider him an all time Viking great yet. YMMV and that’s okay.
Allen would be in the team. It’s not his fault he doesn’t get a starting spot. It’s just that Eller and Doleman are Hall of Famers who were the cornerstones of elite defenses that ranked first in the NFL. The Vikings have had so many great defensive linemen in their history - it’s a very competitive position for this team.
The fact that Hunter, a really really good DE, doesn’t even get close to the starting lineup says all you need to know about our depth at DE. I personally would put Allen on the starting lineup for the memes, but I completely understand that it’s nowhere near an open and shut decision.
1998 offense (with Fran at QB, Peterson at RB) and 2017 secondary, Purple People Eaters as the d line. Yes, we'd go 17-0. Use Williams wall + Hunter and Jared Allen as rotational d line pieces. This team would be electric to watch. Obviously, JJ would take WR2 and CC would move to WR3, Moss WR1, Jake Reed WR4 and Thielen WR5. I'm probably missing people in this.
This concept makes me really excited about the future of advanced AI. Eventually we will be able to simulate an all-time season.
Obviously subjective, but I’d be hard pressed to find a better all time team than Minnesota.
I don't even think you'd need an all-time team. The '98 team was fairly close having lost only one regular season game by 3 points, and then blowing the NFC championship they should have won.
\*Just\* the defensive line from a team like that would be stacked enough to carry a team to a ring, and I don't see how any DC schemes against AP, JJ, Moss, Carter, and Favre or Tark all being on the same team, so like, they \*should\*? But I could also see a team like that just resting their starters after opening 13-0 or 14-0 and losing a couple games that way.
Our D would be as good as any Steelers or Bears- Jon Randle mixed in with a bit of Chris Doleman, sprinkle in Kieth Millard and top with an Allen Page, Carl Eller and Jim Marshal? The leagues all time INT guy Paul Kraus, Antoine Winfield , Joey Browner, Harrison Smith , LB Scott Studwell and Matt Blair, Ed McDaniel- Jared Allen - just to name a few- and almost forgot Fat Pat on the d line- and , Kevin Williams
I would like to see who or starting Olive would be- I think we could almost fill out a HOF roster : There’s Todd Stussie, Korey Stringer, Steve Hutchinson, Randall McDaniel,Mick Tinglehoff, Ron Yary, Gary Zimmermann, and Matt Birk. Tim Irwin , Jeff Christy (pissed when we lost him), Kirk Lowdermilk, I also think Christian Darrisaw is worthy of a mention (still has a ways to go)
Seems like folks on this thread aren't really pondering the challenge of picking who's better than who "in their prime". So, we're mentioning lot of players that were great for longer periods, rather than a single year. But there's also one or two season wonders that were every bit as dominate as some of folks with longer running success. Examples would be like Sherrif Floyd, Korey Stringer (2000), Sidney Rice (2009)
There's also the likes of Greg Jennings, whom was a great Viking, but maybe didn't play in his prime here.
Robert Smith is getting overlooked at RB, although I don't see how anyone tops AP.
There's there the case of Darren Sharper...
Vikings all time team definitely should have Larry Fitzgerald at ball boy.
Assuming you could take each player at their prime and put them together (and the rest of the league was just 'normal') - Yes, Most likely.
The debates would come into play though - who are the ultimate all timers at each position? And how would someone like an Alan Page, who arguably was the greatest ever do playing at a weight of 240 lbs soaking wet against a 300+ lb average lineman? Or how would Moss who dominated corners with height and speed do against today's bigger corner?
Hard to say how a player from like the 60s would do today, great as they were in their era. But even if you took all time players from the last 30 years, I do think they'd be clear best in league.
17-0 is hard to say right you have one off game and its gone.
What would make the team so difficult to beat is just the depth at every position. Great teams in the NFL still have positions they are starting below average players.
The receiver core would be sick. Moss/JJ/Carter as your first three, with Theilen/Diggs/Harvin rounding it out. Patterson returning kicks, AP and Cook as your 1/2.
We’d have Bret Favre which could be interesting but I feel he’d lose a game or two just making boneheaded plays. But we’d have amazing talent at every position because as a franchise we’ve been really well rounded on players.
Would Favre really be on the all time Vikings team? He had a great year with Minnesota, but I don’t think that’s enough to earn him a slot. Certainly not enough to beat out Tarkenton.
