Why Was Marcus Sherels Released Again
Finding a punt returner hasn't been an effect for the Minnesota Vikings since homegrown talent Marcus Sherels took over the gig in 2011.
Over the past decade the rock-solid Sherels set team marks in punt returns (237), punt return yards (ii,480) and punt return touchdowns (5) while averaging 10.v yards per render; no Viking with more than 50 career returns has averaged meliorate.
Including his 173 fair catches, Sherels handled 410 regular-season punts with only ii lost fumbles. So it was a bit jarring to see him put the brawl on the ground twice in the Vikings' playoff loss to San Francisco.
That he was fifty-fifty on the field is a attestation to his perseverance and his value to the Vikings. The sometime Rochester John Marshall standout, University of Minnesota walk-on and undrafted NFL costless agent signed with the Saints in March of 2022 before being released prior to the flavor. He re-signed with the Vikings, then was released and landed in Miami for a stretch before being cut in that location and returning to Minnesota to close out the campaign.
Vikings special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf certainly wasn't expecting Sherels to be his punt returner final year, and Sherels' career-low 4.seven yards per render last year fails to make a example for attempting to wring one more season out of his NFL career.
So replacing Sherels sits atop the Vikings' special teams priority listing heading into the 2022 season.
Unfortunately fans won't become to see any sort of training army camp battle for punt return duties or weigh in on preseason punt return star turns and missteps. The competition to fill Sherels' shoes will instead play out on the TCO practice field, with results to be unveiled when the Vikings open up the regular season in September.
Practice PUNT RETURNS EVEN MATTER TO THE VIKINGS?
Last season the Vikings' boilerplate field position following a punt was their own 22.5 yard line—24th in the NFL and their worst mail service-punt starting field position this millennium. In fact, it was a huge plow of events for the Vikings. Minnesota ranked in the elevation five in this stat category 3 of the concluding iv years, starting outside the 26-1000 line each of those four seasons.
Surely it was a drive-killer, right? How tin can yous bounce back from such a handicap?
Instead of curling into the fetal position in the shadow of their own goal posts, the Vikings instead put up their almost points in a decade. They averaged improve than two points per drive (2.21) for just the third fourth dimension in the last xv years. So starting an actress four yards back was hardly a deterrent in 2019, and it'due south unlikely to exist i going forward.
Historically the Vikings also seem content with finding their punt returner deep downward their depth chart. Since 2011, only 24 of the team'southward 278 punt returns have been handled past drafted players — 16 past Mike Hughes, vi by Stefon Diggs and one each by Cordarrelle Patterson and Olabisi Johnson.
With the Vikings wafer-sparse on experience at cornerback, using Hughes in the return game volition preferably exist a terminal resort, allowing him to focus on his defensive duties. And that sets up a competition amongst fringe wide receivers looking for a way to crack the roster.
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY?
Sherels arrived in Vikings camp with 17 higher punt returns to his credit — inappreciably a number that'due south going to stand out on a resume.
Amongst the NFL'southward superlative x punt returners by average per return concluding yr, just 3 brought more college feel returning punts to the professional level. Nyheim Hines, who returned two punts for touchdowns and averaged 31.2 yards per return last twelvemonth, had 11 college punt returns. Diontae Johnson, the punt return average runner-upwardly at 12.four yards per return, matched Sherels' 17.
That means y'all don't take to rule out rookies Justin Jefferson (two college punt returns), Quartney Davis (one) or Dan Chisena (zero — did Penn Land non desire the world'southward fastest man treatment the ball in the open up field?).
In fact, Maalouf has indicated Jefferson is in the mix for the gig, along with Hughes. But over again, both seem more than valuable to the starting offense and defense, respectively.
Which brings u.s.a. to 5th-round selection Yard.J. Osborn. In a receiver-rich draft, with the Vikings thin at the position, Osborn seemed an odd selection given some of the talent left on the board when he was tabbed by the Vikings 176th overall.
But the Vikings weren't necessarily drafting Osborn to replace Diggs in the offensive game plan; Maalouf had something different in mind. Osborn ranked 5th in the NCAA BCS at fifteen.nine yards per punt return last year, and for his career collected 594 yards on 49 returns. You lot have to believe Maalouf'south voice carried loudly when the Vikings went on the clock in the fifth circular.
"I think people sometimes look for able-bodied guys, but you have to be able to take hold of the ball, and he'south washed both in higher and done it very well," Maalouf said in a published report. "You can see his explosiveness and his vision and his anticipation before he catches the ball, you can encounter his eyes scanning. He has the talent to do that."
Maalouf noted that the Vikings could use more than one returner, so it may not be an Osborn-or-aught situation. Merely the ramp-up to the 2022 campaign won't include preseason opportunities, so having a trustworthy pair of easily fielding punts is the identify to start. With Sherels out of the flick, Osborn looks to be the adjacent man upward.
The Vikings demonstrated last year that they can survive just fine with middle-of-the-pack returns in the punt game. Osborn offers the potential for an uptick from that, with the rubber net of the ability to catch the ball and not dig the Vikings a hole. With the absence of a preseason punt return dwelling run to stoke the fan base, that's a solid style to enter the season.
Source: https://zonecoverage.com/2020/minnesota-vikings-news/with-marcus-sherels-gone-who-will-the-minnesota-vikings-turn-to-as-their-punt-returner/
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