Gabe Brick. Brian Terry / The Oklahoman / USA Today Network.
The writing has been on the wall for the past few weeks, but the certainty of the kick-off competition was confirmed on Tuesday.
Between responsible kickers Greg Joseph and undraft rookie Gabe Brick, the Vikings will pick a kicker later this summer. New special team coordinator Matt Daniels confirmed the fight on Tuesday.
Joseph is probably the pioneer as South Africa paved the way for a liberation in 2022. He connected to 33 of 38 field goals in 2021, even drilling a few game-winners after his infamous miss against the Arizona Cardinals in 2 weeks. He also made the transformation. 36 out of 40 extra points.
Joseph scored seven field goals in 50+ yards on nine attempts – a decent percentage for a kicker. Incidentally, Kansas City Chiefs’ Harrison Butker, one of the NFL’s top kickers, was seven for nine in his 2021 50+ yard field-goal effort.
Understandably, after missing the walk-off field goal mentioned in Arizona, Vikings fans were less towards Joseph. Minnesota took to the field for a guaranteed win against the Cardinals, a team considered the top 8 squad at the time. But Joseph missed, and the Vikings sank 0-2 in early 2021.
For several months of the current offseason, Joseph was considered the supposed kicker for the 2022 team. However, there is no dead cap hit in his contract if the team leaves him.
Three weeks ago, though, the forecast for Joseph changed. Rocky Gabe Brick, an Oklahoma rookie, has signed a three-year deal with Minnesota. The length of the deal suggests Brick is a longer-term solution than Joseph.
In college, Brick was a Lou Groza Award finalist. He has combined with his 82.6% field goals for the Sunars, even drilling five of seven from 50+ yards. Brick was also a reliable converter of extra points, a special team area that has plagued the Vikings for years. He converted 159 of 160 extra points in Oklahoma (extra points in college are taken from the three-yard line).
Brick’s career-long field goal is 56 yards, so there is some distance in his biography.
Blair has not finished the Minnesota kicking spot since the good part of the Walsh era ended. Walsh was crazy about starting this career with the Vikings – in a good way. But in January 2016, he missed a play-off-round-advancing chip shot against the Seattle Seahawks and never recovered. Since then, the Vikings have been burning Kai Forbath, Daniel Carlson, Dan Bailey and now [perhaps] Joseph.
Overall, the story continues this summer with Egan fighting a kicking battle, this time with a new coaching staff.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to her daily YouTube channel, VikesNow. She Hosts a podcast With Bryant McKinney, which airs every Wednesday Raun Sai And Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking Fandom dates back to 1996. Listed Criminal Pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos’ and The Doors (Band).
