Vikings rookie Will Reichard gets reality check on first kick

EAGAN, Minn. — Will Reichard jogged out Saturday for his first NFL field goal attempt, and the circumstances couldn’t have been more routine.

The spot was from 36 yards, a bit longer than an extra point. In five seasons at Alabama, Reichard had converted 95% of his kicks from that distance or shorter. Only one of his 397 career attempts, field goals or extra points, had been blocked. His first professional training camp had gone almost flawlessly. This one was going in.

And then Reichard, the first kicker selected in the April draft (No. 203 overall), got a true welcome to the NFL — and to Minnesota Vikings lore. A line made up largely of rookies and undrafted free agents collapsed under the Las Vegas Raiders’ rush. Three blockers on the left side were driven onto their backs. Reichard’s kick was blocked by the Raiders’ T.J. Franklin, a defensive end who stands nearly 6-foot-6.

Soon enough, however, it would be time to find out how Reichard — one of the most accurate college kickers in a generation — would respond to an immediate breakdown at the NFL level. The Vikings’ third-string offense had moved the ball into position for a 38-yard attempt that would win the game, and Reichard calmly drilled it for a 24-23 victory, setting off an unexpectedly exuberant postgame celebration.

The sequence demonstrated everything the Vikings have said about Reichard as they make their latest attempt to settle a kicking turnstile that has lasted decades. They love his maturity — borne in part from his decision to spend an extra season in college — and that he had entered the NFL at 23 (and married). College scout Steve Sabo raved about his net pattern; seemingly every ball he kicked landed in the center of the net behind the goalposts. And just last week, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels observed: “The one thing about him is he never truly loses his confidence.”

“He always has it,” Daniels said. “He knows who he is. He knows how he operates.”

The Vikings will rely on that self-generated resilience as they move forward with Reichard, who has been the only kicker on the roster since they released John Parker Romo on the seventh day of camp. Reichard will replace veteran Greg Joseph, (now with the Green Bay Packers) and is the third kicker the Vikings have drafted in the past 13 years — tied for the most during that period.

The Vikings’ previous experience helps illustrate the wide range of historical outcomes in the rookie seasons of drafted kickers. In 2012, sixth-round pick Blair Walsh produced one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history, converting 35 of 38 attempts — including all 10 from 50 yards or farther. His 92.1% conversion rate is better than every rookie kicker in league history with at least 20 attempts, except for Cameron Dicker, who went 21-for-22 (95.5%) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers in 2022.

Walsh made it through parts of five seasons with the Vikings, along the way taking responsibility for one of the most notorious misses in team history — a 27-yarder that would have meant a victory in the 2015 divisional playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks.

In 2018, however, fifth-round pick Daniel Carlson had an inconsistent training camp and then missed three of his first four regular-season kicks. The Vikings felt they were not in position to demonstrate the patience he needed to be developed, so he was released after two games. (Carlson moved to the then-Oakland Raiders and, since the start of the 2019 season, has converted more field goals than anyone in the NFL other than the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker.)

Between those extremes is the historical fact that kickers — like most players — aren’t likely to be at their best in their rookie seasons. Last season, the NFL average for field goal conversion rate was 85.9%. Five of the six rookie kickers with enough attempts to qualify for season stats finished below that number. Only the Dallas Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey, a former soccer player and USFL kicker who was technically an NFL rookie in 2023, finished above it at 94.7%.

According to Pro Football Reference’s database, of the 125 placekickers in NFL history who have attempted 20 or more kicks as a rookie, 17 (13.6%) have hit or exceeded an 85% conversion rate.

“Making every single field goal is always the goal and always what you’re looking for,” Reichard said. “It’s always what you’re striving to be. But we don’t live in a perfect world. We’re not robots. And so sometimes there are errors. Inevitably, that happens. I mean, you look at the greatest kicker, whoever you want to say it is, and nobody’s making every single field goal. So whenever that does happen, you just have to look at the tape, see what you can improve on, see what happened to move on from there.”

During the first three weeks of camp, Reichard converted 18 of 20 field goal attempts in 11-on-11 drills. Both of his misses were from beyond 50 yards. His leg strength in practice situations is clear, and already his ability to handle adversity and end-game pressure have been tested in a preseason game.

“It’s all mental at the end of the day and between the ears when you’re talking about the specialists,” Daniels said. “It’s having that confidence. Are you able to respond when things aren’t going your way? Are you able to self-correct … and get back on track?”