Full-on competition
If there was any doubt about how the Vikings were going to handle their kickers and punters moving forward, new special-teams coordinator Matt Daniels cleared things up Tuesday at TCO Performance Center in Egan.Though incumbent kicker Greg Joseph and incumbent punter Jordan Berry are still on the roster, they won’t be guaranteed a job for next season. Not with two rookies, kicker Gabe Brkic and punter Ryan Wright, in the mix.
“There will be a full-on kicker competition and punter competition,” Daniels said. “That’s why we brought in Gabe Brkic and Ryan Wright.”
For the Vikings, the goal is to create competition within each position battle, then see how each player responds to it.
Looking specifically at Joseph, he got off to a slow start last season, then finished strong. While most everyone remembers him missing a 37-yard field goal as time expired in Week 2, a 34-33 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, he ultimately went 33 for 38 on field goals and 36 for 40 on extra points for the season.
Those are respectable numbers for a kicker, and thus, Brkic likely will have his work cut out for him as he attempts to unseat Joseph for the job.
As for Berry, he left something to be desired last season with his middle-of-the-pack numbers. He averaged 46.5 yards per punt, with a net average of 40.8. To put that in perspective, Dallas Cowboys punter Bryan Anger, whom Daniels worked with last season, led the NFL with a net average of 44.6 yards per punt.
That might leave the door open for Wright to take over the job if Berry struggles in training camp.
How will the Vikings evaluate each position battle?
As much as the coaching staff plans to keep tabs on everything from what each player is doing in the weight room, to how they conduct themselves in the meeting room, at the end of the day, it comes down to their performance on the field.
“We’ve been tracking all of the statistics,” Daniels said. “The numbers are going to speak for themselves.
https://www.twincities.com/2022/05/24/vikings-planning-full-on-competition-at-kicker-and-punter/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Accountability is important. Man, kickers and punters have such little value now with most teams.
I do like competition and seeing how guys respond, but I
think there’s a lot of guessing on how well a kicker/punter will do during the season
when you base it on his performance for a few weeks in shorts in Eagan.
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