Ash Ketchum wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:06 pm
It will be interesting to watch during camp, for sure.
I would NOT roster just Vedvik as both K and P just to save the roster spot.
1. If Vedvik gets injured in-game, you’re fucked at two positions for the rest of that game with no one who is able to step in and get you out of that game.
Most NFL caliber punters have experience from sometime in their careers at kicking field goals and visa versa, and so if an injury occurred to one or the other in-game, you’d at least be able to finish the game with the other guy.
Imagine if Vedvik got taken out by a cheap shot on punt coverage or his plant leg got rolled up on during a FG attempt and then the game eventually came down to a 35 yard FG.
Matt Wile would have a reasonable chance to make that FG (he kicked FGs in college), but would the “emergency” kicker who is actually a field player be able to? Probably not, and the coaching staff would be terrified to try it. Imagine the hilarity of watching Stefon Diggs trotting out to kick a game-winning field goal in a game that might decide whether or not the Vikings make the playoffs...that 53rd roster spot is not worth it.
Conversely, what if the Vikings have the ball inside their own 20, and they’re leading 28-27 with a minute left in the 4th. If the opponent forces the Vikings to 4th down, you’re going to lose the game. Again, that 6th CB or 4th TE just isn’t worth it.
2. Like I said before, you want the punter to be the holder.
Firstly, because the punter has the time to get an endless amount reps and those reps don’t have to be during the special teams portion of practice as it would if a position player is the holder. The three specialists can go off to the side and attempt as many as they want, whenever they want. They can be in the same meeting rooms together studying film and talking about what they need to talk about together without one of them having other positional commitments during that time.
The kickers WANT this. Kickers are typically all about reps. It’s like golf, the more good reps, the higher your confidence is on Sunday.
Secondary, punters already are used to catching snaps from the snapper. This sounds dumb, but every holder/punter I’ve played with and been around thinks this is a thing. It’s just that many more times you’ve seen the snap come, and it adds to comfort level and confidence.
Could a position player be a good holder and could that work just fine? Sure, but when we’ve seen just how important confidence is in the kicking game, why not do everything you can to foster an environment to have optimal confidence?
3. Sheer work load.
As someone else smartly brought up, the sheer amount of times Vidvek’s foot has to strike the ball during the week in practice and in games would be that much higher.
Logistically, this would be a nightmare, as most kickers hit stationary balls while the punter does his work. When the kicker is working on kicking, he can’t be working on punting, and so you’re ending up with a situation where the guy has to be constantly working twice as hard.
Punting requires way fewer reps, but still.
I think the only way Vedvik could be both is if they did something along the lines of signing an aging kicker who is money from 45 and in, and have Vedvik be the long FG guy as well as the punter.
I don’t know if you WANT him to be the punter though. He’s a much better kicker than punter.