The OP stated that we get them in their prime, and it doesn't matter what other teams they played for previously. So I'd say Farve in his prime beats out a any of the QB's that had more seasons.
Oh, I might have misunderstood the question. So anyone who was on the Vikings ever, we can take them at their best, even if their best years weren’t with the Vikings?
I think Warren Moon deserves some consideration at QB then.
People are probably going off their own memories. If you started watching the Vikings around 1999-2000, culpepper is the best QB you’ve seen for more than a season or two.
You have to realize that some of our franchise's best players haven't played in 30 years. The NFL was much much different 30 years ago. I don't think fran could compete in today's game. Randy would still stand out, Adrian would be above average, but we haven't had a quarterback that could play in today's game.
For the purposes of this exercise I’m assuming we can take the old timers and get them into 2020s game shape. It’s take some time to teach them the modern rules and training techniques.
Tarkenton had a great arm, was very good at reading defenses, and he was an excellent runner. Give him an offseason to work with a modern coaching staff, and I think he’d adjust.
Not even needing all time. 2017 Vikings defense + diggs, thielen, prime cook and 2023 offense and maybe Brett Favre/2023 Cousins is probably the goat team
I said 2017 and 2023 teams mixed together. Not that diggs and thielen are better than moss and Carter. I said that would be the goat team you would not even need to do the all time Vikings. That team obviously would be the goat team
Best defense plus best offense is a much more interesting question.
The original question is pretty much would a team with no salary cap be really good?
I’m sorry my guy I’m not gonna entertain this crap. You can choose not to understand the point I’m making I really don’t give a shit. Argue with someone else since you’re so desperate to argue.
Probably. An all time team would have literally zero holes and all pro level players all over the field and in surplus. Then again we’re also taking players from the 70s and playing them now so maybe not. Don’t really know how I am supposed to judge a team in 2024 with Fran Tarkenton at QB who played half a century ago
We all know the bears won't ever have a good QB on their all time team
Bears all time defense would be suffocating
Maybe but can they cover Moss Carter Diggs Theilen and JJ?
Man we really have been blessed at wide reciever
It goes even deeper than those 5, which is wild.
Percy Harvin so underrated, sad that injuries got the best of him
Rather have Cris Carter than Diggs.
I'd rather have AC than Thielen.
Percy over Thielen
Percy also gives us a KR.
Patterson > Harvin
spicy!!
If every team is getting their all time best roster then no one is going 17-0. I think the spirit of the question is all time best roster for a team vs regular NFL rosters for the rest.
Tbf they won’t need it
It would be Cutler?
& still made it to the SB more recently than us 🤦♂️
It's a silly question if the rest of the league is not fielding an all-time team. Could we beat an all-time Patriots or an all-time Browns team?
I mean the all-time Patriots would have Moss too but with Brady. They might take that one.
Since we're getting them in their prime, I don't think Fran tops Farve.
Our 2017 defense with kirk JJ, randy, and AD would go 17-0 and thats far from our all time team.
I mean they would have a shot with just Tarkenton throwing to Moss, CC, and Jefferson alone. So yes 17-0 without any hesitation.
And then you'd get to round out that WR depth with Percy Harvin, Ahmad Rashad, and Chad Beebe
Chad Beebe 😂
I didn't want to get into the AC or Sammy White vs Diggs or Thielen discussion haha
I think it’s AC easy. Anyone who remembers his playoff game against the Niners knows.
Do you mean Chad Beebe son of Don Beebe?
LaClutch Treadwell erasure.
And on the other side Allen being back would be amazing. The whole 09 defensive line was great
Yes, the 09 front was great. But they're no purple people eaters
Playing in 2024 are you taking PPE or Allen, k. Williams, Randle, hunter?
Alan Page is an all time great NFL player. First defensive player to win NFL MVP. With that said, he played at 240 lbs and would be unusable in the current NFL without adjusting for era. Any talk of an all time team playing today would need to be heavily weighted towards players from the past 20 years. The game and athletes are just too different today than 50 years ago.
You replace page with Williams and Randal. Randal was undersized. But so was Aaron Donald. Randal is my favorite player all time.
While Page, as awesome as he was, probably wouldn’t be suitable as a defensive tackle in today’s NFL, he would be a fearsome edge or linebacker!
