Daniel Carlson's career-best field goal at Auburn was 56 yards. His confidence range indoors reaches 65. During pre-draft training in the high altitude of his home state Colorado Oren Burks Color Rush Jersey , he said, even a 75-yard kick was makeable.

The Minnesota Vikings were so enamored with that strong leg they used a fifth-round pick on the 6-foot-5, 213-pound Carlson, a bold enough move to suggest he'll be the place kicker this season and not incumbent Kai Forbath.

No matter how big of a boom Carlson delivers on the ball, though, what matters the most is how accurate he can be from those less-impressive and more-critical distances. The shorter kicks that the Vikings have seen missed too many times over the past five years.

"I'm a 6-foot-5 kicker, which is pretty rare. That does help having those long levers to hopefully get a couple touchbacks and some longer kicks here and there," Carlson said. "But at the end of the day it's the kicks inside of 50 that really are going to make or break a season or make or break you."

The Vikings re-signed Forbath in March. In 25 games since he replaced the struggling Blair Walsh, Forbath has missed eight extra points. He also pulled a couple of 39-yard field goals wide in 2017. Though he came through down the stretch with several important makes, including three field goals in the playoff game win over New Orleans, Forbath clearly didn't gain the full trust of the coaching staff and front office.

"The whole objective right now at this point is to create the most competitive 90-man roster that you can, regardless of position," general manager Rick Spielman said last weekend after making Carlson the 167th overall selection.

When the Vikings drafted Walsh in the sixth round in 2012, they released reliable incumbent Ryan Longwell the day after the rookie minicamp was complete. The same scenario played out in 2013 with punter Jeff Locke, a fifth-round pick, and his outspoken predecessor, Chris Kluwe. For now, the Vikings have said they'll keep the competition open. Still http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jaleel-scott-jersey , a fifth-rounder is a high price for a specialist.

"Kai's done really good this spring," coach Mike Zimmer said. "So we're just going to let them go out there and kick."

Carlson made all 198 extra points he attempted in college, albeit from 20 yards and not 33 yards, to set an SEC record. He went 92 for 114 on field goals. Factor in a strong performance at the Senior Bowl in January, and the Vikings were interested. They sent special teams coordinator Mike Priefer to Auburn for one of five private workouts Carlson conducted after the scouting combine, and Carlson and Priefer immediately hit it off.

Carlson was one of the eight draftees among 66 players assembled by the Vikings for workouts this weekend, including 31 players invited on a tryout basis.

The 17 college free agents signed earlier this week included cornerback Holton Hill from Texas and linebacker Hercules Mata'afa of Washington State, considered two of the top undrafted players. Among the unsigned prospects aiming to follow the lead of Marcus Sherels in 2010 and Adam Thielen in 2013, as tryout players who earned a contract after the rookie minicamp and eventually made the team, are safety Mackenro Alexander of Iowa State, the twin brother of Vikings cornerback Mackensie Alexander; Northern Illinois wide receiver Chad Beebe, the son of former Buffalo Bills standout Don Beebe; and quarterback Matt Linehan from Idaho, the son of former Vikings and current Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

None of these players, even first-round cornerback Mike Hughes, carry the potential to impact the Vikings in 2018 as much as Carlson.

"I knew what I was coming into, and I'm excited to get to work," said Carlson, a three-time Lou Groza Award finalist and the SEC special teams player of the year for the last two seasons. "Hopefully Authentic Nick Chubb Jersey , I'll prove to these coaches and the rest of this team that I deserve to be here."

Make those high-pressure kicks, and they'll quickly develop that respect.

"You kind of figure it out with a little maturity and handling those big moments," Carlson said, "but I think as a kicker that's what we're supposed to live for."

Terrelle Pryor knows he’s getting closer – little by little – to being fully healthy again. Staying patient, however, has been his biggest challenge.

The New York Jets wide receiver is coming off offseason ankle surgery and has been gradually getting more time on the field during training camp. Pryor participated in about 10 snaps in team drills Thursday and ran eight routes.

