The Vikings have competition at punt returner again as they have struggled to find the next Marcus Sherels.

EAGAN — After every practice at TCO Performance Center, several players stand about 50 yards away from a machine that launches footballs into the air like a cannon. The players take turns scrambling around underneath the airborne ball and eventually settle underneath it. Grabbing the ball from the machine is a heck of a lot different than catching punts in real life, which Minnesota Vikings returners have struggled to do since veteran Marcus Sherels left in 2018 (and briefly came back in 2019).

Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said everything starts with simply bringing the ball in safely.

“At the end of the day I'm looking at ball tracking skills and your ability to catch it,” Daniels said. “What does your ball catching look like, how comfortable are you back there?”

Veteran receiver Albert Wilson doesn’t think bringing the ball in on a punt is all that great of a challenge and seemed a bit perplexed by a line of questioning related to catching punts.

“Man, we have equipment guys going out there catching punts,” he said, somewhat jokingly.

But since 2019 the Vikings have the second most fumbles on punt returns in the NFL and have ranked 16th, 20th and 31st from 2019-2021 in total punt return yards.

Wilson has been among a group that includes Ihmir Smith-Marsette, KJ Osborn and Jalen Nailor that is looking to change those numbers. And Daniels is doing everything he can to simulate real-game situations in camp practices to prepare them for the traffic accident that is punt returning.

“We try to create certain scenarios as a punt returner just in terms of getting guys in their face and feel traffic around their feet and how quickly are they able to make decisions and some things that you can't control in a practice environment is their decision making,” Daniels said. “The decision making from a punt return standpoint is vital.”

The new special teams coordinator also understands that there’s only so much he can do on the practice fields. Preseason action will go a long way to determine who ends up returning punts this year.

“There will be some aspects within that game that you can't control and you need to see it in the game,” Daniels said.

So why have the Vikings struggled so much post-Sherels? Their returning legend was an undrafted free agent who walked on in college. Yet they haven’t found anyone else who can repeat his mastery. Brandon Zylstra, Mike Hughes, Chad Beebe, Bisi Johnson, KJ Osborn and Dede Westbrook have all tried since 2018 and Westbook is the only player to barely average more than 8.0 yards per return. Sherels’ career average was 10.3 and as high as 15.2 yards per return in 2013.

For whatever reason, Sherels had nerves of steel and a freakish ability to make snap decisions that few players possess.

“The [small] amount of time you have to key and diagnose what is actually going on makes it so difficult,” Daniels said. “You have bodies flying around, you have a spiral ball that's hanging 50, 60 yards in the air so the amount of time and the ability to track it, the ability to catch it, the ability to get your feet square and quickly be able to make somebody miss in that same instance with a gunner shooting at your feet. How quickly can I sidestep and get vertical with the football. It's a lot of variables that go into actually doing it that makes it really difficult.”

Osborn was a star punt returner in college but discovered that there’s a serious learning curve when it comes to returning in the NFL. He gained just 27 yards on seven returns and had two fumbles.

“You're back there by yourself and it's really tough judging the ball… especially if you add in the elements, indoor, outdoor, day game, night game,” Osborn said. “You're looking up the whole time trying to track the ball, you're peeking at the gunners, you're looking at the direction of the punt, so it's a lot going on back there in that lonely world.”

While Wilson, who returned punts in college and preseason during his time with Kansas City, wasn’t willing to say that catching the ball was tough, he did admit that returning isn’t for the faint of heart. He studied a fellow South Florida star Devin Hester and watched Dante Hall in his preparation for the possibility he’d return in games while with the Chiefs. His observation about the great ones:

“Definitely takes guts,” Wilson said. “Guys that are risky, who are willing to take the risk and don’t be scared to lose anything.”

Smith-Marsette wants to prove that he isn’t scared back there. He says that he’s “one of the people who feels confident” with an entire punt team charging at them while they stare straight up in the air but there’s technique to be mastered before the Vikings can trust their second-year receiver to return.

“It’s basically just learning how the ball comes off the foot of the punter, being able to read it and judge it the moment it comes off and takes flight into the air, nose coming down and stuff like that and being at the breaking point before the ball even breaks,” Smith-Marsette said. “There’s a lot that goes into it and not everybody can do it.”

As Smith-Marsette, who grew up idolizing receiver/punt returner DeSean Jackson, gets more acquainted with punt returning, he’s noticing something: You can’t plan ahead. It’s catch and go.

“If anybody tells you that they think about their moves beforehand that’s a lie,” Smith-Marsette said. “As soon as you get the ball your first move goes out of your head because you are just reacting.”

Punter Jordan Berry says there are ways that punt returners can prepare their moves. Coaches scout the tendencies of punters and even sometimes have a cheat sheet for the returner on the sideline. Some punters try to throw off the direction of the punt by aiming their body one way and kicking the ball in the other direction but opponents often pick up on that with hopes of getting underneath the ball that much quicker.

For Berry, there’s a few ways to make punt returners’ lives difficult. The first is the most simple: Kick the ball at the appropriate distance and hang time to allow for the return team to be on the spot to force a fair catch or mistake.

“You want to get the distance and hangtime matched up right so as soon as they catch it they have somebody in their face basically eliminating to make a play,” Berry said. “Direction as well. If it’s a punt to the right, making it sure we’re getting it out there and letting our guys get in their face and not letting them do anything.”

Punters also know different ways to kick the ball to make it fall out of the air in crazy ways. He holds out his Gatorade bottle to demonstrate the difference between a typical spiral punt, which is held at a slight angle and kicked straight up, an end-over-end boon in which the nose of the ball is pointed down and a “banana kick,” that is held at a more extreme angle and the back of the ball is struck.

“It’s almost like the drop punt but you rotate it around and then you’re cutting across on the bottom so it will spin sideways,” Berry said, explaining the banana punt. “As it drops down it will sweep left to right. I’ve done a couple of those but it’s a bit tricky and you need the weather conditions to be perfect for it. I usually stick to end-over-end, I’ve been pretty good with those over my career.”

Still the punter emphasizes most that giving the gunners the best aiming point and time to bolt full speed toward the returner is the best route.

And on the other side, the punt returners may be facing treacherous territory with banana kicks and blazing fast tacklers but if they can traverse through the wreckage of blocking and coverage, they change the game on one play.

“It’s electrifying,” Wilson said.

“Us punt returners, we love it,” Osborn added.

“It’s an area of the game that it could change the flow of the game,” said Smith-Marsette. “You could be down two scores and you get a punt return and it juices up [the team]. If you score a touchdown it juices up the defense to go back out there with the energy you just gave them and next thing you know they get an interception or fumble or turnover on downs and the offense is up. It’s one of those momentum swinging things.”

The Vikings simply need more electrifying, change-the-flow-of-the-game plays out of their brave punt returners this year. They are hoping as the preseason goes along, they’ll find the next Marcus Sherels in the group.

“All I have to do is take advantage of my opportunities,” Smith-Marsette said, as he aims to be the one who rises to the punt return challenge. 

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