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2023 Special Teams, will it be a yea or nay year...?


vike daddy

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24 minutes ago, wcblack34 said:

I think continuity, at this point, is the important thing. Unless the new guy just blows them away in the preseason games, I would stick with Joseph. He’s up and down, but that’s what you get if you don’t have an elite kicker.

yeah, maybe...

didn't Pod make some clutch kicks in championship games though?

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The Vikings have a real kicking competition with Jack Podlesny and Greg Joseph. At practice on Monday, Podlesny and Joseph each went 5/6 on the same kicks with Podlesny missing from 50 and Joseph missing from 37. It looked like Podlesny was kicking better with his form and where the ball was going through the uprights. We don’t know who will get the majority of reps during preseason games, but playing well will go a long way.

https://vikingswire.usatoday.com/lists/minnesota-vikings-great-performance-seattle-seahawks-jaren-hall-lewis-cine/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1ZiMv9kcH6dEBhTC03j-5KFlOBi8rWeYHZX1syjVP4JfHVqfAMhzcPefE

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  • 2 weeks later...

Greg Joseph will enter Year Three as the Vikings kicker, hoping to carry the momentum of continuity and maintain his tremendous acumen for drilling clutch kicks.

The South African nailed five game-winning field goals in 2022, and that cold-blooded tactic isn’t often the norm in the state of Minnesota. Blair Walsh and Gary Anderson can attest. To be sure, after Joseph mind-numbingly missed a game-winning field goal in 2021 at the Arizona Cardinals, he hasn’t failed in a crucial late-game situation.

Joseph ranked tops in the NFL among all kickers for game-winning field goals but oddly struggled with ‘the other stuff.’ He ranked 28th leaguewide in overall field goal kicking percentage and 31st in extra point percentage.

With his job intact, he’ll hope to clean up the final two metrics.

https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/top_news/kicker-competition-is?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

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Dykes, who just signed with Minnesota on Thursday, opened the game with a 38-yard kickoff return that was Minnesota's best of the night. Dykes totaled 112 yards on five returns.

The kickoff return unit looked cleaner on multiple returns, but others resulted in being stopped well inside the 25-yard line.

Greg Joseph was 3-for-3 on field goals and kicked his lone extra point through the uprights.

Ryan Wright had a few boomers, averaging 48.0 yards, but his shortest — a 28-yarder — resulted in the Vikings getting the ball back after Titans cornerback Tre Avery made contact with the football. Tay Gowan recovered it for Minnesota.

https://www.vikings.com/news/2023-titans-slow-offensive-start-costly-penalty?fbclid=IwAR2wmMMY-4ve2cSvA6AnF2X0e0hII7d1lbA82EJLGGqT7EiRlr45XSvWJgQ

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NaJee Thompson has probably earned a spot on the team for his work on special teams, but we seem a bit log jammed at CB now.

Murphy, Evans, Blackmon, Ward, JoeJuan Williams and Booth should be the top 6. Jaylin Williams probably goes to the practice squad.

Do we keep 7 CBs with one strictly on special teams?

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NaJee Thompson has been on the field for four punt coverage reps this preseason. In those plays, the opponents have returned the ball for 2 yards.

Excluding a muffed punt recovered by the Vikings against the Titans, Thompson has been off the field for six punts during the preseason. On those six punts, the opposing return team has totaled 39 yards.

It’s a small sample size both ways, but the other players that the Vikings have used as gunners have struggled to make the same impact.

https://vikingswire.usatoday.com/lists/minnesota-vikings-najee-thompson-punt-coverage-clinic-preseason/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3dSvD8nwOlG7agJvJE3RAqZkFuvvR1_41B-9z7AaoW9BbPqA3Uub6QTv8

 

the quoted article goes into length analyzing Thompson's punt coverage skills, with all 22 film breaks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Regrettably, Nwangwu has hit Injured Reserve with no clear timetable for return. He might be back for Week 5; he may miss most of the 2023 regular season.

The problem, though, is running back Ty Chandler will fill in via kick-returning duties. And if he does an admirable job, do the Vikings really need Nwangwu back? It’s a harsh reality, but it cannot be ignored.

https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/top_news/taylor-nearly?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

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  • 1 month later...

Greg Joseph hasn’t been the most consistent kicker in the National Football League. When the Vikings gave him a rather sizable contract during the offseason, it was rather puzzling.

So far this year, Joseph has been perfect. He has hit both of his field goals and all 12 extra points. That type of consistency, albeit in a smaller sample size, is something the Vikings have needed from their kicking game.

https://vikingswire.usatoday.com/lists/vikings-chiefs-optimism-justin-jefferson-kirk-cousins-patrick-mahomes/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1BJhr1DdGnWxE1DdTdia4G2MPKfBOLA5SrnR5-Oe2xRua9DPLxoh02Qjs

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51 minutes ago, vike daddy said:

Greg Joseph hasn’t been the most consistent kicker in the National Football League. When the Vikings gave him a rather sizable contract during the offseason, it was rather puzzling.

So far this year, Joseph has been perfect. He has hit both of his field goals and all 12 extra points. That type of consistency, albeit in a smaller sample size, is something the Vikings have needed from their kicking game.

https://vikingswire.usatoday.com/lists/vikings-chiefs-optimism-justin-jefferson-kirk-cousins-patrick-mahomes/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1BJhr1DdGnWxE1DdTdia4G2MPKfBOLA5SrnR5-Oe2xRua9DPLxoh02Qjs

It’s a little surprising that we’ve only tried 2 field goals in 4 games. 

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  • 2 months later...

Special Teams Coordinator Matt Daniels: "The mindset on kickoffs has really always been, 'Return it no matter what,' quite frankly. But then you had Kene who was on IR at the beginning of the year, wasn't too sure, a new returner back there with Ty Chandler. So obviously you want to build up confidence in that player before you start bringing it out 8-to-9 yards deep, like we normally would with Kene. So once Ty got comfortable back there, feeling good, and started having some explosive returns … then we kind of felt good about, 'OK … let's start bringing those things out.' "

https://www.vikings.com/news/final-thoughts-raiders-week-14?fbclid=IwAR1hVQk2H14OBn0WLU1k20dFvUkQZfypnPjkM9FI1DXXo_FjGn3w1A6AeZA

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Since leaving the Vikings and hitting 89% of his field goal attempts and 95.7% of his extra points, Daniel Carlson has become one of the elite kickers in the NFL. Long kicks are his specialty, as he has hit 25 of 32 kicks from 50 or more yards out. After the 2022 season, Carlson was named first-team All-Pro. He has also led the league in scoring twice and is the fourth-most accurate kicker in NFL history.

Greg Joseph is playing on a one-year deal, and his performance has been shaky, so the Vikes might give the position a look in the draft. Let’s hope they have more patience this time.

https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/opinion/rendezvous-with-a-massive?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

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