For Good Reason, Kevin O’Connell Uplifts Unsung Hero Following the Victory over the Seahawks
Kevin O’Connell was sure to make note of the performance from punter Ryan Wright.
The head coach chatted with the media and offered some thoughts on the punter’s importance. “To win that game,” O’Connell said, “field position’s always going to play a critical role. That was part of what we thought it would take to win that game. And Ryan Wright was fantastic and our punt unit.”
Kevin O’Connell, Ryan Wright, & Field Position
Mike Zimmer used to preach about the importance of complementary football. In extolling the virtues of punting well, O’Connell is doing the precise same thing.
Mr. Wright was needed on a half dozen occasions on Sunday afternoon in Seattle. The specialist responded by launching his 6 punts for a collective 300 yards, working out to a very satisfying 50-yards-per-punt average.
Dig down a little deeper into the numbers.
On overage, the Vikings gained 44.7 yards per punt, a healthy average that outpaces Wright’s season-long numbers. Even more impressive is that Wright dropped 4 of his 6 punts inside the twenty, forcing Seattle into several drives where they needed to move down a long field. Wright’s longest punt went for 63 yards.
Wright has been having a relatively modest season as the P1 in Minnesota. The third-year player was originally brought to town as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL Draft. Standing at 6’3″ and weighing 245, Wright looks more like a defensive end than a punter.
The season has involved Wright punting the ball 51 times. His average punt goes for 46.6 yards and the net yards gained, on average, sits at 40.5, a relatively modest number that’s actually a career worst. Plus, he has been dinged with 5 touchbacks, meaning he’s approaching last season’s 7. To be sure, it’s a far cry from Wright’s rookie season when there was just a single, lonely touchback.
The good news is simply that more of Ryan Wright’s punts are ending up inside the twenty-yard line. Of the 51 punts, an impressive 26 have been downed inside the twenty, which works out to 51%. If that holds, Wright will finish the season with a career-best average.
O’Connell’s words about the punt unit in its entirety are worth keeping in mind, as well. Trent Sherfield Jr. is a monster as a gunner, perhaps helping to explain why Akayleb Evans was cut earlier in the season (previously, Evans held the job, but Sherfield can be both a productive part of the offense and specials). No doubt, a punter loves having tremendous gunners in the same way that a quarterback loves having great receivers.
The 24-year-old punter will look to put together another strong performance on Sunday when the Packers visit U.S. Bank Stadium for a pivotal divisional game. The contest is scheduled for Sunday, December 29th.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