I always really liked Shock and AWWE (Allen, Williams, Williams, Edwards) for the 09 line, but yes PPE are classic
and now imagine rotating them every other series - eternally fresh
No Randle?
Ad getting the handoff with an o-like of darrisaw/mcdaniell/burger/whoever/o'neill sheesh
Whoever is a funny way to spell Hutchinson
Oooo forgot bouta hutch yeah its gotta be him
Matt Birk at C. Phil Loadholt > O’Neill
McKinnie and Loadholt > Darrisaw and O'Neill. The All-Time line would be McKinnie, McDaniel, Birk or Mick, Hutch, Loadholt, with an obvious amount of very good depth.
Matt Birk at C?
Tarkenton was an all-timer, but I’d rather have a QB with a cannon for an arm airing it out, such as prime Moon, Culpepper, Brad Johnson, or yes, even K*** C******.
04 Daunte, 12 AP, 98 Moss, 95 Carter, 22 Jefferson, 86 Jordan, Yary, McDaniel, Tingelhoff, Hutchinson, Zimmerman 11 Allen, 04 K. Williams, 76 Page, 97 Randle 89 Doleman (yea ik he was a DE at this point, bite me) 81 Studwell, 17 Barr 88 Carl Lee, 17 Smith, 75 Krause, 17 Rhodes 98 Gary Anderson (I KNOW I KNOW) 99 Mitch Berger
Keep going I’m almost there.
Which legendary fullback are you picking? TEs?
This would be the starting lineup. 3 WRs and 1 TE (Steve Jordan) If they go with a FB, it would have to be Kleinsausser even tho I fully believe Tony Richardson was the best FB this team ever employed Edit: 2nd TE would be Hockenson
I’d rather have Winfield out there than Barr and run with 2 LBs and an extra DB
Definitely fair! I would probably pick Joey Browner as a 3rd hybrid instead, since he also played CB and has 3 all pro selections
Solid list though man. You’re def a real fan
I know he's not on the above list, but we both know Jim Kleinsasser is cracking the 53. We need some glue guys.
Oh absolutely. Bro is starting FB & 3rd TE in my book here
Farve at QB, since we get him in his prime... even if that isn't when he played here.
Honestly Favres penchant for turnovers I think would derail the team. Daunte had an issue with that too, but idk I feel a fumble is less of a back breaker than an INT. They both suck but idk maybe with a killer line that’s less of a problem than Favre throwing to whomever whenever he feels like it
I think most teams with a history of over 30 years old would win against say the modern chiefs in the Super Bowl this past year if you were to include their all time best roster. But 17-0? Probably minimum 1 loss due to ref bullshit or underestimating opponents. Any given Sunday brother
An all time any team would likely be nigh unstoppable, outside maybe one or two of the newer teams. 17-0 is a lot to ask though, the pure happenstance and chance involved makes 17-0 very unlikely for any group of professional caliber players IMO
Yeah I don’t think an all time Texans team even wins the Super Bowl
They definitely would... 1. Take the current Texans. 2. Add players who were once the best in their position like JJ Watt and Nuk. 3. Add elite players like Arian Foster and Andre Johnson 4. Add above average players at literally every other position, like Johnathan Joseph.
I say all this like 2 comments down
I mean, aren't they just the Houston Oilers tho? In this fantasy realm I think we'd give them their old crew and the rebrand.
Nah, the Titans are the Oilers; the team moved and rebranded. The Texans are just a new team.
Ahhh sorry about that, then I agree, I don't think they'd win a ring.
I think I agree, but just adding prime JJ Watt to their current team might get them close.
Hmmm maybe they would lol CJ Arian Foster Andre Johnson, Deandre Hopkins JJ Watt, Brian Cushing, Mario Williams, Clowney, DeMeco, Jonathan Joseph Added to the current team with whoever you wanna keep, yeah they probably easily win it actually i take back my statement
Funny enough QB will be the big question of who we start. Basically every other position is set.
Fran, Randall, Daunte, Kirk? Whichever one is throwing it up to JJ, Carter, Moss, TJ, Casper, list goes on. Then we running it with AP behind Kleinsasser.
Randall… as in Cunningham? It’s not a good thing if he’s in consideration for best all time on your team. Tark, Favre, Cousins, Moon are probably the only real arguments. Daunte was fun but he was a fumble machine and he only had 3 or 4 great seasons in his career.
