The Minnesota Vikings’ special teams unit has been a disaster in 2020. We’ve seen blocked punts, missed extra points and a general lack of a return game. This has been especially evident recently, where K.J. Osborn was benched against the Carolina Panthers after struggling in the return game, only to have Chad Beebe muff a punt at a critical juncture of the game. Then Dan Bailey missed two extra points and a field goal last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Will Mike Zimmer decide to blow the whole thing up and start from scratch in 2021? Looking at what is there now, that doesn’t seem like such a stretch.
The kicker
Dan Bailey has actually been one of the stronger parts of this unit. He hasn’t been the model of consistency but has made 12-of-15 (80%) field-goal attempts on the season, which lands him at 23rd in the NFL. He’s 27-of-30 (90%) on extra points, also 23rd in the league.
The problem with Bailey’s numbers is that the Vikings cannot afford to give away any points. If Bailey would’ve hit all his field goals against the Tennessee Titans, they would’ve won that game. If he would’ve hit all his extra points against the Jaguars, the Vikings would’ve been up by two scores late in the game, and Jacksonville wouldn’t have been able to come back and tie the game in the end. Minnesota can’t be handing teams these types of gifts.
Bailey is signed through 2022. He is due to make $2.7 million next season and just a hair under $3 million in 2022. At this point in his Vikings’ career, Zimmer has had to have lost all confidence in kickers. He isn’t going to draft one and also isn’t going to go out and spend a lot of money on a proven veteran. If Bailey can hit the rest of his kicks for the remainder of the season, the chances of him sticking around to finish out his deal are pretty strong. But if he continues to leave points on the board, he, like the rest of this unit, will be gone next season.
The punter
Britton Colquitt was one of the lone bright spots when it came to the Vikings’ special teams during last week’s win. He had an impressive boot late in the game that pinned the Jaguars inside the 20. That was a game-saving type of punt and one that Colquitt needs to be given plenty of credit for. While he was clutch in the Jaguars game, Colquitt has had his fair share of struggles this season.
Colquitt has landed seven punts inside the 20 this season, dead last in the NFL. His 45.5-yard average punt is a little better and puts him at 19th in the league. His longest punt of the season is 59 yards, which is near the bottom of the league, although punters occasionally take some off their punts so as to not outkick their coverage.
Like him or not, Colquitt has proven to be a below-average punter in 2020.
He is under contract for two more years, $5.5 million, and his play on the field definitely doesn’t reflect that number. Chances are real slim that he’s brought back, as the Vikings could surely find a younger, cheaper and better option on the free-agent market.
The returner
The Vikings used a fifth-round pick on Miami wide receiver K.J. Osborn, who was projected to be an undrafted free agent. The Vikings saw something in this kid and decided he was going to be their punt and kick returner in 2020. While Rick Spielman nailed the majority of his choices last April, this is one he’d probably like to have back.
Osborn has really shown nothing as a returner this season. He has basically no burst, no wiggle to avoid tackles and also struggles to catch the ball. He’s had a punt bounce off his head and also coughed the football up after fielding it. The Vikings currently are averaging 20.9 yards a kick return, although it’s not just Osborn returning the ball — he’s occasionally been benched in favor of Ameer Abdullah. No matter who it is, that paltry average puts the Vikings 19th in the league. Their longest return is 38 yards, which is 25th in the NFL. This unit is basically no threat to have a big return and opposing teams clearly aren’t concerned when kicking off to the Vikings.
Their punt return game is even worse. The Vikings are averaging 2.8 yards a punt return with a long of eight yards. Both of those numbers are dead last in the league and it really isn’t even close. The Vikings have tried other options besides Osborn in this role, but Chad Beebe didn’t fare much better — he had a punt bounce off his shoulder which nearly cost them the Carolina game.
There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Vikings’ will have both a new kick and punt returner next season. While it’s uncertain who that will be, it could be someone who isn’t on the current roster.
The coach
It’s actually a little surprising that Zimmer hasn’t fired Marwan Maalouf yet. This unit has had so many things go wrong. They’ve allowed two blocked punts in one game, have missed multiple extra points, given up a kickoff return, and have muffed punts late in the game when the team is trying to come back and steal a victory.
Zimmer has been seen berating Maalouf on the sideline. He has also made it known in press conferences and interviews that he is not happy with this unit and is actually worried every time they line up to attempt a field goal, punt — or do anything really. If Maalouf isn’t fired in the offseason, it’ll be surprising. He is in charge of this aspect of the team, and they rank in the bottom half or worse in every major facet of special teams. Someone has to take the blame for the poor performance and all the errors.
Will the Vikings blow up this unit in the offseason?
This has to be an astounding yes. Even though they have both their kicker and punter under contract, finding a suitable replacement who could actually be cheaper won’t be that hard for the Vikings to do. Their return game has gotten so bad that the team is almost better off always letting the ball bounce into the end zone on kickoffs and not even bother attempting to field the punt.
The special teams’ coordinator will likely be a new face in 2021. Maalouf’s unit has done just about everything wrong or poorly this season and he will likely be held accountable. If the Vikings start 2021 with a new punter, kicker, special teams coordinator and return man, that shouldn’t be a surprise, and at this point, maybe should be expected.
