5 most concerning Vikings position groups heading into Week 1

Kicker

The Vikings decided to roll with kicker Greg Joseph after an up and down performance in the summer. The guy ran hot and cold as he had stretches where he was splitting the uprights frequently and others moments where he was missing his kicks regularly.

He missed a couple of kicks in Minnesota’s preseason games this summer, leaving the team’s fans feeling uneasy about the position.

What makes Joseph’s shaky preseason performance more worrisome is that he hasn’t attempted a field goal in a regular-season NFL game since 2018. So there’s plenty of mental rust to shake off and pressure to get accustomed to when the games start to count.

The Vikings did Joseph no favors by cutting their punter Britton Colquitt. Joseph has been working with Colquitt as his holder since May, and while that may not seem like a big deal, it actually is.

Kickers are a quirky breed and they all like to have the ball placed a certain way or in a certain rhythm. Colquitt knew how Joseph liked it, and now he’ll have to get used to his new holder, Jordan Berry, with only about a week’s worth of reps.

Minnesota pulled a similar move back in 2018 on rookie kicker Daniel Carlson, changing his holder, and that ended with disastrous results.

Joseph heads into the 2021 season as the Vikings’ kicker. He’ll be on a short leash though, and if he starts out rocky, there are plenty of free-agent options available that Minnesota could call.