The Vikings Rookie Is Asked to Provide Stability
Kicker may never be the “sexiest” position on an NFL roster. But when a kicker misses a crucial field goal or an extra point, the pain is just as strong, if not more, than any other misplay in the NFL. Vikings fans are all too familiar with this fact. Some of the most painful moments in the Skol lore come from the foot of a kicker. Gary Anderson’s miss against Arizona in ‘98 will make some seasoned Vikings fans quiver when mentioned, while Blair Walsh’s miss against the Seahawks in ‘15 is the most recent wound that is still healing in many Minnesota fans’ hearts.
In more recent history, the Vikings have seen a revolving door of faces and a roller coaster of success at the kicker position. Dan Bailey and Kai Forbath had mixed success holding down the kicking position during their times in Minnesota, while Daniel Carlson was practically chased out of Eagan by Mike Zimmer after missing two critical field goals against Green Bay in 2018.
Journeyman Greg Joseph held down the spot for the past three seasons, and while he had some high moments, there were some kicking mishaps that became glaring as the Vikings developed a reputation for losing close games. This is likely why Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and company decided to move on from Joseph and take a swing in the draft at Alabama’s Will Reichard, a kicker with a reputation for success and stone-cold focus.
Reichard joined Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2019, receiving some time both kicking and punting as a freshman. Once his sophomore year came around, Reichard would become Alabama’s starting kicker and begin one of the most prestigious collegiate careers ever seen at the position. By the time his career in Alabama was over, Reichard became the NCAA career points leader with 547 total points scored. His 84 career field goals rank 9th in NCAA history, and he yielded an impressive 99.3% for career extra point percentage.
These statistics and his successes at Alabama were good enough to be heralded as one of the top kicking prospects in college and to apparently catch the eye of Minnesota’s scouting department, as they made him their 6th-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Reichard now finds himself in his first training camp in Eagan as the team’s new kicker after defeating fellow leg John Parker Romo. How should we expect him to impact the team?
For starters, he will likely provide more consistency in the extra-point game. Reichard boasts an incredible 99.3% extra point percentage on an absurd 297 attempts at Alabama. That is only two missed extra points in nearly 300 attempts, which is almost video game-like.
The NFL has further extra point attempts than the NCAA (the NFL starts these attempts at the 15-yard line while the NCAA starts them at the two-yard line), so anticipating him to directly replicate that success is probably far-fetched. But it does show stone-cold precision on closer kicks, which the Vikings recently have lacked.
Joseph, the most recent Vikings kicker, made 112 extra points on 124 attempts for an average of 90% during his time in purple (three seasons). The league average over this time was about 94%, so Joseph’s performance in this area was considered below average. Even if Reichard regresses from his college extra point production to the NFL average, that would mean the Vikings scoring nearly two more points a season, which can be critical considering the number of one-score games we’ve recently seen. That itself could be the difference between a 9-8 and 10-7 season.
Field goal kicking may also see an improvement with Reichard at the helm. At Alabama, he boasted a career 84% on 100 field goal attempts. In his final two seasons with the Crimson Tide, he made 86% of 51 field goal attempts against some of the top special teams units in the SEC. His career 84% isn’t too dissimilar from Joseph’s 82% as the Vikings kicker, but as the past two seasons have shown, Reichard may still be improving in this area.
If his recent 86% over his last two collegiate seasons is more of the norm, the Vikings rookie should account for about one field goal more per season than Joseph did for the franchise, which, like the increased extra points, could be a major difference in a close game. And even if he stays closer to his career collegiate average, Reichard should provide the same, if not better, field goal-kicking quality as Joseph did while still being more proficient in other kicking areas.
Time will ultimately tell if Reichard can be a star player for the Minnesota Vikings, as we have seen prestigious kickers be drafted to Minnesota only to falter (Daniel Carlson, Blair Walsh, etc.). But the numbers and the pedigree of Reichard suggest that he may be able to provide stable, if not improved, kicking for the Vikings. And, as our team’s history has shown, that could be an important development for our team to find its first Super Bowl instead of more purple pain.
Editor’s Note: Information from Sports Reference CFB and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.