Jan 8, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants helmet on the bench against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports.
Kickers are evidently dropping like flies.
Current Minnesota Vikings kicker Will Reichard will undergo an MRI on Tuesday to determine the severity of a quad injury he suffered on Sunday Night Football in a win over the Indianapolis Colts. And before that, former Vikings kicker Greg Joseph hit injured reserve.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted Friday, “Giants kicker Greg Joseph is out Sunday vs. the Commanders due to an oblique injury, leaving practice squad kicker Jude McAtamney as the next kicker up. In Week 2 vs. Washington, Giants kicker Graham Gano hurt his hamstring on the opening kick and the team didn’t have a kicker the rest of the game.”
New York placed Joseph on IR soon after the Schefter tweet, marking two Giants kickers to the naughty list this season.
The Giants lost to the Washington Commanders on Sunday 27-22 while little-known kicker Jude McAtameney held down kicking duties. McAatamney nailed a field goal and extra points with no misses.
Joseph will miss at least the next three games on IR.
When the 2024 offseason arrived, Minnesota had a choice between another year of Joseph, hoping his struggles with “ordinary” field goals and extra points would stabilize. In the end, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said “no” to Joseph and onboarded Reichard from the draft.
The injured specialist played for Minnesota from 2021 to 2023, securing the kicker job longer than most amid the last decade of Vikings football. Joseph racked up five game-winning field goals in 2022 — you read that right: five — a chief component in actionizing the Vikings’ NFL-record-setting 11-0 record in games decided by one score or less that season. Minnesota’s kicker won five football games for the team notoriously snakebitten by kicker-related tomfoolery.
Yet, in back-to-back seasons, 2022 and 2023, Joseph ranked as a bottom-six NFL kicker per overall field goal percentage. The man also struggled with extra points. Vikings fans “appreciated what they had” in Joseph, jaded from kickers of yesteryear who let them down in crucial, pressure-cooked moments. But as a matter of improvement, Minnesota strived to find a kicker who could do it all: consistently hit game-winning kicks, normal ones, and drill extra points. So, it drafted Reichard.
Joseph also joined the Green Bay Packers roster last spring after departing the Vikings. He later lost a kicker battle, and little-known free agent Brayden Narveson took over the gig. It’s worth noting that Narveson is no longer employed in Green Bay. The Packers dropped Narveson and signed veteran Brandon McManus.
Before the IR trip, Joseph had connected on 81.3% of field goals, ranking him in the NFL’s bottom 10 once again per accuracy.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.