Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels offered a bold proclamation about his kicker Greg Joseph to start the week, and the assurance evidently did the trick.
“I’ll put it on record right now and say that I firmly believe that Greg Joseph will have his best year in his career this year,” Daniels declared to reporters. “I’ll put it out there right now. I’m sure of it.”
Well, Joseph responded on Wednesday by authoring his best day at training camp to date, connecting on all eight field goals attempts.
In his first season with the Vikings, Joseph had an up-and-down ride. His ups were more persistent than the downs, so the team re-upped with the kicker for 2022, a noteworthy transaction as Minnesota’s front office was brand new and could’ve started over.
Joseph missed a potential game-winning field goal in Week 2 last season, which would’ve downed the Arizona Cardinals at the peak of their power. Fans were naturally disillusioned with Joseph, but he regained their faith as the season continued. Joseph wound up hitting two game-winning kicks against the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers during his quest for retribution.
He banged through seven of nine field goat tries of 50+ yards, the same percentage produced by the Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who is considered as a Top 3 NFL kicker. Joseph was also 33 for 38 (86.8%) in field goal attempts — a respectable statistic, especially for a Vikings kicker.
Interestingly, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed an undrafted rookie kicker, Gabe Brkic, in May to presumably hold a summer battle at the position. But after June’s minicamp, Brkic was waived due to poor performance. Brkic signed with the Packers three days later.
So, with confidence and lack of competition, the aforementioned Daniels loudly endorsed his kicker for 2022. Unless the front office and coaching staff totally reversed course — a tactic that would be odd after Daniels’ praise — Joseph is the undisputed kicker for the 2022 Vikings.
And if the franchise gets the Week 3-through-18 version of Joseph from last year, it should be all set.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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