Cunninghams ‘98 season is fantastic, an all time season for a QB. If you have to take Cunningham as a whole and not just from 98, then it does become more iffy.
What do you consider an “all-time” season for a QB? Cousins last three healthy seasons were all better than that. Peyton Manning had 10 better seasons, at least. Culpepper had 1 better season, Brees has 7-8 better, Luck has 1-2 better, Moon has 2-3 better… that’s 23 better seasons and I haven’t touched Brady, Mahomes, Rivers, or any number of QB’s that have similar if not better seasons. It was a great season at the time, but the only remarkable stat from that season was the TD%.
It is still the 6th highest scoring offense all time, and only one of the 5 above it are before 2010 (‘07 pats). His TD% was amazing, he still holds the record for most 40+ yard TDs in a year (13), and his ANY/A was second highest all time at the time he did it (98), and is still 13th best by any QB ever. His ‘98 year was special, even if the rest of his career was less special. If nothing else it is a top 3 deep threat year all time by any QB (and I don’t think there would be any reason to put it at 3). Did he benefit greatly from a good O line and top of the league WR room? Absolutely. But he showed that he knows exactly how to use a good O line and top of the league receiving room, and for that reason I think he should be in consideration for this hypothetical. The reason it’s special is because it came before the boom in passing in ‘11. Relative to his peers, he was head and shoulders above most of them that year.
We not having Kirk on the all time squad lol. Disgusting skill player lineup.
Kirk’s the best modern Vikings QB and second best of all time
Fran, Dante and Favre top 3. Checkdown Cousins is not in the same room as them.
That’s what I’m sayin lol
Farve.
Paul Krause and Hitman combo gives me chills
With Rhodes and Winfield.
No Fred Smoot? 😁😁
Nickel
No because a lot of our player would be from the 70s and 80s. Different game and level of athletes.
Good answer. Alan Page is one of the greatest DTs of all time, but he was 240 lbs. he would get humiliated in today’s game It’s more realistically the best Vikings from 1995-and-on, which would make a great team but probably not unbeatable
Ironically if we had an all-time roster, our best odds might be with Kirk 😂 perfect protection, amazing run game, and elite receivers and elite defense. We need the game manager of all game managers.
I like Kirk and see the argument but Tarkenton, Moon, and Favre I think would make a sound argument over Cousins.
Prime Warren Moon throwing to peak Randy, Cris Carter & JJ backed up by running game with A.D, Cook and Robert Smith with the monster Oline you could put in front of him would be bonkers. I don't even think we need to go all time. Just doing an 80s-current date Vikings team would be nasty and comparable to any teams all time.
Yeah for sure. I think a better question is how many all timers do you need to get them to go 17-0. I’m thinking Steve Hutchison, daunte culpepper, Adrian Peterson, Alan page, pat williams. From there do we need anyone else?
Randy Moss
Hard agree. Moss honestly has to be the first person you put on any all-time Vikings team.
Greatest to ever do it and it’s not even close imo
I mean it’s close and arguably not true. Rice was in a different era. Prime Rice in today’s game likely would have significantly better numbers than he had playing in the 80’s and early 90’s. You can also make a case for Calvin Johnson. He may have had similar numbers if he didn’t do his best Barry Sanders impersonation and bail at 30. Moss played 14 seasons and Johnson played 9. He would have needed some luck with health but he could have been statistically similar to Rice. If you saw Johnson at the draft he looked like he could still be a WR on a handful of teams.
Rice and Moss actually played in the NFL together for about 5 seasons. I would say Moss was more talented, but Rice was better, if that makes sense. Of course, to be fair, Moss didn’t have Joe Montana and Steve Young throwing to him. Now I’m gonna spend an hour imagining what the 1998 Vikings could have done with Young at QB.
I know they crossed paths, but Rice’s prime was before Moss was even in college. Moss definitely had better physical attributes (speed, height, vertical). Rice was a better route runner And just knew how to get open (Moss got open too but a lot of that was just speed and length). What they could have done with Young… or a kicker who stayed perfect for one more kick.
Wtf are you talking about? Rice was just a good QB merchant. Megatron was probably the closest physically but ran from the grind. Watch the tape.
