Vikings kicker Will Reichard is off to a flawless start to his rookie season, living up to the hype that started when he was drafted in the sixth round in April and intensified during his incredible training camp performance this summer.
Reichard had a career game in Sunday's win over the Jets in London, hitting all three field goals — from 54, 53, and 41 yards out — and both of his extra point attempts to remain perfect through five weeks. The Alabama product is now 9 for 9 this season on field goals and 16 for 16 on extra points. The remarkable consistency he showed on the practice field this offseason has translated to the NFL.
"Oh, he's a dog," Justin Jefferson said. "He's a dog. He's an SEC guy, so that's something that we're kind of expecting from him. But to say he's coming in as a new guy and making field goals left and right, especially from the length that he's making it, it's definitely something that we need. Especially not putting points on the board as an offense, coming out with three points is something. Of course we want to get the seven (points), but if you take the field goals that he made away, we don't come out with this game."
Reichard got the Vikings on the board with a 54-yarder in the first quarter. He drilled a 53-yarder in damp conditions to extend the lead to 20-10 in the fourth quarter. And he hit a key 41-yarder to make it a six-point game in the final minutes. Those makes were crucial to get the Vikings to 5-0.
In his postgame locker room speech, head coach Kevin O'Connell called Reichard "a f***ing cold-blooded dude that's gonna walk out there and hit three points from wherever I ask him to."
So far, that's been the case. Reichard hasn't missed yet, and that includes a 58-yarder late in the Week 3 win over the Texans. He also hit a 57-yarder in the preseason and showed throughout camp that he has the range to connect from 60+ if needed. It's still early, of course, but Reichard appears to have the leg strength, accuracy, and mental makeup to be quite the weapon for the Vikings this season and beyond.
"Will the Thrill coming" indeed.
