Vikings' new punter glad to be picked in draft

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

MANKATO -- The last time the Vikings used a draft pick on a punter, Eddie Johnson wasn't even born yet.

One would have to look back to 1978 when the Vikings picked Mike Deutsch in the ninth round of the draft out of Colorado State University.

Although most teams usually wait until the later rounds or choose the free agent route to address their kicking situation, the Vikings liked what they saw in Johnson and selected him in the sixth round of this year's draft.

"It was nice to get drafted because it's somebody that they wanted," Johnson said. "They had appreciated what I did in college and in workouts, so it felt great."

Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 236 pounder from Idaho State University, is the first player from ISU to be drafted since Merril Hoge was selected in 1987. With his incredible leg strength, has caught a few eyes at Training Camp with his long punts and is the early favorite to win the punting job. He kicked 54 of his 96 career punts in college for more than 50 yards and had a career average of 46.3 yards.

He should be able to give the Vikings a lift in a position in which Kyle Richardson manned last year. The Vikings finished with the third worst punting average in the NFL last year (39.9).

Johnson knows his kicking game, more so than ever, will require consistency and he can not afford to give the opponents any advantage on the return.

"Like anything else, for me its gotta be consistency," Johnson said. "At this step, the need to be consistent and reduce the number of quality returns is huge. It's almost as if I know that if I get a punt off that doesn't have decent hangtime, these guys are right up our throat."

Johnson also can't wait to step on the stage that is the NFL and perform his duties in front of crowds of more than 50,000.

"It's going to be an absolute rush," Johnson said. "It's going to be great. I won't be able to keep from smiling."

In 2001, Johnson earned All-American honors as a junior and may later battle for kickoff and holding duties, but for now he will concentrate exclusively on punting.

"Coach Tice told me to take a chill pill on that for now and just focus more on my punting," Johnson said.