Punter Peril: Vikings Conduct a Workout with 3 Specialists, Including an Old Friend

On Sunday, rookie punter Brett Thorson had a busy day. The undrafted specialist performed well, proving pivotal in the field position battle from within a 9-3 game that pushed Minnesota to a pristine 2-0 record.

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert was among those to send along word that the Vikings conducted a workout for some punters. Thorson has been dealing with a minor injury that leaves him uncertain for Week 3. Mike Garafolo of The NFL Network then clarified the trio who got brought in for a tryout: “The #Vikings worked out three punters today: —Former All-Pro Johnny Hekker, who was with them this summer —Veteran Matt Haack —Rookie Jack Stonehouse.”

Vikings Conduct a Workout w/ 3 Punters

In a lot of ways, the pivot for the Vikings is reminiscent of the approach back in the 2024 offseason.

Training camp from that year involved rookie Will Reichard going toe-to-toe with John Parker Romo. Minnesota kept the young lad but had to shuffle him to the IR, leading to the Romo add to bridge the gap for a four-game stretch.

Given the in-house comfort from having worked alongside the veteran, the Vikings leaning toward Hekker makes a ton of sense. Check out the update from Garafolo yet again: “The #Vikings are signing four-time Pro Bowl P Johnny Hekker, sources say. Hekker is back with the team after being released in August.”

So far, Brett Thorson has been a great option, despite some early jitters in Week 1 that prompted him to play it safe on some of his punts (something Matt Daniels clarified).

Thorson’s season has involved punting the ball 10 times for 458 yards, working out to a 45.8 average. He has dropped 5 punts inside the 20 and has yet to get dinged with a touchback. Better yet, the field goal operation has been smooth, which had been a concern since Thorson didn’t hold at Georgia. Getting the ball down cleanly from within the conditions at Soldier Field is impressive work.

Just as a point of reference, note that Thorson’s stats are more promising than what Ryan Wright has done so far, the punter who had been handling the punting duties from 2022-25.

Now a Saint, Wright has punted 8 times for 355 yards. That works out to a 44.4 yards-per-punt average. He has dropped a trio of punts inside the 20 without there being any touchbacks.

Brett Thorson is still improving as a rookie who is still being developed. What’s plain to see is that he boasts immense potential to be the Vikings’ P1 for years to come. Coach Daniels has proven to be a terrific coach, so the expectation should be that a healthy Thorson is a dangerous Thorson.

The benefit of Hekker is that he knows all the calls and won’t be unable to help on field goal. Look for the veteran to do nice work in the short term as the rookie gets healthy.

The Vikings will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next.

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