Vikings Training Camp 2018: Top 6 position battles to watch
By Adam Patrick
5. Kick Returner
Marcus Sherels vs. Mike Hughes vs. Stacy Coley vs. Jeff Badet
After four straight seasons of having one of the NFL’s top kick returning units thanks to Cordarrelle Patterson, this area of the Vikings’ team was definitely one of their weakest in 2017.
Last season was the first time since 2014 that Minnesota did not lead the league in yards per kick return. While the Vikings did finish among the league’s top four in this category last year, it is still a part of their game that they would like to see improve in 2018.
To help in these efforts, Minnesota selected a talented corner in the first round of last April’s NFL Draft in UCF’s Mike Hughes. In addition to his coverage skills, Hughes was also an explosive kick returner for UCF in 2017.
On 20 kick returns last season at UCF, the Vikings rookie corner took two back for touchdowns and averaged 31.8 yards per return. If selected to be the team’s kick returner in 2018, Hughes could add a little more explosiveness to Minnesota’s special teams.
Of course, the young corner will have to beat out veteran return-man Marcus Sherels for the job. This could actually be the year the Vikings show Sherels the door, but he’s proven everyone wrong in the past so it really would be no surprise if he made the roster again in 2018.