For the third straight season, the Vikings will have a new punter and a new holder on field goals.
Vikings coaches tracked the performance — distance, hangtime and direction — on every punt in practice and preseason games this summer between Jordan Berry and Ryan Wright.
On Thursday, the team released Berry, the seventh-year veteran and incumbent starter, and kept Wright, an undrafted rookie out of Tulane.
"We're charting every single punt," special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said this month. "So at the end of this thing, for a guy we decided to keep versus the guy we decide to cut, we have the statistics to show the why behind what we're doing."
Earlier this week, Daniels characterized the competition as neck and neck after two preseason games in which Berry (39.8-yard net average) and Wright (37-yard net average) were statistically close with five punts apiece. But the bulk of data came from the past four weeks of training camp practices, and the Vikings opted to keep Wright.
"Ryan has had a really good camp, a consistent camp," head coach Kevin O'Connell said Thursday. "We want to give Ryan the opportunity to be the sole punter this week, [Thursday] and into the game, but Jordan has left a really good mark on me, having not been around him before. We're excited about where Ryan is at, but at the same time, we want to continue for Ryan to know, 'This is a continued process for you as we work as a team to start preparing for the Packers.'"
Coaches also weighed their jobs as holders "a lot," Daniels said.
"That is something we're very critical about and conversations we have with Greg, because we want to know what his opinion is," Daniels said. "Obviously, there is a chemistry with him and Jordan Berry just because of the time on task, right? They've been doing it more. He's comfortable with Ryan Wright as well."
The Vikings filled Berry's roster spot by re-signing cornerback Tye Smith ahead of Saturday's preseason finale in Denver. Smith, who spent last year on the practice squad, was released last week during initial roster cuts.
The team also let go of rookie defensive lineman Tyarise Stevenson, who was on injured reserve, with an injury settlement.
