The Vikings drafted a kicker. What could go wrong?

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said, “It’s going to be a very competitive camp at multiple positions.” We’re taking a look at each of those competitions as training camp gets underway. Today: Kickers.

It’s early, and absolutely no one is talking about and/or stressing out over the Vikings’ greenhorn kickers. But it’s never too early to brace fans for the possibility (inevitability?) of the next kicker crisis that could cause the kind of Purple pain that’s become all too familiar for a franchise that’s had its heart stomped on by some of the most ill-timed misses in NFL history (See: Anderson, G.; Walsh, B.).

The Vikings let veteran Greg Joseph walk in free agency — to the Packers, for gosh sakes — after three so-so seasons that were OK enough to justify another crack at consistency but not OK enough to cause fans to care all that much that he’s gone.

That. Could. Change.

The Vikings are banking on Will Reichard, a sixth-round draft pick out of Alabama. Their backup plan should Reichard not measure up is, for now, John Parker Romo, a 2023 XFL standout with no NFL regular-season experience.

Buckle up, folks. Things could get a little bumpy.

Before arriving in Minnesota in 2021, Joseph was a journeyman who played 14 games for the Browns in 2018 and two games for the Titans in 2019. He would go on to play 51 games for the Vikings, making 82.2% of his field goals (61 of 83) and 90.3% of his PATs (112 of 124).

It was a strange tenure. Not good enough to celebrate consistently and yet not bad enough to get boiling mad at the guy.

In 2022, the year the Vikings went a record 11-0 in one-score games, Joseph twice won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Once when he made 5 of 5 field goals, including a game-winning 47-yarder to beat the Saints in London. And once when he nailed a team-record 61-yard walk-off winner against the Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium on Christmas Eve.

And yet, Joseph still led the league in combined misses that year with 13, including six misses in 10 field goal attempts from 50-plus.

Last season, he had eight more combined misses while struggling from 50-plus again (4 of 7).

In: Reichard (sixth-round draft pick) and Romo (free agent).

Out: Joseph (signed with Packers).

One of the most decorated kickers in college football history, Reichard enters the NFL as the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader with 547 points and 84 field goals — on 101 attempts for 83.2%. Last season, he made 22 of 25 field goals, including 5 of 5 from 50 and beyond. He made two from beyond 50 in Alabama’s semifinal playoff game.

The Saints signed Romo as an undrafted rookie out of Virginia Tech in 2022. He saw action in the preseason before being cut.

Playing for the San Antonio Brahmas, Romo won XFL Special Teams Player of the Year in 2023. He made 17 of 19 field goal attempts, including 2 of 3 from 50-plus, one of which was a 57-yarder.

He kicked for the Lions in the preseason last year, got cut and was signed to the Bears’ practice squad but never played a game for Chicago.

Romo has one advantage. He has experience with the NFL’s new kickoff rules, which resemble those in the XFL.

How long is O’Connell’s leash? Things didn’t go so well the last time the Vikings drafted a kicker. In 2018, they took another SEC star, Auburn’s Daniel Carlson, in the fifth round.

Carlson struggled in the preseason, made his only field goal attempt in Week 1 and was whacked by coach Mike Zimmer eight days later after going 0-for-3 with two overtime misses, including a 35-yarder as time expired in a 29-29 tie at Green Bay. Carlson is now an All-Pro kicker heading into Year 7 with the Raiders.

In case you haven’t noticed, current coach Kevin O’Connell is a tad more patient with his players than Zim was. Of course, KO also has somehow managed to reach Year 3 as Vikings coach without a single last-minute, heart-wrenching, Purple-patented, sucker-punch miss by his kicker.

In other words, he’s due. How will he handle it if (when?) it happens with an inexperienced kicker?