Matt Daniels is new here

When a coach moves to a new team, he shouldn’t be expected to know everything about them immediately. As you go along, you learn about some of the. . .shall we say, nuances. . .of your new employer, including their history.

So, new Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels could probably be forgiven for doing something that I don’t think anyone in Minnesota has done for a long time. . .putting praise on the team’s placekicker.

On Monday, Daniels went on the record saying that kicker Greg Joseph would have the best season of his career. He went so far as to say he was “sure of it.”

Uh-oh.

Now, Joseph has only been a kicker for three seasons, and in one of those seasons he only appeared in two games for the Tennessee Titans. His two full seasons (2018 for Cleveland and last season for Minnesota) were fairly decent-to-average, so perhaps he will have his best season in 2022.

But, man. . .even if you think that’s the case, don’t go out there and say that. Just keep it in your head. This is a Minnesota Vikings kicker you’re talking about, and if any team knows what it’s like to have your kicker fall apart at the most inopportune time, it’s the Vikings.

I just hope this doesn’t wind up cursing Joseph in any way, as he seems like a decent enough kicker. But I’m not sure when the last time someone showed this level of confidence in a Minnesota kicker was, and I’m not sure if I’m totally comfortable with it.

Hopefully Joseph can go out and prove Matt Daniels right this season.