Perhaps the most intriguing competition the Vikings will have at training camp this summer will be between kickers, if it ever gets that far.
Minnesota traded up to get Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson in the fifth round of Saturday’s NFL Draft, and it’s a move that didn’t make incumbent place kicker Kai Forbath very happy.
“Quite apparent but source says Vikings kicker Kai Forbath was very disappointed today by the team’s decision to draft kicker Daniel Carlson in the fifth round,” tweeted Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.
Tomasson said he called Forbath and was hung up on.
Forbath came through in the clutch with a go-ahead field goal late in Minnesota’s miracle win in the playoffs against the Saints, but overall he missed 11 kicks, including five extra points.
But he was solid from 50+ yards, hitting on 7-of-10 from that distance since signing with the Vikings following the release of Blair Walsh late in the 2016 season.
Carlson, meanwhile, says he’s comfortable form 60 yards and in and has hit from 75 yards in the thin air of Colorado, according to Chad Graff.
Carlson also never missed an extra point at Auburn, converting all 198 attempts. In the NFL he’ll kick those extra points from 33 yards rather than 19 yards.
That said, Walsh made 184-of-185 extra points in college, and we all know how that went in the NFL.
Perhaps the most intriguing fact about Carlson is that he was perfect in loud road stadiums. Check out these impressive numbers from ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
Because I'm a nerd, & I'm bored, I looked at success rate/capacity of road stadiums Daniel Carlson kicked in last year
@ CLEM (ACC): 81,500 | 2/2 FG (scored all 6 pts for Auburn)
@ MIZ: 71,168 | 3/3 FG, 3/3 XP
@ LSU: 102,321 | 3/3 FG, 2/2 XP
@ ARK: 76,000 | 1/1 FG, 7/7 XP— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) April 28, 2018
Forbath is in a tough spot and it’ll probably take a lot for the Vikings to make the team, especially since his $790,000 salary isn’t guaranteed, according to Spotrac.
