ARLINGTON, Texas -- A placekicker is off the board for the first time this weekend, and he's heading to Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Vikings traded two sixth-round picks to the New York Jets for the opportunity to select Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson with the 167th pick in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Carlson, the first kicker selected this year, will look to improve on Minnesota's subpar place-kicking game. Vikings kicker Kai Forbath missed five extra points and 11 kicks overall in 2017, good for first- and third-most in the league.
At Auburn, Carlson made 13 career field goals of at least 50 yards, but his field-goal accuracy dropped from 88 percent in 2016 to 74 percent last year.
Carlson will have a great opportunity to steal the starting kicker gig from Forbath this offseason. After all, you don't spend a draft pick on a special-teamer just to dump him come training camp.
