What Is the Vikings’ Plan For Kickoffs Without Nwangwu?
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
When the NFL installed their new kickoff rules this offseason, many believed the Minnesota Vikings had one huge advantage in the form of one player: Kene Nwangwu. The speedy running back’s three kick return touchdowns were already tops among all players since his rookie year in 2021, and now these changes were poised to give him more return opportunities.
Fast-forward a couple of months, and the Vikings have seemingly thrown that advantage away by cutting Nwangwu on Tuesday. Now many Vikings fans are left to wonder what exactly the plan is for kickoffs once the season, well, kicks off, on September 8 against the New York Giants.
You can read the new rules here if you’re unfamiliar, but in short, they are designed to decrease both the number of touchbacks as well as the violent impacts that special teams players accumulate. The key is that fewer touchbacks mean more returns and more opportunities for the Vikings to deploy a weapon like Nwangwu. Or, so we thought.
Nwangwu was a fourth-round pick in the 2021 Draft under the Rick Spielman regime, which viewed him as a project running back and an instant difference-maker on special teams. Spielman was right on both counts, for better and worse.
During his rookie season, he returned two kicks for touchdowns, and the Vikings looked like they had their next Cordarrelle Patterson. And Minnesota knew how important having an X-factor on kickoffs would be now. Back in May, Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels spoke with the media at length about how the new rules put an even bigger emphasis on having an elite returner.
“Another aspect of it is, the value of a returner now skyrockets,” Daniels said. “And you know, you might even have to have multiple returners back there based on what type of ball is being kicked. Or you can have one back there.
“So it’ll be interesting to see how coaches decide across the league, how they want to kind of go about that whether there’s one or two, but the value of a returner significantly increases,” Daniels added. “You want to have a plethora of those guys back there who can do it, who you can trust to do it, and who can be dangerous with the ball in their hands.”
Something doesn’t add up here. If Daniels believed having a top returner was so vital, and the Vikings surrendered theirs, what gives? Don’t they have things completely backward?
Perhaps… unless Daniels and company don’t think someone like Nwangwu will thrive as much under the new rules. Nwangwu has elite speed, but in this new era, maybe that particular trait isn’t as important as it used to be. Kevin Seifert of ESPN pointed out that Nwangwu didn’t return any kicks during the preseason.
I can't claim to have made the connection, but it was definitely noticed that Vikings KR Kene Nwangwu was absent from preseason kickoff returns, even though he was active for games. And not many (I remember one) in practice. An interesting time to move on given NFL rule changes.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) August 27, 2024
Maybe the Vikings had made their minds up for a while that Nwangwu wasn’t the best fit going forward. Ty Chandler and Brandon Powell are both listed as kick returners on the Vikings’ official depth chart, so either they believe those two are better suited for the role, or they are playing things close to the vest for now.
Chandler’s speed and shiftiness may be the perfect skill set for the new rules, but are the Vikings willing to risk him in that role? With Nwangwu and Myles Gaskin released on cutdown day, Minnesota doesn’t have much running back depth. In fact, they have just Chandler and starter Aaron Jones. Beyond that, Jones has dealt with several injuries over the last few years, so they need Chandler to be available.
The other option the Vikings could try is sneaking Nwangwu on the practice squad, then elevating him to the active roster on game day. For that to work, though, he’ll need to make it through waivers. It’s difficult to imagine 31 teams passing on his services as a returner, given his track record.
The Vikings might be correct in guessing that Chandler is better with the new rules, but cutting Nwangwu is definitely going out on a limb for the minimal reward of one extra roster spot. There’ll be a lot of pressure on Daniels, Chandler, Powell, and the front office to prove that Minnesota got this one right.
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