The Vikings' kickoff unit is dominating with creativity, passion and a dash of data
EAGAN — There is no less exciting play in the NFL than the kickoff. Per Pro-Football Reference, there have been 647 kickoffs and only 202 kick returns through the first four weeks of the 2022 season. That’s just 31% of kickoffs resulting in some type of excitement. The Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers have only allowed one return all year.
The Minnesota Vikings, led by special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, have picked their spots to go against the trend of snoozy kickoffs. During training camp Daniels explained that his research found kicking the ball out of the end zone and giving the opposition the football at the 25-yard line to be a missed opportunity to do better. His logic is that the return team needs to put together a very successful play to in order to get past the 25 and lots of things could go wrong in attempting to do so. They could fumble the ball, commit a penalty or have a bad return that sets the offense back.
PFF ran the numbers in a 2018 study and found that teams who were settling for touchbacks were giving up field position on average. Eric Eager of PFF wrote:
“Kicks that landed short of the end zone were returned to the 25 or better fewer than 44% of the time, which suggests that the kicking team was also acting suboptimally in kicking it in the end zone so frequently. In 2016, Caleb Sturgis and the Eagles' kickoff team generated over 23 expected points by covering 41 of his 87 kickoffs and allowing an average starting field position of the 22-yard line. This is not a trivial amount. Cody Parkey was similarly good for the Dolphins last year, kicking a touchback on just 28 of 67 kickoffs, which yielded an average starting field position of the 21-yard line, which also earned his team over 24 expected points.”
In theory it sounds great. Make them earn it. But that also reminds me of the story of Tony Dungy wanting to kick the ball to Devin Hester in the Super Bowl because he wanted to set the tone and not play scared. They opened the game kicking to the greatest returner ever and Chris Berman would say: WHOOP. Touchdown.
So the Vikings aren’t kicking off to everybody all the time. But they are kicking off at an above average rate, booting 12 of their 20 kicks out of the end zone and allowing eight returns through four games. In terms of Expected Points Added, here’s how the results look:
What the chart says is: The expected points on a drive that starts at the 25-yard line is 0.61 (per Pro-Football Reference) and the Vikings have lowered their opponent’s expected points on every single return this year, including two where the starting field position is so bad that the expected points was negative. In other words, it’s really working for Daniels’ crew.
Part of the reason for the success is that the Vikings are doing more than just sending the ball deep. They are playing chess with their kickoffs by having kicker Greg Joseph boot the ball high in the air and aimed at the corner of the field. Daniels said that assistant coach Ben Kotwica studied kickoffs that landed outside the numbers and found none had been returned for touchdown over the last decade.
“Greg’s ability to put those balls outside the numbers creates even more havoc and confusion and makes it harder for the return team to return the football,” Daniels said.
That havoc and confusion has caused four of the eight returns to go for 15 yards or less, including a 4-yarder by Quez Watkins of the Eagles.
So if the Vikings’ strategy on kickoffs is simply brilliant, why isn’t every team pinning opponents deep and outside the numbers rather than kicking touchbacks? Well, it takes more than just the idea and data to bring it together. One of the reasons the numbers show that it works is because the only teams doing it are the ones capable of executing the schematics.
Daniels said that starts with personnel.
“We have elite, flying, penetrating guys that it feels like they are unblockable and they feel that way,” Daniels said. “I’m looking for competition addicts and those guys want to compete.”
On the eight kickoffs this year, seven different players have been credited with a tackle. The Vikings have a combination of players who are either experienced on ‘Teams like fullback CJ Ham, cornerback Kris Boyd and safety Josh Metellus or young players that have impressive physical tools i.e. 2022 third-round pick Brian Asamoah, who has turned into a legitimate weapon for Daniels.
“You look at a guy who has a combo of speed and power at the size that he has, his arms are so long he can scratch his knees standing up,” Daniels said of Asamoah. “His ability to punch guys and separate is everything, especially when you look at kickoffs…I’m sure opponents see him as a matchup problem.”
The next step is designing and teaching the play. Lots of effort goes into training the players on angles, lanes, kick hangtimes, defeating blocks and tackling.
Owner of Special Teams Football Academy Chris Husby, who also coaches special teams at Maple Grove High School and consults with college teams, explained how the design of the corner kickoff works.
