Will Reichard only needed two seasons to establish himself as one of the best kickers in the NFL. Though the young Minnesota Vikings standout was shockingly omitted from the Pro Bowl roster, he drilled 33 of his 35 field-goal attempts and all 31 of his extra-point tries during the 2025 campaign.
(Fans may still want to argue about the Skycam cable that may have affected one of his two misses, a 51-yarder during a Week 5 game in London, even if the league officially ruled otherwise.)
But thanks to his success from distance, highlighted by a 62-yarder against the Cincinnati Bengals and three makes from 59 yards, the 25-year-old concluded his sophomore campaign as the No. 2 finisher in my proprietary KVA metric (Kick Value Added), which takes into account not just makes and misses but the results relative to the league average from each distance during the year in question.
Now, a detailed analysis of the newly released 2026 NFL schedule leaves no doubt that Reichard is poised to ascend even higher. Forget about finishing behind Ka’imi Fairbairn again. Turn your noses up at other contenders like Brandon Aubrey and Cameron Dicker.
The stage is set for Reichard to claim the kicker crown once and for all.
Expected weather factors strongly favor Will Reichard throughout the 2026 Minnesota Vikings schedule
Just like not every miss is equal, not every game on the NFL calendar puts kickers on level footing. And for that very reason, I ran a detailed analysis of every single game on the 2026 schedule, using historical NOAA averages and stadium information to account for the following factors:
- Stadium type (domes were treated as idyllic for kickers; open-air stadiums were subject to weather factors)
- Expected temperature at kickoff
- Expected average wind speed at kickoff
- Relative humidity
- Expected precipitation levels
- Elevation
Of course, a few caveats are necessary. The data here is based on historical averages and can't possibly account for the actual forecast on any given gameday. Some stadium-specific behavior — the Lake Michigan funnel that amplifies wind effects at Soldier Field, the horseshoe shape at Arrowhead Stadium that elevates wind swirl, etc. — is not factored into the analysis.
But even with those limitations, I was able to use the aforementioned factors to give every single game on the NFL calendar a composite weather score, ranging from pristine dome conditions to the brutal Week 15 primetime matchup between the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.
Minnesota’s report card looks, in a word, incredible:
- Week 1: A conditions vs. Green Bay Packers (dome)
- Week 2: B- conditions @ Chicago Bears
- Week 3: A- conditions @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Week 4: A conditions vs. Miami Dolphins (dome)
- Week 5: A conditions @ New Orleans Saints (dome)
- Week 7: A conditions vs. Indianapolis Colts (dome)
- Week 8: A conditions @ Detroit Lions (dome)
- Week 9: A conditions vs. Buffalo Bills (dome)
- Week 10: C- conditions @ Green Bay Packers
- Week 11: A- conditions @ San Francisco 49ers
- Week 12: A conditions vs. Atlanta Falcons (dome)
- Week 13: A conditions vs. Carolina Panthers (dome)
- Week 14: C- conditions @ New England Patriots
- Week 15: A conditions vs. Detroit Lions (dome)
- Week 16: A conditions vs. Washington Commanders (dome)
- Week 17: C conditions @ New York Jets
- Week 18: A conditions vs. Chicago Bears (dome)
All things considered in the generation of a 3.50 Weather GPA (trademark pending), few pitfalls emerge.
Will Reichard has everything lining up, both on his schedule and elsewhere
No NFL schedule is without stumbling blocks.
Traveling to MetLife Stadium for a Jan. 3 clash against the New York Jets is brutal (for kickers, not so much for the Vikings in general), though the 1:00 pm ET kickoff at least assuages some concerns about the conditions getting too much worse than the predicted base of 31 degrees with 12 mph winds. The two toughest games — at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 10 and at Lambeau Field on Nov. 15 — are undeniably brutal.
The positive spins, however, are easy to find.Â
The Vikings can’t escape a yearly trip to Green Bay, and they could’ve drawn a much worse date than the one that comes with a Week 10 matchup. Soldier Field has the most unfavorable conditions of any stadium, and Reichard gets to kick through the Lake Michigan winds in Week 2, well before winter sets in. Only the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals have as many games in domes. London Skycam cables quite literally won’t come into play since Minnesota’s international game is instead at the extreme altitude of Mexico's Estadio Banorte.
All things considered, the Vikings check in at No. 2 in the official Weather GPA standings:
- Arizona Cardinals: 3.65 Weather GPA
- Minnesota Vikings: 3.50
- New Orleans Saints: 3.49
- Detroit Lions: 3.44
- Atlanta Falcons: 3.41
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3.39
- Dallas Cowboys: 3.39
- Indianapolis Colts: 3.37
- Las Vegas Raiders: 3.37
- Los Angeles Chargers: 3.29
Brandon Aubrey doesn’t have too much standing in his way after signing a historic contract to remain with the Dallas Cowboys in perpetuity, and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Cameron Dicker can’t exactly be too displeased with his schedule draw. But the other leading contenders for the kicker crown might not share similar feelings.
Fairbairn and the Houston Texans check in at No. 14 with a 3.16 Weather GPA, and age-based trajectories should already favor the ascending Viking over the 32-year-old coming off a career year.
Cam Little might boot an 80-yarder for all we know, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are squarely in the middle of the pack at No. 16. Jason Myers is now 35 years old and facing the Seattle Seahawks’ 26th-ranked gauntlet. So on and so forth.
Based purely on weather factors, the Cardinals and Saints should have strong contenders, but does anyone want to bet on Chad Ryland or Charlie Smyth after they finished at Nos. 37 and 29, respectively, in KVA last year?
The stars are aligning in the shape of oversized uprights for Reichard. And Vikings fans already know just how good he is at kicking the ball right down the middle of ‘em.
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