EAGAN, Minn. — Will Reichard jogged out Saturday for his first NFL discipline aim try, and the circumstances could not have been extra routine.
The spot was from 36 yards, a bit longer than an additional level. In 5 seasons at Alabama, Reichard had transformed 95% of his kicks from that distance or shorter. Solely considered one of his 397 profession makes an attempt, discipline targets or additional factors, had been blocked. His first skilled coaching camp had gone nearly flawlessly. This one was moving into.
After which Reichard, the primary kicker chosen within the April draft (No. 203 general), bought a real welcome to the NFL — and to Minnesota Vikings lore. A line made up largely of rookies and undrafted free brokers collapsed beneath the Las Vegas Raiders’ rush. Three blockers on the left aspect have been pushed onto their backs. Reichard’s kick was blocked by the Raiders’ T.J. Franklin, a defensive finish who stands almost 6-foot-6.
Quickly sufficient, nevertheless, it might be time to learn how Reichard — one of the vital correct school kickers in a technology — would reply to a right away breakdown on the NFL stage. The Vikings’ third-string offense had moved the ball into place for a 38-yard try that may win the sport, and Reichard calmly drilled it for a 24-23 victory, setting off an unexpectedly exuberant postgame celebration.
The sequence demonstrated every part the Vikings have mentioned about Reichard as they make their newest try and settle a kicking turnstile that has lasted a long time. They love his maturity — borne partially from his choice to spend an additional season in school — and that he had entered the NFL at 23 (and married). School scout Steve Sabo raved about his web sample; seemingly each ball he kicked landed within the middle of the online behind the goalposts. And simply final week, particular groups coordinator Matt Daniels noticed: “The one factor about him is he by no means really loses his confidence.”
“He all the time has it,” Daniels mentioned. “He is aware of who he’s. He is aware of how he operates.”
The Vikings will depend on that self-generated resilience as they transfer ahead with Reichard, who has been the one kicker on the roster since they launched John Parker Romo on the seventh day of camp. Reichard will substitute veteran Greg Joseph, (now with the Inexperienced Bay Packers) and is the third kicker the Vikings have drafted prior to now 13 years — tied for probably the most throughout that interval.
The Vikings’ earlier expertise helps illustrate the wide selection of historic outcomes within the rookie seasons of drafted kickers. In 2012, sixth-round choose Blair Walsh produced probably the greatest rookie seasons in NFL historical past, changing 35 of 38 makes an attempt — together with all 10 from 50 yards or farther. His 92.1% conversion charge is healthier than each rookie kicker in league historical past with at the very least 20 makes an attempt, aside from Cameron Dicker, who went 21-for-22 (95.5%) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers in 2022.
Walsh made it by way of elements of 5 seasons with the Vikings, alongside the way in which taking accountability for one of the vital infamous misses in workforce historical past — a 27-yarder that may have meant a victory within the 2015 divisional playoffs in opposition to the Seattle Seahawks.
In 2018, nevertheless, fifth-round choose Daniel Carlson had an inconsistent coaching camp after which missed three of his first 4 regular-season kicks. The Vikings felt they weren’t in place to exhibit the persistence he wanted to be developed, so he was launched after two video games. (Carlson moved to the then-Oakland Raiders and, for the reason that begin of the 2019 season, has transformed extra discipline targets than anybody within the NFL aside from the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker.)
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Between these extremes is the historic undeniable fact that kickers — like most gamers — aren’t prone to be at their finest of their rookie seasons. Final season, the NFL common for discipline aim conversion charge was 85.9%. 5 of the six rookie kickers with sufficient makes an attempt to qualify for season stats completed under that quantity. Solely the Dallas Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey, a former soccer participant and USFL kicker who was technically an NFL rookie in 2023, completed above it at 94.7%.
In keeping with Professional Soccer Reference’s database, of the 125 placekickers in NFL historical past who’ve tried 20 or extra kicks as a rookie, 17 (13.6%) have hit or exceeded an 85% conversion charge.
“Making each single discipline aim is all the time the aim and all the time what you are in search of,” Reichard mentioned. “It is all the time what you are striving to be. However we do not reside in an ideal world. We’re not robots. And so typically there are errors. Inevitably, that occurs. I imply, you have a look at the best kicker, whoever you need to say it’s, and no person’s making each single discipline aim. So at any time when that does occur, you simply have to have a look at the tape, see what you possibly can enhance on, see what occurred to maneuver on from there.”
In the course of the first three weeks of camp, Reichard transformed 18 of 20 discipline aim makes an attempt in 11-on-11 drills. Each of his misses have been from past 50 yards. His leg energy in follow conditions is evident, and already his capacity to deal with adversity and end-game strain have been examined in a preseason recreation.
“It is all psychological on the finish of the day and between the ears whenever you’re speaking concerning the specialists,” Daniels mentioned. “It is having that confidence. Can you reply when issues aren’t going your manner? Can you self-correct … and get again on monitor?”
