It's been a while since the Minnesota Vikings had a serious threat as a return man. Cordarrelle Patterson had sustained success, but since then, it's been more fleeting, with guys like Marcus Sherels and Kene Nwangwu having some good moments.
The league changing the kickoff rules to encourage more returns meant finding someone with some juice in the return game became critical for every team.
The Vikings have found their guy, as undrafted rookie Myles Price earned the role of returning kickoffs and punts during the preseason. Entering Week 10. he has the third-most kickoff return yards in the league (739) along with the ninth-most punt return yards (183).
With what he has done as a return man, it's easy to wonder if there might be room to get Price involved in the offense (10 offensive snaps thus far). But he's succeeding in the role he has.
As good as he has been, if you think penalties have cost Price a ton of production in the return game this season, it's not your imagination.
Tyler Forness of AtoZ Sports has offered up the detailed list of 10 penalties that have wiped away returns by Price. There have been multiple such penalties in four games.
Writing about this now, and there have been 10 penalties on Myles Price's returns this year, taking away some huge gains https://t.co/o9QNYBiRQT pic.twitter.com/uQGbY0TVIq
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) November 5, 2025
Penalties are costing Minnesota Vikings return specialist Myles Price a run at an All-Pro season
Tally it up, and Price has lost 301 kickoff return yards and a touchdown, along with eight punt return yards to penalties. Put those kickoff return yards on his actual stat sheet, and his average per return would go from 19th (26.4) to third in the league (29.7). He is also one of two players in the league (joining Chimere Dike of the Tennessee Titans) with over 1,000 kickoff return yards so far this season.
For Dike, the sieve that is the Titans' defense has given him a clear league-high 42 kickoff returns over nine games. Price would have 35 kickoff returns if his penalty-negated returns ended up counting.
It's easy to offer the caveat that those holding penalties were huge factors in yielding the big returns Price ultimately had negated by the infractions. But he has noticeably shown the vision, decisiveness, and speed that are prerequisites to being a successful return man, and it's making a clear difference for the Vikings.
If the Vikings can clean up even a portion of the penalties that have negated all that return yardage for Price thus far, he could make a legit run at earning Pro Bowl and/or All-Pro nods as the return man in the NFC over the second half of the season.