The Vikings finished the NFL draft on Saturday with an eye on special teams, where at least half of the six players selected in the later rounds can help turn things around.
Last season was dismal for Minnesota's special teams, from misfiring field goals to poor kick coverage and return phases. Coordinator Marwan Maalouf was let go and replaced by Ryan Ficken, who already knows a few of the Vikings' late-round picks after interviewing them during the draft process.
"We did struggle on special teams last year," General Manager Rick Spielman said, "but when you have the type of athletes we were able to get in the third day of the draft this year, nine times out of 10 those guys end up playing and performing well on special teams."
The Vikings added two proven kick returners in fourth-round running back Kene Nwangwu (Iowa State) and fifth-round receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette (Iowa). Ficken also met with fourth-round safety Camryn Bynum, who could help on coverage teams, before the Vikings drafted him Saturday.
"We circled the Vikings as a high place where I could go," Nwangwu said, pointing to Minnesota's job openings on special teams.
But if you ask his mother, "definitely the NFL would be a Plan B," added Nwangwu, a mechanical engineering major at Iowa State.
"They all came to America [from Nigeria] in their mid-20s," he said of his parents. "They came here to get a higher education. My dad has a business finance degree, my mom went premed; she has a master's as a nurse practitioner. But for me, I always wanted to play football."
The Vikings are still searching for a kick returner after cycling through receiver K.J. Osborn and running back Ameer Abdullah with unspectacular results. Smith-Marsette could also compete as a punt returner, according to Spielman, who said the Vikings sought "explosive playmakers" on Saturday as competition.