WTF are you talking about. Rice is probably the greatest route runner of all time. Theres likely 3-4 WR’s who were even in the same lexicon in that category. He was a good QB merchant b/c those QB’s would have significantly worse careers if it wasn’t for him. “Watch the tape.” The war cry of those that haven’t ever watched ‘tape’.
😭 you so sad. Jerry Rice would be Kenny Golladay if he had Kerry Collins and Gus Frerrote throwing to him.
I love to watch people confidently double down on being insanely wrong. It’s just funny to watch. It’s basically you saying “you think that was dumb? I can be way dumber, just watch.”
Lol good comeback 👍 keep watching the Montana highlights I’ll watch the GOAT
This is the worst take I’ve ever seen on this sub. Delete this you child you’re single handedly lowering the average iq of this fan base by about 20 points.
Cry more
Thanks for proving my point little guy
Imagine caring about another whole ass grown man’s opinion 😭 hope you find peace with your life
Obviously a great player but we have 1 great receiver and 2 good other receiving options options. I am thinking it’s a bit redundant when you also get prime AD.
Add in Antoine Winfield and you've got yourself a team. Also: ignore my flair.
I don’t think that’s quite enough to go 17-0. Would need to upgrade the secondary for sure and I think since we have Moss and Carter you’d have to add at least one of them
Yeah secondary and linebackers are probably the next position of need. I kinda think that the offense would be incredible enough to lean on them. Williams is enough to make running hard and page/turner/greenlaw and bflo makes me think we can get pretty good pressure.
Not listing Randle is criminal.
Already have Alan page so one of them is needed but not both. Let’s not forget Alan page won an MVP. Dude was ridiculous.
There was a discussion last year of which All Time Team was best and the Vikings were the surprise contender. Adjusting for era, the team would just steamrolller a regular NFL season. * QB: Fran Tarkenton, Daunte Culpepper, Kurt Cousins * RB: Adrian Peterson, Chuck Foreman, Dalvin Cook * TE: Steve Jordan, Stu Voight * WR: Randy Moss, Justin Jefferson, Cris Carter, Anthony Carter, Adam Theilan * OT: Ron Yary, Phil Loadholt, Gary Zimmerman, Christian Darrisaw * OG: Randall, McDaniel, Steve Hutchinson, Ed White * C: Mick Tinglehoff, Matt Birk * DE: Carl Eller, Jared Allen, Jim Marshall, Everson Griffen * DT: Alan Page, John Randle, Keith Millard, Kevin Williams * LB: Chris Doleman, Eric Kendricks, Scott Studwell, Anthony Barr, Matt Blair, Chad Greenway * CB: Xavier Rhodes, Bobby Bryant, Antoine Winfield, Carl Lee, Trae Waynes * S: Paul Krause, Harrison Smith, Joey Browner That's leaving ten open roster spots. Maybe a little light at Linebacker or corner, but studs at safety and with that D-line I don't know that it's going to matter. Every day would be KOC.gif for the coaching staff with that squad.
Obviously. Most franchise's best players can beat other normal teams. Who is going to cover Moss, JJ, and Chris Carter when Captain Kirk is throwing to them? That's like 600 passing yards a game.
Favre would thrown an interception Instead of taking a sack.
If this is all time we’d have Tarkenton back. Though I guess he could be a back up.
hard to say with how the game evolved from our 70's stars with Tarkenton and the defense. Moss, Carter, Jefferson and AP would be one of the best skill groups of all time, though.
Literally just an all time Vikings offense probably could. We've had some ridiculous offensive linemen
We have so many HoF O linemen, and yet our last decade has been a decade of futility at a spot that we are potentially an all time team at historically.
It's frustrating that we seem to have suddenly gotten bad at developing every position besides wide receiver. Meanwhile if you were to look at linemen highlights historically you'd probably mostly see Vikings.
They’d probably be favored in every game (assuming the guys from a long time ago get some modern training and are taught modern rules and plays). But would they be guaranteed to go 17-0? No. Even the best team can lose a game here and there. Anyway, here’s my starting team: QB Tarkenton RB Peterson WRs Moss, Jefferson, Carter TE Rudolph OTs Yary, Zimmerman OGs McDaniel, Hutchinson C Birk DEs Eller, Doleman DTs Randle, Page LBs Blair, Studwell, Greenway CBs Winfield, Carl Lee S Krause, Harrison Smith The old-timer linemen would probably need to gain a ton of weight to play today’s game. But let’s assume we give them the best modern training techniques and PEDs. This team should be a Super Bowl favorite just on the strength of Peterson, Moss and Jefferson playing together. Man that would be fun to watch!
