Ask Vikings coach Matt Daniels and there's not much of an issue with Brett Thorson holding. Or, at least, with catching the snap from the long snapper.
The talented rookie punter is the underdog in his competition against veteran Johnny Hekker , who received a single-season deal worth $1.262 million on the cap ( OTC ). Every penny will stick around as dead money if he gets cut.
Still, Thorson was brought to town for a reason. He boasts a booming punt, capable of offering his team healthy field position. Thorson is operating under a UDFA contract that sees just $90,000 guaranteed. In other words, cutting him won't be any hindrance to the cap if things don't work out.
What's working in his favor, though, is his youth, upside, and capacity to settle in as a holder.
Gone are the days of Tony Romo – and, more accurately, the currently playing QBs – holding the ball for PAT and FG. Rather, the job responsibility has shifted to the punter, the specialist who spends his days working with the other specialists. Giving him the added workload makes all the sense in the world.
Per Daniels, the Kirby Smart approach of not leaning on his punter is derivative of the Bill Parcells approach. Once upon a time, Mike Zimmer was the head coach of the Vikings. Notably, he's a Parcells disciple. Every so often, Zimmer would make headlines for his comments on kickers. Did he ever oversimplify the kicking/holding operation?
Dec 25, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer talks to New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton before their game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports.
More pertinent for right now: can Thorson overcome his inexperience as a holder to secure the P1 spot in 2026?
Check out what Matt Daniels had to say: "Obviously, coming out of Georgia, Kirby is really from a Parcells tree […] where the quarterbacks are the holders." Not long afterwards, Coach Daniels noted Thorson's "great hands" before describing that the focus is on placing the ball down cleanly and at the correct angle for Will Reichard .
Therein lies the key, folks: working in a way that makes Reichard comfortable.
Earlier in the same presser, Coach Daniels described how Reichard keeps "chasing" perfection. Doing so means adjusting his mechanics in an effort to drill the football perfectly straight rather than last year's approach, one involving a "little baby draw."
Any punter who can't allow Reichard to thrive isn't going to be employed by the Minnesota Vikings .
Dec 7, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs punter Brett Thorson (92) punts the ball to the Texas Longhorns during the first half in the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
"I watched over 300 snaps of this guy at practice and there's no issue with the holding," Daniels went on to say of Thorson.
Last year, Oscar Chapman competed with Ryan Wright to be the team's starting punter. In all likelihood, Mr. Wright — somebody who offered an exclusive for VT — would have won the job no matter what, but Chapman appeared to bobble the ball at one point. That didn't help, folks.
At this stage, Johnny Hekker appears to be a 99.9% certainty to handle the snap from long snapper Andrew DePaola cleanly. He is, like all of us, human, meaning he'll make mistakes. What he nevertheless offers is a high degree of consistency. At no point will he be nervous about catching a heater from DePaola.
Brett Thorson has a longer runway in the NFL since he's still a young fella. Quite possibly, he'll be able to punt the ball for greater distance while offering better hang time, too. But then there's the other aspect of the job: holding. That small does detail matters.
Put bluntly, the Vikings cannot chase upside at punter at the risk of undermining elite play from Reichard.
Aug 16, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels looks on before the game against the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Matt Daniels has a few months before needing to make a final call. The punter battle will get rolling in late July when the Vikings return for training camp.
