New Details Emerge about Key Vikings Injury
Minnesota Vikings kicker Will Reichard was overworked in 2024 — as in the whole calendar year.
Clarity has emerged about a Vikings injury from last year, with specifics from 2024 and how they affect 2025.
That’s the latest and greatest theory from special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, who detailed Reichard’s maiden voyage season last week.
Minnesota selected Reichard in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he performed marvelously until a quad injury.
Will Reichard’s 2024 Grind Mentioned by Vikings Coach
Vikings Kicker Will Reichard Evidently Never Had … a Break
Reichard kicked for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2023 postseason and never really had a break in the action thereafter, according to his special teams skipper, Matt Daniels.
“Me as a coach, really having a rookie kicker last year, a guy who played into the college playoffs, went to the Senior Bowl, went to The Combine, and then he had a Pro Day. You really looked at, I mean, this guy basically played eleven straight months of football without a break,” Daniels told reporters.
“Obviously, he ended up having the quad injury that took place, right around the middle of the season, and that was probably due to over-kicking. Overexertion, really.”
The only strange part about Daniels’ comments? The breakless grind would apply to any rookie from a collegiate playoff team later drafted in the NFL.
The First 9 Games = Stupendous
The Vikings have searched high and low for a foundational kicker since Blair Walsh’s demise in 2015, never fully nailing the assignment. With Reichard, there’s hope he can be “the guy.”
The Crimson Tide alumnus bedazzled fans with his production and clutch gene to start the 2024 regular season. In fact, he kicked perfectly until a quad injury occurred in Week 9.
Reichard was 23 for 23 on extra points until the injury and 14 for 14 on field goals, including some impressive leg strength. All was well.
Struggles after the Injury
Then, the injury, mentioned by Daniels, ruined everything.
From the moment Reichard hurt his quad, he went 10 for 16 on field goals with a 62.5% accuracy, which is pretty dreadful by NFL kicking standards.
Thankfully for Reichard and Vikings fans’ sake, he did not miss any extra points after the quad injury. Extra points are a frequent scourge and frustration point among the fan base.
No Competition This Summer
Fast forward to this summer, and Reichard, rather refreshingly, has no competition at training camp or in the preseason. In the last decade, purple and gold operations have almost always involved two kickers duking it out, even if one man pulls away as early as June.
This go-round, Minnesota drafted no kickers — they have Reichard — nor did it sign a veteran to push Reichard to the limit, a systematic practice during the Greg Joseph era.
PPTSD on Will Reichard
PurplePTSD‘s Kyle Joudry shared some Reichard context earlier in the offseason: “The 80% FG conversion rate comes in at 27th among qualifying kickers (ironically, in a tie with Greg Joseph). Obviously, finishing at 100% for extra points leaves Reichard in a tie for 1st, so just note that the NFL offered thirteen kickers who were perfect in this area of the game.”
“Only a single kicker — Will Lutz — was perfect with his extra points while kicking more (Lutz went 46/46). The offseason is going to involve figuring out how to push Will Reichard higher. It’s the question the kicker is asking himself and the challenge the team is putting in front of the soon-to-be sophomore. Does part of the equation involve bringing in offseason competition?”
Perhaps with a clean bill of health — and rest, in hindsight — Reichard can return to pristine form.
Joudry added, “Again, it’s a pressure-packed position. Making a kicker earn his job on a yearly basis – even if the franchise has signalled a high degree of confidence by using a draft pick on him – seems like a prudent move. Let him face the pressure of direct competition in training camp; overcoming the challenger will only make him a better player, one who is better suited for what the job demands on Sunday.”
“Last season involved Parker Romo being brought in to compete. Does Romo or someone else get a look to go toe-to-toe with Reichard? Will Reichard is 24. In an ideal world, he’ll be the Vikings’ K1 for the next decade.”
Reichard will turn 25 in January.
You must be logged in to post a comment.