VikesCentric: The Purple's Punting Problems

Only at VikesCentric and Vikings Journal is the controversial topic of punting addressed. We're not afraid of it. No topic is too contentious for us. Truthfully, we all know punting isn't the sexiest topic, but it's a growing problem for the Purple and one that warrants (ahem) kicking around.

That's right; I'm examining punting today – a topic you might only see covered on the bye week.

Yeah, I realize that I'm practically begging folks to not click on this article because… punting. It's a page-view gamble if ever there was one. But I will say this: Jeff Locke's performance has been bothering me all season. I've spoken about it in the Vikings Journal forums numerous times, especially on the Game Threads.

At one point earlier this season, after watching yet another touchback or woefully short boot, I called for the Vikings to bring in some competition for Locke to maybe light a fire under him or something. I'm hereby doing so again.

Look, I have nothing against Jeff Locke. I think it's a mistake to ever spend anything above a seventh-round pick on a punter, as the Vikings did in 2013 (Locke was a fifth-rounder) but beyond that I'm sure he's a nice guy and tries really hard and all that good stuff. I have no reason to believe otherwise.

However, if this season is a reflection of Locke trying really hard and doing his best, then maybe his best isn't good enough.

I wonder, Did Chris Kluwe put some kind of hex on Vikings' punters after he was released? I know Kluwe is a super-intelligent guy and all that, but I was never aware of any voodoo powers he might have. And when he made nice with the team this past summer, wouldn't he have just reversed said curse? Wasn't that part of their settlement? You'd think so. Anyway, I'm ruling that out as an option here. Instead, I've decided that Locke just hasn't been punting very well.

Then I looked at Locke's stats for the first time all season on Tuesday. Wow!

Locke's numbers are down across the board from his rookie season except for average punt, which has escalated from 44.2 all the way up to 44.3. About the only thing he's done well at this season is punt in volume without getting hurt. His 50 punts are the second-most in the league behind Jacksonville punter Bryan Anger (52), though I'm sure that's anything to be proud of.

In all the key punting metrics, you'll find Locke's name quickest if you begin your search at the bottom of the list.

I decided next to investigate where the metric-mavens at ProFootballFocus.com have Locke ranked. Turns out, it's as bad as I thought it might be.

PFF.com has Locke ranked 31^st out of 34 punters – three spots behind Ben Roethlisberger, who has punted in one game, so we'll call it 30^th to be more fair. Everyone else above Locke in the PFF.com rankings has punted in at least seven games.

That's it in a nutshell for me, too. The guy has one thing to do every week: punt footballs. At the NFL level, we can expect better than this from a punter.

I know it's "just punting" but punting is a key part of special teams and field position. And when a team is struggling on offense, field position can be an enormous factor. The Vikings need to see improvement out of Locke soon, or else they need to find someone better. It's just that simple.

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Bo Mitchell is the Vice President of Content at SportsData, head writer at VikingsJournal.com, co-host of the Fantasy Football Pants Party at 1500ESPN.com and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.