Final article in the T. C. Preview Series

https://www.vikings.com/news/2026-vikings-training-camp-preview-specialists

Training Camp Preview: Specialists

RETURNEES: LS Andrew DePaola; K Will Reichard; KR/PR Myles Price

NEWCOMERS: Veteran P Johnny Hekker; UDFA P Brett Thorson

DEPARTURE: P Ryan Wright (signed with the Saints)

2025 RECAP: The Purple specialists, led by Special Teams Coordinator Matt Daniels, left purple fingerprints all over the 9-8 slate. Mostly, they painted a picture worth remembering in a good light.

DePaola and Reichard united for a historic second season, while Price was a shiny upgrade as a full-time returner – by far the team's best PR threat since Marcus Sherels. Let's focus there. In Week 1 at Soldier Field, Price became the first Viking to record 100-plus return yards in an opener since Jerick McKinnon in 2017 and only the fifth since Buster Rhymes did it a couple times in the mid-80s. (Percy Harvin achieved the feat in 2011; Nate Jacquet did it in 2001; and Tyrone Carter flashed out of the gate in 2000.) Price didn't fade, either. From Weeks 9-11, his 501 total return yards represented the most by a player over a three-game stretch at any point in the season. (First-Team All-Pro returner Chimere Dike produced 489 across his top three-gamer.) That spree by Price actually could have involved a 99-yard touchdown on a kickoff, except his streaking into the end zone in a November contest at Detroit was nullified by a flimsy holding call. Price wasn't without fault, however. His toughest break occurred in the middle of that same peak, when he fumbled on consecutive touches shortly after halftime versus Baltimore. The latter fumble was saved by a teammate, but the first gifted a short field to a Lamar Jackson-led offense that was in over its head … until the miscue. Baltimore, moments later, plunged in for its first touchdown to complement four prior field goals, and Minnesota's momentum evaporated from U.S. Bank Stadium. Price got hurt in Week 17 but a positive encore is up for grabs after he looked like Mr. Shifty in the spring.

Reichard connected on 33 of 35 field goals, and controversy muddied one of his misses. Somewhere in London, there's an overhead camera cable who has beef with the former soccer player. We have fretted enough on that folly. His other whiff was insignificant, as it happened in a 27-point loss to the Chargers. Reichard outperformed Brandon Aubrey on Sunday Night Football at the Cowboys on Dec. 14 and drilled the go-ahead field goal at the Giants in the final four minutes on Dec. 21. He ended the season as well as imaginable, claiming NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for December/January – and confirming his stardom.

GROUP OVERVIEW: Daniels and Company, including new Assistant Special Teams Coach Chili Davis, quickly replaced Wright, after arguably his most-dialed season, in free agency with Hekker (Daniels' teammate on the Rams in 2012-13) then prioritized adding the 2025 Ray Guy Award winner, Thorson, at the conclusion of the draft. Thorson skied balls for the National Champion Georgia Bulldogs as a freshman in 2022 and enters the league after posting the ninth-best punting average in the SEC dating to 2000 (45.6; min. 100 punts). The elder statesman in the punting room, Hekker, punted for the Super Bowl Champion Rams that employed Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell as offensive coordinator, and he is a member of the NFL All-Decade Team of the 2010s; Hekker was a First- or Second-Team All-Pro spanning 2013-18.

DePaola, who will turn 39 on July 28, scoffed after the 2025 season when one reporter leaned into the possibility of him retiring. He plays a position that has a longer average lifespan than typical in the NFL, and he's amidst his heyday as evidenced by his alternating First- and Second-Team All-Pro accolades since 2022. (DePaola's Bagel & Brunch in Stevensville, Maryland, can wait another year, at least, for his undivided attention.) Considering the pace Reichard is going, there's no reason for the band to break up; it's one of, if not the finest batteries (kicking operations) in pro football. Last year, Reichard and DePaola became the first set of Vikings specialists with All-Pro nods in the same campaign. A wonderous repeat hit is within their ability.

Price has a firm hold on the return duties after smashing the Vikings record for combined kick and punt return yardage in one season. The second-year undrafted product by way of Indiana and Texas Tech needs to demonstrate a firmer hold on the football, though; Price coughed up the rock four times and lost possession thrice, including that awfully consequential fumble in a pivotal game against the Ravens. At 5-foot-9 and 180ish pounds, Price (aka "Jug") won't wow with his size, but he will with his dizzying stop-and-start skills and a fearlessness that is equal parts coveted and rare, but costly if not mastered.

