5 positions the Minnesota Vikings won’t be drafting in 2020
By Nik Edlund
Punter
The Daniel Carlson sting extends beyond kickers and it will also have a negative impact on the Vikings’ chances of taking a punter in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Minnesota would love to bring back Britton Colquitt for next season, as he punted the team out of some very bad field position on a number of occasions in 2019. If Colquitt gets offered more money elsewhere and jettisons, the Vikings are still more likely to find a worthy replacement in free agency than in the draft.
Minnesota has rarely drafted punters during their history. They’ve done it just twice in the last 17 years.
In 2003, it was a bust with Eddie Johnson who they took in the sixth round. The Vikings at least got their money’s worth out of Jeff Locke after drafting him in 2015. Locke punted for four seasons with Minnesota, but things got pretty shaky by the end of his tenure.
While Michael Turk’s 25 reps of 225 pounds at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine were impressive, he still isn’t universally seen as the kind of punter a team uses a mid-Day 3 pick on.
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The Vikings will likely attempt to bring back Colquitt this offseason. If it doesn’t work out, they will find a budget-friendly free-agent punter who can handle the holding and punting duties in 2020 and definitely not give this important position to a rookie.