One Vikings Newcomer Totally Dazzled over the Weekend
If you’re just returning to Minnesota Vikings football for the 2024 season, welcome back. And you’ll be pleased to learn that the club has a fresh and organic solution at kicker.
One Vikings Newcomer Totally Dazzled over the Weekend
Rookie Will Reichard won the kicking job outright last week when XFL kicker Parker Romo’s brief stint with the purple team abruptly ended. The lane cleared for Reichard in 2024 and beyond — and he didn’t disappoint at training camp last weekend.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert tweeted about Reichard on Saturday: “Vikings PK Will Reichard closes out practice by hitting from 34, 42, 46, 48, 53, and 58. He’s 12-for-14 in team drills this summer.”
And this sweet kick circulated the internet — one that might’ve been successful from 70+ yards:
Minnesota said goodbye to kicker Greg Joseph this offseason, who promptly signed with the Green Bay Packers. It was time to move on from Joseph, and Minnesota needed a plan for the post-Joseph era when it decided to say sayonara. Undoubtedly, Reichard was one of the options, and the Vikings pounced. They got their guy.
Chat with any Vikings fan for longer than two minutes, and the conversation will devolve into swapping war stories about where each person was when Gary Anderson or Blair Walsh missed a kick. Such malarkey is entrenched deep in Vikings fans’ bones. That’s why finding someone once and for all — hopefully Reichard — is vital.
There are also statistics like this:
Most Missed FGs + XPs,
Last 5 Seasons:
Vikings: 49
Jets: 46
Colts: 45
Patriots: 44
Browns: 43
Cowboys: 43
Commanders: 41
Rams: 41
So, with any luck, fans’ anxiety about kickers, field goals, and extra points can diminish, and the above-listed naughty stats can stabilize.
What’s more, Reichard’s summer has featured consistency. The aforementioned Seifert wrote about Reichard’s performance at June’s minicamp, “During the team’s final OTA, which was moved indoors because of rain, Reichard nearly hit a balcony that is perched on the wall behind — and above — the goal posts while moving through a progression of 40+ yard attempts. Later, in a full drill with a defense, he drilled a 60-yarder that landed in a net that sits 10 feet behind the goal post and 10 feet off the ground.”
Too, Matthew Coller said on the Purple Insider podcast seven weeks ago, “Holy hell, in a good way. He just kicks the heck outta the ball. He was kicking 55-yarders that were going at the top of the goalposts. His 60-yard kick cleared everything and still landed in the net that was like five, seven yards behind it.”
The guy sounds like a machine.
The Vikings’ first preseason game kicks off on Saturday at home against the Las Vegas Raiders, a club that employs a former Vikings kicker — Daniel Carlson.
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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.
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