Back in the late 1990s, I remember being confidant of the Vikings special teams unit. While they did give up the occasional big return (but who doesn't?), they were generally very good in that area. What set them apart from others, though, was return man (on kickoffs and punts) David Palmer (pictured above). Now, this was at a time in the NFL when return "specialists" had not yet been catered to yet, so most returners were either starting cornerbacks or fourth and fifth-string wide receivers (like Palmer was). Palmer was quick enough to turn on the burners when needed, and slippery enough to elude even the craftiest of tacklers. Over the course of the game, the Vikings could usually be counted on to rack up more return yards than the opposing team.
Sadly, those days are long behind us. Despite a brilliant performance in 2005 by Koren Robinson that led to a Pro Bowl berth, he then chose to drive 90 mph down a St. Paul road and thus got released (he is now property of the Seattle Seahawks via way of the Green Bay Packers). Since then, the Vikes have sorely been lacking in special teams, and it has never been more apparent than so far this year. Not only are we not catching up to returners (ask Reggie Bush), but our return guys stink to boot. Maurice Hicks (KR) has shown no break-away abilities at all this year, while Robert Ferguson (PR) is mainly back there to make sure the ball isn't fumbled, as he couldn't outrun some of the more athletic-looking guys in the seats (granted, those types of males are hard to find) on any given day.
My impression of special teams is taken from I believe it was Mike "Coach" Ditka on ESPN, who said that coaches either focus on special teams units or they don't. Obviously, Childress has not focused on those units as much as he should have, as they have declined during his tenure. With Devin Hester returning kicks and punts for the Bears on Sunday (as well as catching the occasional pass), this is a very pertinent point to discuss at this time. It will be interesting to see how the unit handles Hester, as the Vikes are always big on field position, and kicking the ball out of bounds negates that.
The depressing thing is, there really isn't much that can be done in the short-term to improve the special teams units. A start would be to replace Hicks (anyone would be an improvement).
Keywords: David Palmer, Devin Hester, Kick Returner, Koren Robinson, Maurice Hicks, Minnesota Vikings, Punt Returner, Reggie Bush, Robert Ferguson, Special Teams