THIRD-YEAR CHARM: Reichard ranks seventh on the all-time field goal percentage chart through a player's first two seasons (87.7 percent; min. 65 attempts) and is the first Vikings First-Team All-Pro kicker since Blair Walsh in 2012 and the team's third ever, along with Gary Anderson in 1998. "Will the Thrill" is aiming to one-up himself, and Daniels relayed during the offseason that the 25-year-old can climb to a higher level. What that looks like, well, your best guess is as good as any. He's perfect on point-after-attempts through 30 career games and needs another six FGs from 50-plus to overtake Walsh for the franchise lead (24).

WHAT TO WATCH IF YOU MAKE IT TO CAMP: Centuries from now, people will share tall tales of Reichard's kicking power, which means it's worthwhile to fix your eyes on him and take a stab at his maximum range on field goals (but don't expect him to attempt anything longer than 60 in practice to conserve his leg). Pro tip: listen for how resounding and clean the contact is when his foot strikes the football. Beyond closely watching the All-Pro, there's plenty of intrigue about the "gray" vs. "green" punting competition that will pit the 36-year-old Hekker against the 26-year-old rookie Thorson.

3 KEY QUESTIONS FOR VIKINGS SPECIALISTS

1. Which punter will be the right one?

The better holder, perhaps.

Hekker and Thorson are uniquely decorated. One is in the homestretch of his career; the other is vying to secure his future after a stellar college career. The answer to replacing "Mr. Wright" may depend on the comfort that Reichard has with each on PATs and field goals. It looked indistinguishable during the spring.

Of course, there are metrics to decide which punter is the better, more efficient – and right – holder.

2. Who will push Price as a kick/punt returner?

Training camp is designed for competition. Plus, who cares what already happened. It's true, Price put awesome things on tape, but we highly doubt he's going to rest on his laurels. Also, it seems smart for Minnesota to identify another potentially game-changing piece in the third phase. Depth is key, after all.

Some interesting candidates are WR Dillon Bell, RB Demond Claiborne and WR Luke Wysong.

We're floating those names purely based on them passing the eye test this spring or lighting up the athletic testing in the pre-draft process. Bell caught practically everything thrown to him in Organized Team Activity practices and minicamp. He only returned a handful of kickoffs at Georgia, but the Bulldogs valued his RAC (run after catch) so much they fed him 51 carries in addition to 119 catches in 56 games.

Claiborne's 4.37 speed makes him lightning in a bottle. We hoped to foreshadow his potential in this story.

Alas, there's Wysong, who didn't make a dent in the offseason due to an injury, but exploded heads at Arizona's Pro Day workout, posting a 4.32 40-yard dash, 39-inch vertical jump and 17 bench press reps. Wysong and Claiborne are listed at 5-foot-10 and 186 and 188 pounds. Bell is bigger at 6-foot and 209.

3. What areas are ripe for improvement in 2026?

The low point of last season took the Vikings by surprise in the final minute of a heartbreaking loss at home to Chicago. The day was Nov. 16. The attendance was 66,952. The Week 11 defeat was 19-17 and haunted Minnesota more than two months later when the club was watching the postseason – not in it.

Immediately after a game-tying touchdown pass and go-ahead PAT with 50 seconds left, the kickoff unit, hinging heavily on a youth movement, lapsed and offered return man Devin Duvernay a giant-sized crease to run back 56 yards and set up Cairo Santos for a 48-yard field goal as time expired.

By and large, Daniels' groups on special teams performed greatly in 2025. There isn't one glaring area to shore up or recalibrate. There is urgency, however, for a batch of young players to make individual strides that will trickle down to the units overall. It helps to have elite leadership in DePaola, Reichard and potentially Hekker steering the ship. If Hekker wins the job, Thorson could be stashed as a roster exemption thanks to his Aussie roots and inclusion in the league's International Player Pathway program.

We suppose cleaner execution will be a talking point, as well. The Vikings special teams were penalized 23 times in 2025, which tied for the seventh most with Pittsburgh and Kansas City, per nflpenalties.com.