Vikings Make the Punter Decision
Special teams are often the forgotten third phase, but they can make or break teams. Just a few years ago, in the 2021 playoffs, the Green Bay Packers faced the San Francisco 49ers in the freezing cold. The 49ers couldn’t get anything going on offense, but a blocked punt return touchdown and a pair of field goals gave them the win.
Vikings Make the Punter Decision
Minnesota, of course, has its own special-teams struggles in the history books, and last year’s crew wasn’t that great either.
This offseason, the Vikings had an actual competition between incumbent punter Ryan Wright and undrafted rookie Oscar Chapman. On Monday, that competition ended with the rookie landing on the chopping block.
The franchise wrote on the official team website: “The Vikings on Monday announced they have waived tackle Leroy Watson IV and punter Oscar Chapman.”
Wright was fantastic in his rookie season, but the last two years were more up and down. Therefore, folks thought the newcomer had a chance to unseat him, especially when he was asked to be Will Reichard’s holder on field goal attempts in the preseason. Ultimately, a bobbled hold in the preseason finale might have ended his chance to get the job, although that is speculative.
More from the Vikings, “Chapman, a native of Australia who played college football at Auburn, joined the Vikings through the International Player Pathway program this spring. He competed with incumbent punter/holder Ryan Wright during training camp.”
The specialist didn’t count against the 90-man roster limit, allowing the Vikings to roster the young punter without any downside. In the last couple of weeks, that competition picked up some steam and even special teams coordinator Matt Daniels suggested that it was a close race.
He said last week, “Yeah, [it could] definitely [go either way]. I think, right now, it is a neck-and-neck situation, especially with Will [Reichard] being confident in the operation with [Oscar Chapman] being the holder. That’s always going to be a big, big target there. We’ll see how these things are capping off towards this last preseason game.”
The rookie out of Auburn punted three times for 157 yards in the preseason. He had a much better average than Wright, but the experienced punter nailed opponents three times inside their own 20-yard line, and that stuff matters. Wright also had a better hangtime. The sample size is limited, too.
Last season, in yards per punt and net yards per punt, Wright ranked 24th in 2024. His touchback percentage was the 14th-highest in the NFL, but he ranked eighth in the league in punts inside the 20. He was listed as the 17th of 34 punters by the PFF grading system. His hangtime also ranked him 17th.
The Vikings decided to keep the trio of specialists together, with Andrew DePaola snapping the football, Wright punting and holding, and Reichard keeping his kicking spot. They formed a connection last year and can hit the ground running.
Unless the Vikings add a new punter from the waiver wire, it’s Wright’s job for the 2025 season. Chapman, meanwhile, has to update his LinkedIn page, but it should be noted that he might continue to get a roster exemption and could stick around on the practice squad.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.