Rookie RB Sparking Minnesota Magic
Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Vikings may have found their next star on special teams. The guy I’m talking about is Kene Nwangwu, a rookie running back who was selected by the Vikes with the 119th overall pick in this year’s draft.
On the second kickoff return of his career, he grabbed Justin Tucker’s boot from the two-yard line and turned on the jets en route to a 98-yard score that started the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens.
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This occurrence was the first kickoff return touchdown by a Viking since Nov. 20, 2016, when Cordarrelle Patterson (now a running back for the Atlanta Falcons) busted one 104 yards for a score against the Arizona Cardinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. Interestingly enough, the last Vikings rookie to return a kickoff for a touchdown was the aforementioned Patterson during his Pro Bowl season in 2013. It was also registered as number twenty-one in franchise history.
And he also joined some elite company (it’s not easy returning kickoffs from Justin Tucker). Nwangwu is the fifth player in the NFL since 2000 to score on one of their first two kickoff returns, alongside Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers), Randall Cobb (Green Bay Packers), David Johnson (Arizona Cardinals), and Darrick Vaughn (Atlanta Falcons).
The Frisco, Texas native was held off the playing field and sat on injured reserve through the first six games of the regular season thanks to a hyperextended knee during the Vikings’ preseason game against the Denver Broncos back on Aug. 14.
His return also earned the rook some special recognition from the NFL, as he picked up the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award, the first Vikings special team player to do so since cornerback Marcus Sherels for his punt returns against the Chicago Bears in Week 8 of the 2015 season. Nwangwu also attempted a run on a fake punt situation with a fourth down and two yards to go, resulting in a gain of nine and the first successful fake conversion since 2016.
During head coach Mike Zimmer’s tenure, with Kene becoming the latest winner, 29 Vikings have grabbed an NFC Player of the Week Award since 2014. On Special Teams, this is the first award in the category since running back Mike Boone claimed the honor in his Week 4 performance last season against the Houston Texans. Other players in the unit that previously garnered the prize include now-star wide receiver Adam Thielen in 2014, and kickers Blair Walsh (2015) and Dan Bailey (2019).
Nwangwu will look to provide more explosiveness for the team down the stretch run of the season, starting with a road date at SoFi Stadium against the L.A. Chargers, with kickoff at 3:05 P.M. CST.
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