1. Slocum is in his first year, and to be honest, I personally think there are two things that have factored into the poor special teams play: injuries, and inconsistency in the kicking game. It certainly doesn’t help that Blackmon, an elite returner when healthy, seems to have the injury bug every year. Injuries to Jordy and Tremon mean we’ve occasionally been working with returners 4-5 on the depth chart this season-and that’s just the returners- injuries throughout the depth chart on the team have set us up with some poor coverage and blocking packages. Inexperience certainly doesn’t breed skill. As for the kicking game, Crosby must have some head issues going on, as his accuracy on field goals has clearly gone downhill this year. Its evidently affecting him on kickoffs as well, I’ve counted a few this year that have either been shanks out of bounds or completely to the opposite of our coverage. The punting game has obviously also been inconsistent. Kapinos is sometimes brilliant, but occasionally looks like he doesn’t have a clue. How much that lies on the shoulders of coaching is up to the masses, but I’m willing to give the staff the benefit of the doubt for now. Last year we had a solid special teams unit, coached by a staff Slocum took part in, so I think he at least deserves another chance.

2. For now, I’m not sold on Harvin. He’s had some great returns this year, and plays with a lot of intensity, but I am not yet persuaded he’s a future star in the league; again, only time will tell. The NFL is never kind to return players for more than 2-3 years (see: Desmond Howard, Dante Hall, Devin Hester, Josh Cribbs), and with Harvin being a go to guy at receiver as well, I think health and coverage schemes will be huge factors into whether or not he becomes a flash in the pan, or a long term threat. At his size, and young age, its equally likely he’s the next Dante Hall as the next Steve Smith. As far as improvement overall in special teams, with the Vikings you just have to consider the kickers. Consistency is huge- Kluwe and Longwell have each been playing for the same coach and team for the past five years- and I think in special teams, experience and familiarity are really important. ST units are notorious for constant change from year to year, with cuts, signings, and rookies. It’s much easier to put just a few pieces into the puzzle (i.e. adding an elite returner like Harvin) than it is to shift everyone year in year out (i.e. 4 punters in the past 2 years, coaching change, injuries).

Anyways, that’s just my semi-informed opinion, I’d also be interested to see what factors I didn’t consider. It’d be nice if we could get a Vikes fan in here with more familiarity with their unit.