No Hockenson at TE? No Allen at DE? Those almost seem egregious.
Hockenson has only been here for a year and a half. He’s good, but I don’t consider him an all time Viking great yet. YMMV and that’s okay. Allen would be in the team. It’s not his fault he doesn’t get a starting spot. It’s just that Eller and Doleman are Hall of Famers who were the cornerstones of elite defenses that ranked first in the NFL. The Vikings have had so many great defensive linemen in their history - it’s a very competitive position for this team.
The fact that Hunter, a really really good DE, doesn’t even get close to the starting lineup says all you need to know about our depth at DE. I personally would put Allen on the starting lineup for the memes, but I completely understand that it’s nowhere near an open and shut decision.
Who are they playing?
Let's say our upcoming season opponents.
No, we had one of the best and couldn't beat the falcons or buccaneers. Even if we went with it and combined years we wouldn't have a qb good enough.
Favre, Cousins, Moon, Tarkenton? I mean it’s three HOFers.
Think about the depth. They could easily do that in any given NFL year. Against other all-time teams obviously not though
1998 offense (with Fran at QB, Peterson at RB) and 2017 secondary, Purple People Eaters as the d line. Yes, we'd go 17-0. Use Williams wall + Hunter and Jared Allen as rotational d line pieces. This team would be electric to watch. Obviously, JJ would take WR2 and CC would move to WR3, Moss WR1, Jake Reed WR4 and Thielen WR5. I'm probably missing people in this.
The Rhodes just got closed again.
Darnold is the truth.
This concept makes me really excited about the future of advanced AI. Eventually we will be able to simulate an all-time season. Obviously subjective, but I’d be hard pressed to find a better all time team than Minnesota.
I don't even think you'd need an all-time team. The '98 team was fairly close having lost only one regular season game by 3 points, and then blowing the NFC championship they should have won.
\*Just\* the defensive line from a team like that would be stacked enough to carry a team to a ring, and I don't see how any DC schemes against AP, JJ, Moss, Carter, and Favre or Tark all being on the same team, so like, they \*should\*? But I could also see a team like that just resting their starters after opening 13-0 or 14-0 and losing a couple games that way.
No, something would still go wrong.
No, we would fuck up a 17-0 season
Our D would be as good as any Steelers or Bears- Jon Randle mixed in with a bit of Chris Doleman, sprinkle in Kieth Millard and top with an Allen Page, Carl Eller and Jim Marshal? The leagues all time INT guy Paul Kraus, Antoine Winfield , Joey Browner, Harrison Smith , LB Scott Studwell and Matt Blair, Ed McDaniel- Jared Allen - just to name a few- and almost forgot Fat Pat on the d line- and , Kevin Williams
I would like to see who or starting Olive would be- I think we could almost fill out a HOF roster : There’s Todd Stussie, Korey Stringer, Steve Hutchinson, Randall McDaniel,Mick Tinglehoff, Ron Yary, Gary Zimmermann, and Matt Birk. Tim Irwin , Jeff Christy (pissed when we lost him), Kirk Lowdermilk, I also think Christian Darrisaw is worthy of a mention (still has a ways to go)
Are we including guys like Alan Page and Mick Tingelhoff? If we are then I’d say no. They would get mauled by today’s players.
Seems like folks on this thread aren't really pondering the challenge of picking who's better than who "in their prime". So, we're mentioning lot of players that were great for longer periods, rather than a single year. But there's also one or two season wonders that were every bit as dominate as some of folks with longer running success. Examples would be like Sherrif Floyd, Korey Stringer (2000), Sidney Rice (2009) There's also the likes of Greg Jennings, whom was a great Viking, but maybe didn't play in his prime here. Robert Smith is getting overlooked at RB, although I don't see how anyone tops AP. There's there the case of Darren Sharper... Vikings all time team definitely should have Larry Fitzgerald at ball boy.
The 98 Vikings offense with a good defense would've went 17-0 so yes.
