Sports
Blistering Fast Vikings Draft Pick Lands New Gig
Once upon a time, Vikings draft pick Kene Nwangwu was inspiring fear in the other team’s kickoff cover unit. He even climbed up to being an All Pro as a sophomore, earning a spot on the second team back in 2022.
Fast forward a few years and he’s no longer employed by the Minnesota Vikings. Instead, the assignment is to chew up yards in a hurry while returning kickoffs as a New York Jet. Recently, he agreed to a new deal to keep doing so. Tom Pelissero of The NFL Network with the news: “The Jets are re-signing RB/RS Kene Nwangwu on a one-year, $2 million deal, per source. He gets $1 million guaranteed and can earn up to $3M with incentives.”
Vikings Draft Pick Showing Off Speed as a Jet
Matt Daniels does a nice job as Minnesota’s special teams coordinator.
A major part of the issue is that when he first took over, the NFL had largely neutered kickoff returns. Doing so took away the main aspect of what made Nwangwu valuable to a team. The emphasis shifted toward becoming more dangerous on punt return, an aspect of specials where the former Viking doesn’t shine in the same way as kickoff. In the end, Minnesota moved on.
Standing at 6’1″ and 210 pounds, Mr. Nwangwu isn’t the world’s most imposing football player. He is, nevertheless, among the fastest. His RAS Score came in at 9.88, in no small part due to his sensational 4.32 forty. That’s scary fast, even in an NFL that boasts a pile of very fast players.
Getting him to the Twin Cities meant using the No. 119 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Using a 4th on a returner isn’t cheap, but he’s a uniquely-dangerous special teams player. He never was able to translate the speed to offense (as was the hope), but he has always been a menace on specials.
In fact, Kene Nwangwu had a pair of touchdowns as a rookie while averaging a tremendous 32.2 yards per kickoff return. As an encore, Nwangwu had a touchdown in 2022 while averaging 26.3 yards per return.
A quieter 2023 led to Minnesota moving on. Over these past two seasons, Nwangwu has played with the Jets, rewarding the team with some excellent returns. Most notable are the pair of touchdowns he has scored on special teams, but the averages for yards have been very explosive.
The Vikings’ special teams have been largely unchanged from last year, apart from the departure of punter Ryan Wright. Coming back are All Pro talents in kicker Will Reichard and long snapper Andrew DePaola. Ace coverage player Tavierre Thomas landed a new deal, too.
Meanwhile, Myles Price is locking down the returner jobs. Ironically, Price is an excellent option when returning punts but not quite so dangerous when it comes to kickoffs. The Vikings, in other words, could use a talent like Kene Nwangwu.
Lately, the Jets have been a team that has housed a lot of former Vikings players. Defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, corner Nahshon Wright, and linebacker Kobe King are all earning their living over there.
Aaron Glenn, the former defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, will look to put together a more promising 2026 season after struggling in his debut year as New York’s lead coach. Seeing Nwangwu pull off some more magic in kickoff return would certainly help.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.