Questions Answered: Kene Nwangwu Health, Kicker Empowerment, Booth or Evans?
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by PurplePTSD. Today is the August 6th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
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Q: When will Kene Nwangwu return to the field in Eagan?
A: You probably submitted this question just a few minutes early because Nwangwu returned from his soft-tissue leg injury on Saturday. The Vikings had all kinds of little injuries this week.
Nwnagwu is back and will compete for an RB2 or RB3 job. The kick-returning gig should be his beyond the shadow of a doubt, and if it’s not, well — pitchfork time. He’s the team’s fastest player, and it will be intriguing to see how the new coaching staff uses the Iowa State alumnus on offense. Nwangwu was basically a footnote on offense in 2021.
Q: The new coaching staff seems to be empowering kicking instead letting them get on their nerves like the last regime. Do you agree?
A: This is the perk of swapping coaches.
Indeed, Mike Zimmer seemed unnerved by kickers — bad ones, anyway — and had a low tolerance for mistakes. Accordingly, Minnesota cycled through a litany of kickers with Zimmer in charge, all of them excelling for periods and then ultimately flaming out (sans Greg Joseph).
The new coaching staff predicted Joseph would have his best career season in 2021. Since that proclamation by special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, Joseph has been kicking like a madman — in a good way.
So, yes. We agree.
Q: Which rookie corner has experienced the better training camp — Andrew Booth or Akayleb Evans?
A: Booth’s had higher highs, whereas Evans has been steady-Eddie throughout the event.
And that’s good news for the Vikings. Minnesota may keep only five cornerbacks — Kevin O’Connell’s former team kept just four CBs heading into 2021 — so the combination of Patrick Peterson, Cameron Dantzler, Andrew Booth, Akayleb Evans, and Chandon Sullivan could be it.
Once theorized as a severe roster weak spot in March, the Vikings CB room isn’t causing much anxiety late in the summer.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).