Special teams has always been an extremely underrated component of football, and almost no one did it better than the Vikings last year. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer was special teams coach of the year last year and for good reason. The Vikings kickoff and punt return coverage was exceptional, and he coached rookie Blair Walsh to an All-Pro season, setting the franchise record for touchbacks and the NFL record for most field goals made over 50 yards. Some new faces have entered the special teams depth chart this year, and they each could have a major impact on how this unit performs this year. You can view the Vikings' unofficial depth chart here, courtesy of vikings.com:
http://www.vikings.com/news/article-1/View-The-Vikings-Updated-Depth-Chart-Heading-Into-The-Regular-Season/b82cfacb-7638-45c0-9c1d-89e173cf85ae
Kicker (1)
Blair Walsh appears to have been an absolute steal in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL draft after he churned out one of the best kicking season ever during his rookie year. Expect Walsh to shank a few more kicks this year as it will be hard to duplicate his success, but Walsh himself shouldn't be an issue this year.
Punter (1)
Rookie punter Jeff Locke was taken in the fifth round of the NFL draft this year, and it wasn't hard to see Priefer's fingerprints all over the pick. Over the preseason Locke showed a solid leg with several booming punts that had plenty of air under them, and also showed a nice Aussie-style kick that helped some of his punts land inside the 20 yard line. Already this looks like another solid find by Priefer.
Long-Snapper (1)
Cullen Loeffler has seemingly been snapping for the Vikings' forever, so it's clear he knows what he's doing at this point. Next!
Holder (1)
This has the potential to be a question mark for the Vikings this season, as while rookie Jeff Locke's leg seems fine his hands may still need some work. During the preseason Blair Walsh missed a few field goal attempts off of suspect holds by Jeff Locke. The two still need to fine tune their chemistry a little before the season starts, and hopefully this is a non-issue by the time real football is played. For now, though, it's something to watch.
Kick Returner (2)
Explosive rookie Cordarrelle Patterson will return kicks for the Vikings this year, which should come as no surprise to anyone who watched him in college. Patterson is special when he has the ball in his hands and he showed that by returning his first preseason kickoff almost 50 yards. Look for Patterson to do more than an adequate job filling the void left by Percy Harvin as an explosive kickoff returner. In the event Patterson goes down or becomes too valuable to the offense to risk on kickoffs (which seems unlikely, as Harvin still returned kicks despite being the Vikings most valuable player for much of last season) Marcus Sherels will take his spot, and Sherels should be a solid replacement as he took a kickoff all the way back for a touchdown during the preseason.
Punt Returner (2)
Sherels is actually the Vikings primary punt return man, as he has solid hands to field punts and has the ability to break big gains, as he returned a punt for a touchdown last year. In the event Sherels can't perform his duties, wide receiver Jarius Wright will take over. Wright is very quick and could be a solid return man, but Priefer probably doesn't trust his hands as much as he trusts Sherels' when it comes to punts.
Minus a potential holding issue, the Vikings's special teams once again looks to be a very solid unit under Mike Priefer, and they will continue to do the thankless job of making sure the offense and defense are well set-up when they set foot on the field.
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