Minnesota Vikings’ best player in 2025 season isn’t who you think, and he set a franchise record vs. Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings kicker Will Reichard has been the best player on the team in 2025, including breaking one of Blair Walsh’s records on Christmas Day.
Thursday afternoon’s win over the Detroit Lions highlighted multiple stars on the day.
Safety Harrison Smith had a banner day with an interception, two tackles for loss, and three passes batted down. Edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel had 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss, and two fumble recoveries. Wide receiver Jordan Addison had a 63-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach.
There were a multitude of great performances, but the best one came on the special teams unit.
Will Reichard has been a dominant force for the Vikings
One of the best parts of the 2025 Vikings has been the performance of the field goal unit. Long snapper Andrew DePaola has been an All-Pro multiple times and punter Ryan Wright consistently gets the hold down without issue. It’s been a big factor why kicker Will Reichard has been tremendous this season.
He was one of one the biggest Pro Bowl snubs this year, as Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey got the nod over Reichard. His stats are better than Aubrey’s this year.
| Kicker | Extra points | Field Goals | FG Percentage | 50+ field goals |
| Will Reichard | 30-30 | 30-32 | 100 | 11-13 |
| Brandon Aubrey | 45-46 | 35-40 | 87.5 | 11-16 |
Reichard has been the most consistent player for the Vikings this season, especially with long kicks. He has 11 field goals made this season from 50+ yards, including being the first-ever kicker to make four field goals from 59 yards or further in a single season.
He also set a team record for the most 50+ yard field goals in a single season, kicking his 10th and 11th to pass Blair Walsh’s 2012 rookie season when he hit all 10 of his kicks from that distance.
It’s a truly impressive feat to be that successful at long kicks, as it’s become more commonplace to attempt those field goals. Even so, it’s still not the easiest to hit those field goals. Through the first three games of Week 17, kickers are 162-238 (68.07%) on 50+ yard field goals this season, making Reichard’s 84.62% that much more impressive. It becomes more so when both misses arguably hit sky cam cable wires.
He’s been the best Vikings player this year, and his track record has been very impressive. Will it continue next year? It likely won’t be at the same clip, but it could be close, as his 93.8% field goals is only eighth-best in the league.
Needless to say, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah hit a home run with the selection of Reichard.
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