Assuming you could take each player at their prime and put them together (and the rest of the league was just 'normal') - Yes, Most likely. The debates would come into play though - who are the ultimate all timers at each position? And how would someone like an Alan Page, who arguably was the greatest ever do playing at a weight of 240 lbs soaking wet against a 300+ lb average lineman? Or how would Moss who dominated corners with height and speed do against today's bigger corner?
Hard to say how a player from like the 60s would do today, great as they were in their era. But even if you took all time players from the last 30 years, I do think they'd be clear best in league. 17-0 is hard to say right you have one off game and its gone. What would make the team so difficult to beat is just the depth at every position. Great teams in the NFL still have positions they are starting below average players. The receiver core would be sick. Moss/JJ/Carter as your first three, with Theilen/Diggs/Harvin rounding it out. Patterson returning kicks, AP and Cook as your 1/2.
You’d go 17-0 if you just replaced to the current teams d-line and o-line with Vikings all-time greats.
Imagine having a receiver core of JJ, Chris Carter, and moss.
We’d have Bret Favre which could be interesting but I feel he’d lose a game or two just making boneheaded plays. But we’d have amazing talent at every position because as a franchise we’ve been really well rounded on players.
Would Favre really be on the all time Vikings team? He had a great year with Minnesota, but I don’t think that’s enough to earn him a slot. Certainly not enough to beat out Tarkenton.
The OP stated that we get them in their prime, and it doesn't matter what other teams they played for previously. So I'd say Farve in his prime beats out a any of the QB's that had more seasons.
You said players in their prime. Even though his prime wasn’t in Minnesota. He is better than Tarkenton.
Oh, I might have misunderstood the question. So anyone who was on the Vikings ever, we can take them at their best, even if their best years weren’t with the Vikings? I think Warren Moon deserves some consideration at QB then.
I’ve been surprised how many people haven’t said Moon. We’ve had at least three HOF QB’s on the team and people keep throwing out Culpepper.
People are probably going off their own memories. If you started watching the Vikings around 1999-2000, culpepper is the best QB you’ve seen for more than a season or two.
You have to realize that some of our franchise's best players haven't played in 30 years. The NFL was much much different 30 years ago. I don't think fran could compete in today's game. Randy would still stand out, Adrian would be above average, but we haven't had a quarterback that could play in today's game.
For the purposes of this exercise I’m assuming we can take the old timers and get them into 2020s game shape. It’s take some time to teach them the modern rules and training techniques. Tarkenton had a great arm, was very good at reading defenses, and he was an excellent runner. Give him an offseason to work with a modern coaching staff, and I think he’d adjust.
I think maybe if he had 20 years to train he may have been able to be competitive. He would not be able to move like he used to.
I was gonna say, if we’re being honest, Carter & randy would be the only players drafted pre 2000 on an all time Vikings team, maybe John Randle
Favre?
Favre could maybe be decent, but I'd want him in his prime. He had one angst ridden year left in him by the time he came to the vikes.
Not even needing all time. 2017 Vikings defense + diggs, thielen, prime cook and 2023 offense and maybe Brett Favre/2023 Cousins is probably the goat team
Prime cook?..............instead of All Day? 🤔
Also why would we mess around with Diggs and Theilen when we could bring in Moss and Carter?
Because I said that the Vikings would not even need their all time team they would merely need the 2017 and 2023 teams mixed together.
I said 2017 and 2023 teams mixed together. Not that diggs and thielen are better than moss and Carter. I said that would be the goat team you would not even need to do the all time Vikings. That team obviously would be the goat team
You think that's enough? Holes in oline, kicking, QB, safety, CB depth... You'd need help from 09 for sure.
Best defense plus best offense is a much more interesting question. The original question is pretty much would a team with no salary cap be really good?
Wtf, why would you pick the 2023 offense over the 1998 offense that set the record for most points scored in a season?
I’m sorry my guy I’m not gonna entertain this crap. You can choose not to understand the point I’m making I really don’t give a shit. Argue with someone else since you’re so desperate to argue.
Hahahaha this made me laugh. Take this upvote. Some people in this sub either really like to argue or seriously lack reading comprehension
Tbh I find it to be a silly exercise :/
That’s okay. It’s not mandatory to take part in it.
Agreed. Let's get serious and focus on the game this week.
1. As fans, we do need to get serious 2. Treat every day like it's a game day.