Can He Kick It? Let’s Hope He Can.

It’s not like Vikings fans would overlook the kicker

Lost in all of the excitement of this offseason. . .and Minnesota Vikings fans have gotten a fair dose of it. . .lies a situation that nobody is really talking about but, perhaps, they should be.

After being selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, rookie Will Reichard made a pretty solid initial impression in the NFL. He was perfect on field goals in the team’s first seven games of last season and already owns two of the three longest field goals in franchise history. The Baby-Faced Assassin looked like he was finally giving Vikings fans a reason to not have to hold their breath every time the kicker trotted out onto the field.

But then things changed a bit. He missed a couple of field goals in the Sunday Night Football victory over Indianapolis, and it was revealed after the game that he had suffered a quad injury during that contest and was placed on injured reserve. He missed four games, during which (John) Parker Romo joined the team and looked spectacular, missing just one field goal and sinking a couple of game winners.

Once Reichard returned, he had his ups and downs. He missed his lone field goal attempt in his return against Atlanta, and after going five-for-five over the next two weeks, he missed a pair of field goals in the home finale against Green Bay and also missed one in the regular season finale in Detroit.

I’m not a kicking expert or anything like that, so I’m not sure if Reichard was still struggling with the aftermath of his quad injury or if what was going on was more of a mental thing, but should we be more worried about the kicking situation heading into this season than we currently are? I haven’t heard anything about how Reichard is looking through any of the OTAs or workouts, which you could probably take as a positive. . .I’m sure if he were missing left and right we would have heard about it.

I’m curious as to what you folks think, so let us know where Will Reichard and the kicking game rank on your list of concerns, if they rank at all.