That’s progress. Slowly but surely.

”I’m not there (yet),” Pryor said. ”I talk to my teammates and I tell them all the time, it feels like I’m almost there but then I don’t have that just (snaps finger) yet, and it’s like, yeah, I get it and it’s going to take a couple of weeks. I’ll get there. I feel pretty good, though.”

Pryor, who turned 29 in June, couldn’t practice during organized team activities or minicamp after having arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle with a different injury from the one that shut him down with the Redskins last season.

He was in a walking boot until the second day of minicamp, so just being able to run now in 11-on-11 drills is an encouraging sign.

”Some days, you get sore sometimes, but for the most part they have it under control – I have it under control,” Pryor said. ”It feels good. I’ve just got to continue the progression and believing.”

It’s uncertain if Pryor Authentic Jakub Voracek Jersey , the former Ohio State quarterback who’s still developing as a wide receiver will be a full go by the time the Jets play their preseason opener against Atlanta on Aug. 10.

There’s no need to rush things at this point, not when he played hurt for most of last season with Washington before being shut down.

”It’s early on, just the second week into camp, fifth or sixth practice,” he said. ”I’ve just got to understand that and keep that perspective. Once I get out there and I start catching more balls and getting targets and stuff like that, I’ll get my confidence. Everybody needs a confidence boost, in terms of that.

”So I’ve got to continue to do that and continue to show the quarterbacks I can get open and I think I’ll keep on growing in confidence from that.”

Pryor signed a one-year, $6 million contract with Washington last season and was expected to be a major part of the Redskins’ offense after leading Cleveland in receptions, yards receiving, TD catches, yards per game and yards per catch in 2016. But he tore the deltoid ligament in his ankle in Week 1 and tried to play through the pain.

He opted for season-ending surgery after nine games and just 20 catches for 240 yards and one touchdown. His lone season in Washington was a bust, and the Redskins allowed him to become a free agent.

Pryor signed a one-year deal worth $4.5 million with the Jets in March, and joined a wide receiver corps that includes Jermaine Kearse, Robby Anderson and Quincy Enunwa.

”Obviously, he’s a big guy, but he can really run and stretch the field,” quarterback Josh McCown said of the 6-foot-4, 228-pound Pryor. ”For him Billy Price Jersey , when they made that transition the last year I was there in Cleveland and made the transition to receiver, and in every year he has gotten better and better. It’s been a work in progress, but we’re glad to have him and he has put a lot of work in.”

The Jets will travel to Richmond, Virginia, for joint practices with the Redskins from Aug. 12-14 before the teams’ preseason game Aug. 16. That matchup provides a bit of a juicy matchup with Pryor going up against his former teammates.

In June, Redskins linebacker Zach Brown said Washington’s defense ”will have it out” for Pryor, who apparently rubbed his teammates the wrong way with the way he went about things in practice.

”Try to one-hand something while you’re with the Jets,” Brown said, ”you’re going to catch a forearm.”

During minicamp, Pryor brushed off the comments. This time around, the Jets receiver was a bit more expansive – and direct.

”We’re there to practice and get better,” Pryor said. ”If I wanted to put my shoulder down and hit one of them and be chippy, too, I’m sure I could do that. But that’s not why we’re there. We’re there to get better.

”If they take dirty shots, I’m sure we’ll handle that accordingly.”

Pryor added that he didn’t want to ”individualize myself” by talking about potential beef between him and the Redskins.

”It’s about us going there and getting better day by day,” he said, ”like we’re trying to do here.”

NOTES: WR Quincy Enunwa sat out for the second straight day with what Bowles said was ”sore” right hand. … Rookie CB Parry Nickerson tweaked his right hamstring while covering Pryor in drills. It wasn’t immediately known if the injury might sideline the sixth-rounder out of Tulane who has had a strong camp. … Rookie QB Sam Darnold had his best practice since ending his contract holdout Monday. The No. 3 overall pick threw two touchdown passes in goal-line drills and also ran for a score earlier in practice.

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