Can Will Reichard’s Pedigree Finally Stabilize the Vikings’ Kicker Situation?
Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Vikings kicking game hasn’t been the same since January 10th, 2016. You know exactly what happened that day. All the Vikings needed back in 2016 was a 27-yarder from Blair Walsh to beat the Seattle Seahawks and advance in the playoffs. What should have been a chip-shot for a kicker that had gone 34-for-39 in the regular season (and 32-for-33 inside 30 yards) went wide right, and the Vikings were knocked out of the playoffs in devastating fashion.
Ever since that miss, the Vikings have been completely unable to get consistent kicking, which has been a constant headache for the team and its fans. Walsh, Kai Forbath, Daniel Carlson, Dan Bailey, and Greg Joseph have all tried to fix the kicking issues and have failed. The Vikings even spent a fifth-round draft pick on Carlson in 2018, only to see him last two games in Minnesota. Carlson has gone on to have a productive career with the Los Angeles Raiders, hitting 168 of his 188 kicking attempts (89.4%), which means either the Vikings moved on too early or the cloud over their kickers is too strong to overcome.
Joseph has been the latest attempt at fixing the kicking issues, and although he was overall fine, he was inconsistent at times. Last season he hit 24 of his 30 field goal attempts and 36 of his 38 extra point attempts.
Heading into the 2024 offseason, the Vikings knew they needed to improve their kicking game, so they settled on the NCAA’s All-Time Leading scorer: Will Reichard. Being a kicker is partially a mental game, and having someone with the experience of Reichard is going to be a huge boost to his game at the next level.
Reichard spent his college career in Alabama, and not many teams find themselves in more big-time games than the Crimson Tide. Time after time during his college career, Reichard was tasked with making a big-time kick, and all he did was deliver. Reichard made 84 of his 100 field goals and 295 of his 297 extra-point attempts. In 2023, he went 22-for-25 on field goal attempts, which includes making all five of his kicks over 50 yards. It’s a big contrast to Joseph, who struggled to hit the long kicks. With Reichard lining up for kicks now, Minnesota is hoping that changes.
Reichard has proven it on the field, and his recent comments show that he is confident that his game will transition to the NFL. Nick Saban was his coach at Alabama, and Reichard believes his touch coaching will help him for years to come. “He demands a lot of competitiveness and great play for every position, not just quarterbacks and receivers,” Reichard said. “He demands that type of success from every position. I’ve learned a lot from Coach Saban, and I’m really happy that I went to Alabama. I feel like I really developed a lot as a player and as a person.”
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah believes that the toughness he showed in nailing high-stakes kicks is one of his best assets, helping him mold into an elite NFL kicker. “[Reichard is] somebody with a great mentality. Really accurate kicker at the collegiate level. Obviously, played in a lot of big games at one of the best schools doing it, so [we’re] really excited to add him.”
Another impressive part of Reichard’s game that should help translate to the NFL is his willingness to be a great teammate. Some kickers are known for being a little distant from their teammates and tend to stick to themselves, but that wasn’t the case for Reichard.
“Kickers can be seen in that type of way to where they’re not connected to the team,” Reichard told the media at the draft. “That’s not really something that I wanted to be. I wanted to be somebody who was super-connected to the team. Being a leader at Alabama helped me a lot because I could make connections with other players, root them on, [and] be their biggest cheerleader when they’re on the field.”
Kickers are often hard to predict how their game will translate from college to the NFL, but Reichard has done everything right up to this point. With the Vikings selecting JJ McCarthy and Dallas Turner, this could be the best draft class in years. The Vikings need someone to right the ship with the kicker, and it sure appears that Reichard is rising to the challenge of being the guy who does it.
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