The most underrated Vikings of the last 50 years (Part 2)
Counting down the players who have flown under the radar since the Vikings last Super Bowl appearance but whose contributions shouldn't be forgotten
By Matthew Coller and Josh Smith
Warning! If you grew up a Minnesota Vikings fan during the Fran Tarkenton era, this factoid is going to hit you pretty hard: The 2026 season will mark 50 years since the Vikings have reached the Super Bowl.
So we are counting down the most underrated players of the last 50 years of Vikings football.
Let’s continue our countdown….
15 -- Amp Lee
— By Josh Smith
Lee is the only non-starting role player on this list. But he’s on it because he filled his role with aplomb from 1994-96 for Dennis Green.
Over a three-year span, only two Vikings running backs in history had more receptions than Lee (170), and they were Rickey Young (224) — more on him later — and Ring of Honor legend Chuck Foreman (181).
Lee did it almost exclusively as a third-down back, moving the chains on 44% of his grabs.
Given the franchise’s rich history of star RBs, it’s easy to forget Lee, a free-agent pickup from San Francisco. But reminding people is what this exercise is all about.
So, when you are assigned to write about Amp Lee — and you are a demented Vikings geek like me — here’s what you end up doing on your wedding anniversary while your wife is sun-bathing out back: You fire up YouTube for a Bucs-Vikings matchup from Lee’s best season, 1995.
It was a memorable game. Not necessarily because of Lee. Rather, because it was the Trent-Dilfer-Gets-Ejected-For-Fighting-John-Randle game. But that came after Lee stole the show in the first half, when Minnesota’s 31-17 win was decided.
With the 6-6 Vikings embroiled in the Wild Card chase, Lee started that day after injuries to Robert Smith and — Vikings Geek Bonus Points if you remember this dude — James Stewart.
And here’s the display you see from our substitute RB in question:
In the first quarter, Lee upended a blitzing Derrick Brooks so Warren Moon could hit Jake Reed on a 17-yard dig. Two plays later, Lee took a handoff 66 yards to the house for a 7-0 lead. Soon, he split out wide and caught a stop route. Then, he motioned out of the backfield and was targeted on a pass that got picked. Next, on a fake-reverse to David Palmer (gosh, Brian Billick was a lucky man), Lee took a screen pass the other way for what would’ve been another TD if not for a downfield hold.
The performance encapsulated Lee’s skills.
Though he was essentially a specialist, Lee had a shifty style and crafty ability to break arm tackles, like a poor man’s Marshall Faulk — who, coincidentally, Lee later backed up in St. Louis, winning a ring in 1999.
Green likely was smitten by him in 1992, in one of those scenarios where a coach falls for a player who is destroying his team in a loss. Filling in for Ricky Watters, Lee went off against Minnesota for 134 yards rushing and a TD catch.
Two years later, he was tormenting defenses for the Vikings on crucial downs.
But the sun always fades. For instance, my wife came inside and I had to turn off the old game to, like, spend time with her. Meanwhile, Lee’s years in purple were pockmarked by a pair of playoff fumbles, including one of those dreaded punch-outs through the end zone as he was about to score against Dallas.
Still, this franchise’s playoff failures are never owned by one man, and Lee’s overall fit in Green’s West Coast-based system was a ham-and-cheese relationship in an era when invaluable third-down backs feasted.
14 -- Brian O’Neill
— By Josh Smith
To open this appreciation for such a steadying influence on Minnesota’s offensive line, let’s think back to a screen grab from the 2015 season opener, three years before Brian O’Neill was drafted.
The image is of Vikings right tackle TJ Clemmings hugging quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Accidentally. In the middle of a play. Which resulted in a sadly hilarious sack. On Monday Night Football.
It was an unforgettable moment in the worst type of way.
However, since O’Neill trotted into Minnesota’s huddle, it’s become easier to forget how an overmatched tackle can stymie an offense.
And while we don’t want to say O’Neill has been taken for granted … well, he’s probably been taken for granted.
That’s why he is the only current player on this list.
O’Neill doesn’t have the name recognition of the pillars of his NFL position group, but he’s been an ever-present role-model of a Viking at a high-value spot for going on nine seasons.
It’s been one of the most meaningful developments in the team’s recent history, particularly given the perception of him when he was drafted by Minnesota in the second round. Initially, he appeared too slender at 6-foot-7 to become a stud tackle. During his collegiate career at Pittsburgh, for instance, he had spent time at tight end.
(Aside: Dear KOC, we’re all still waiting for O’Neill’s first tackle-eligible target. Make it happen.)
It was valid to question whether O’Neill could transform his body to match the rigors of the NFL game. But he quickly began answering those questions.
His first action, off the bench, came amid a stress storm. A team with enormous expectations, those 2018 Vikings were floundering at 1-2-1 and locked in a 3-3 tie on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions — who had destroyed their dreams nine months prior.
In came O’Neill for Rashod Hill to face Eagles standouts Brandon Graham and Chris Long. On one memorable snap, with the Vikings backed up, O’Neill staved off Graham long enough — in their own end zone — for Kirk Cousins to find Adam Thielen on a 68-yard catch-and-run.
By the end of Minnesota’s 23-21 upset, the Vikings had found their franchise right tackle. The 6-foot-7 O’Neill’s Relative Athletic Score in 2018 was 9.6, grading elite in agility and speed. And, on the field, his athleticism shined.
His arrival ended a rough three-year stretch — after Phil Loadholt’s retirement — that saw the team cycle through Mike Remmers, Jeremiah Sirles, Andre Smith, Clemmings and Hill at right tackle.
O’Neill has missed just nine games since becoming a starter. He is a two-time Pro Bowl pick. He has been a top-20 tackle by PFF every year since 2022, allowing just four sacks over the past two seasons.
He has also carried his side of the line next to a litany of poor-to-average right guards whose names could cause dry heaves among Vikings faithful, doing so for five different coordinators.
Simply, when O’Neill is on the field, there’s seldom a reason to be concerned about left edges blowing up gameplans. That’s the ultimate compliment — and one that could translate soon into another contract extension.
When considering this four-time team captain’s year-in, year-out play, the only Vikings O-linemen who historically trump his current run are either organizational stalwarts or Pro Football Hall of Famers.
In other words, if we ever see Brian O’Neill hugging his QB, rest assured it’s no accident.
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