“It’s like you’re throwing a fishing net, you’re trying to throw it as wide as you can,” said Husby, who also punted for St. Thomas in the early 2000s. “They have that fishing net of guys converge down and slowly close and pin them in like a funnel system. You’re leveraging one side of the field. That’s why punters punt directionally, they don’t just punt to the middle of the field. They’re almost using punt coverage strategy on kickoff now.”
Of course, you know what happens if a fishing net gets tangled. The concern of giving the returner a chance is that he might squeak away if the kick isn’t perfect or if the techniques aren’t correct. The coverage unit can’t simply have the coverage players all screaming toward the returner.
“We use this term ‘lane integrity,’ that everybody on kickoff has a lane that you have to run down and you can’t get too far off it,” Husby said. “There’s a balance of taking on a block and trying to get past them without getting too far out of your lane because they are trying to block you in a certain direction to open up the hole.”
The ball also has to go where the coverage players are expecting it to go. Daniels cited Joseph’s ability to consistently put the ball outside the numbers without it going out of bounds as a reason for his confidence in the corner kick. It doesn’t hurt that the Vikings play indoors, giving their kicker a static environment with which to work for the majority of games.
“It’s almost like a golf swing, if you get a little more under the ball or you drive up and through the ball more you can cause more hangtime,” Husby said. “In my opinion directional kickoffs and directional punts aren’t that hard because it’s all angles. If you are always going directional left or directional right, you don’t need to hide your setup. The steps are exactly the same, you just pre-set your angle and as long as it’s the same you should have the accuracy to be able to drive the ball within a small window.”
The Vikings do have to be prepared for a trick play on a kickoff at some point, whether it’s a reverse or throw or whatever clever opposing coaches dial up in response to Daniels’ strategy. By the way, an ancillary effect of doing something unique on special teams is that the other team has to spend more time on it. They can’t simply run their standard return plays.
“Special teams coaches just have to get a little creative because then the other teams are thinking, ‘They could do five or six different things against us,’” Husby said. “I think there’s so much that can be done to make special teams more exciting and less predictable.”
There’s something else at play when it comes to Daniels’ kickoff that goes beyond the numbers and execution — something that can’t be quantified. The Vikings’ special teams coach said that he asks the unit beforehand if they want to give the corner kick a shot. He puts it in their hands to decide. Sometimes a player might be fighting an injury and ask that they boot it out of the back of the end zone and Daniels will oblige but otherwise they usually want to go for it and try to help their defense by giving the offense a long field.
“I’m like, do you want to put it in play or kick a touchback, how y’all feelin?” Daniels said. “I trust those guys to make that decision. If they feel good about it, I feel great about it.”
“For us to go out there and pin guys inside the 20 that’s a mindset thing,” Daniels added. “I’m looking for competition addicts and those guys want to compete.”
Daniels has created buy-in from the unit that stands out from previous years. The special teamers have hats with “ST” on them and have adopted their leader’s passion for ‘Teams.
“He showcases us and shows his confidence in us and lets us loose,” Joseph said. “That says a lot without saying a lot. That’s really translated well. Just being a former payer he gets some things that maybe some people wouldn’t.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell has taken notice of the way Daniels has connected with his players — and has even worn the “ST” hat to acknowledge their play.
“I think with coaches in general, when you can really tell that they’re having an impact on their group [is when] the unit starts to take over some of their characteristics, and they take on the traits of that coach,” O’Connell said. “And from day one, I’ve just enjoyed sitting in the back of those meetings. How he communicates, how he talks to those guys, how they feel empowered to be at their best.”
The defense has noticed too. There are few things better for them than running on the field after ‘Teams has made a big play and forced the opposing offense to start at their own 15-yard line.
“Those guys are the first ones who start the game off whether it’s kickoff return or kick coverage, those guys are tone setters,” Patrick Peterson said. “They have taken that to heart.”
Peterson said that he can sense when the opposing offense is flustered by being pushed back toward their own end zone farther than expected.
“You can feel when a team is in press mode or when teams want to be cautious when they are backed up,” Peterson said. “Our special teams do a great job of putting fear in people’s hearts.”
They have done just that. Through the first four games the Vikings’ special teams unit has been a weapon. They rank No. 1 in the NFL in the average starting field position of their opponents.
“Our identity is starting to show and for us as a team, I think it’s really encouraging with what you see on tape and where we’re headed, I’m really excited about it,” Daniels said.
