EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — When the Minnesota Vikings entered the offseason coming off a 3-13 record, there were many changes expected, several spots to address.
Kicker wasn't expected to be one of them. Minnesota had veteran Ryan Longwell, one of the most accurate kickers in the league since coming to the Vikings, with three years at $7 million remaining on a four-year contract he signed last summer. Longwell was coming off a down season by his standards, but his job figured to be safe even with Minnesota looking to get younger and shed salary.
Then the Vikings took Georgia kicker Blair Walsh with the fifth pick in the sixth round and many were wondering the reason. Outsiders didn't know replacing Longwell was a decision that started back in January when the team started its offseason evaluations, but general manager Rick Spielman admitted it was a decision long in the making.
"I think our emphasis has always been trying to get our team better, get it younger and that's the direction we kind of went," Spielman said. "It just fits in with everything else we're kind of honed in on this offseason, but can't say enough good things about Ryan Longwell."
Instead of giving Longwell, who has the second-most points among kickers in team history, a chance to compete with Walsh in training, Spielman hitched his hopes to Walsh. But Spielman wasn't even sure Walsh was going to be the one replacing the 15-year veteran Longwell, who signed with the Vikings in 2006. A run on kickers in the later rounds prompted Spielman to act when Walsh was available with the 175th overall pick.
Spielman felt there were three draftable kickers. Texas A&M's Randy Bullock went to the Houston Texans with the 161s pick. The St. Louis Rams plucked Missouri Western's Greg Zuerlein four spots ahead of Minnesota and Walsh is now replacing one of the league's best kickers.
"Obviously when you draft a kicker you are drafting for a reason, so we will take a real good look at him this weekend and see how he does," coach Leslie Frazier said at the team's rookie mini-camp on May 4. "He was an outstanding kicker throughout his first three years at Georgia and we want to see if we can get that form back. We feel like he can."
The Vikings don't seem fazed by those troubles in Walsh's senior season when he hit just 21 of 35 field goals. He was the Bulldogs kicker each of his four seasons at Georgia and finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in Southeastern Conference history.
Walsh does have the track record. After going 15 of 23 on field goal tries his freshman season, he went 40 of 46 (87 percent) combined the next two seasons. Then he struggled through his senior season, including a 5 of 12 mark from 40 to 49 yards, a range he had only missed three previous kicks.
"Yes, my senior year didn't go the way I wanted it to," Walsh said. "I ended up missing early on in the season, I missed a couple kicks and I started pressing a little bit. I'm my own worst critic. I just want to be there for the team, and help the team out. I feel like I got it back on track in the middle, end of the season. I learned from it, and I think I'm a better man and kicker for it."
The Vikings feel comfortable knowing he fixed the glitch.
"We understood the reasons why," Spielman said. "There was a lot of things that went into that a little bit and just looking at some technical things and maybe rushing through some of the stuff. But you look at the history, he was a 90 percent kicker most of his career since he's taken over. And the kickoffs are exceptional from all the work that we've done on him. He did have a down year his senior year, but felt very confident that we can bring him along."
There's also the matter of a strong leg.
Walsh, only 5-foot-9 and 187 pounds, has the type of leg that NFL special teams coaches drool about. He made a field goal from 50-yards plus each season with the Bulldogs and was 10 of 17 from 50 yards and beyond.
"I have a big leg, but I'm also accurate I think," Walsh said. "Obviously, the thing is, I have a big leg, but so does everybody else in the NFL and all other 32 guys do. I just want to come out here, compete and do my best and show what I have."
His competition is himself these days. He can help his case by helping Minnesota in the field-position battle with touchbacks, giving the coverage units a break, an area of the team that did struggle at times last season. Just in the NFC North, the Vikings have to deal with explosive returners like Chicago's Devin Hester, Green Bay's Randall Cobb and Detroit's Stefan Logan.
"Obviously the NFL is a little bit different when it comes to the game of field position," Walsh said. "I can be a long-range threat for them in the games. I'll be more than happy with that."
With Longwell unexpectedly gone, Walsh will be required to be much more than just a long-distance specialist.
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