The Minnesota Vikings have a history of good return men. Cordarrelle Patterson and Percy Harvin may have Ring of Honor arguments based on their kick returns alone. Kene Nwangwu burst onto the scene with two kickoff-return touchdowns in his rookie season.
While kickoff-return touchdowns are few and far between in modern football, having a good returner is still essential in the NFL. Football is a game of inches, so starting in strong field position can be the difference between a touchdown and a field goal, or a field goal and a punt.
While the Vikings made significant changes to both their offense and defense this offseason, they mostly ignored special teams. They signed Tavierre Thomas to replace top gunner Trent Sherfield, and other depth pieces will undoubtedly get a look in the third phase. However, special teams was not a priority after they finished last season as PFF’s eighth-ranked unit.
That ranking was mostly thanks to Minnesota’s coverage team. The return team was a different story. The Vikings averaged 24.4 yards on 14 kick returns, placing them second-to-last in the league. Their 6.8 average yards on 24 punt returns was the worst in the league.
Kickoffs are a team effort; a returner can’t house a touchdown without the proper blocking in front of him. However, good returners can make something out of almost nothing, which seems to be what the Vikings lacked last year.
| Kick | Kick | Kick | Kick | Kick | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Ret | Yds | KRTD | Lng | Y/Ret |
| Ty Chandler | 8 | 205 | 0 | 35 | 25.6 |
| Cam Akers | 3 | 76 | 0 | 27 | 25.3 |
| Myles Gaskin | 3 | 60 | 0 | 26 | 20.0 |
| Team Totals | 14 | 341 | 0 | 35 | 24.4 |
This year, the league is moving touchbacks up to the 35-yard line, meaning teams will try harder than ever to avoid the end zone on kickoffs. The Vikings will likely need to return the ball more than 14 times, so they will require a returner who can give them field position beyond the 25 yards they mustered last season.
Isaiah Rodgers can be that guy.
Rodgers is a starting-level corner the Vikings can plug in on defense. He has ample experience as a kick returner and will be an upgrade over Ty Chandler, Cam Akers, and Myles Gaskin, the rotation of running backs who returned kicks last year.
Chandler led the group with eight returns for 205 yards and is the only one the Vikings retained. However, his experience pales in comparison to Rodgers’. In 69 career returns, Rodgers has averaged 27.1 yards and had a 101-yard run back for a touchdown in his rookie year. He returned as many kicks as Chandler last season but averaged 2.5 more yards despite not being the main returner.
In college, Rodgers led all of FBS with 53 returns for 1,295 yards in his senior year. Much of that had to do with UMass’s 1-11 record, and thus their propensity to give up touchdowns. Still, the Vikings can trust him in that role, and he’s made the most of it when given the opportunity. Rodgers spent most of his rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts on special teams, which bloomed into a bigger role on defense while still commanding most of the returns.
Most of the excitement around Rodgers as a returner started before Indianapolis drafted him. He ran a 4.28 40-yard dash at his Pro Day, which would’ve been second-fastest at the 2020 combine and is tied for the fifth-fastest among cornerbacks all time.
Much has already been made about Rodgers’ abilities on defense. He allowed a 46.4% completion percentage a year ago, good for fourth in the league, and his 4.2 yards per target ranks first. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores vouched for him, and his abilities on special teams will make him even more of a highlight.
“He’s got the ability to make plays on the football, he’s got some ability to do something with it when he does catch it,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said during the annual league meeting in April. “And whether he ends up being a part of the return game or not is really going to just come down to how the rest of our roster shapes out.”
Rodgers has the experience to uphold the responsibility of a returner, and his stats show a player who can do it effectively while still pitching in at cornerback. He fills two roles with one roster spot, making his case for the most underrated Vikings signing of 2025.
