Vikings’ Freak Athlete, Special Teams Weapon, Suffers Setback Injury

Getty Kene Nwangwu suffered a knee injury on the opening kickoff of the Vikings' loss to the Denver Broncos.

Minnesota Vikings running back Kene Nwangwu was penned as the rookie who could have the biggest impact this year — specifically for his home-run speed as a kick returner.

Nwangwu was involved early against the Denver Broncos, taking Saturday’s preseason-opening kickoff 18 yards. He went missing the rest of the half before the Vikings reported that Nwangwu would be held out the rest of the game with a knee injury.

Nwangwu’s injury proved to be a harbinger of what came next. The misfortunes piled on and snowballed into a 33-6 loss to the Broncos at home.

Cameron Smith, who returned to the team after having open-heart surgery a year ago, was ruled out at halftime with a concussion as well.

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Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said he doesn’t believe Nwangwu’s knee injury is serious after the game, however, Nwangwu did lose ground to another rookie running back with roster cuts approaching.


Rookie RB Steps Up in Nwangwu’s Stead

Undrafted rookie running back A.J. Rose Jr. was the heart of an otherwise abysmal offense after Nwangwu left open a door for lead-back duties on Saturday.

Rose took 25 carries for 100 yards and caught one pass for 18 yards, accounting for nearly half of the Vikings’ 235 total yards on offense on Saturday. While not flashing top-end speed, the Kentucky product made his presence felt as a tough runner to bring down on every time he touched the ball.

“I thought Rose did a nice job running the football today. We planned to get Kene more reps, but he got hurt early in the game,” Zimmer said in a postgame press conference.

Rose may have raised his stock in the running back pecking order, which could be troublesome to Nwangwu’s chances of making the 53-man roster come September.

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 Nwangwu Needed in the Return Game

When Nwangwu returns, his speed could be a much-needed weapon on special teams this season.

Nwangwu scored the second-highest relative athletic score of any running back since 2013 — trailing only Saquan Barkley. Standing 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, Nwangwu ran a 4.31 40-time at his pro day and clocked an unofficial 4.29 40-time that same day. He’s said he ran a 4.25-second 40 during offseason training in Nashville.

Nwangwu finished his college career as Iowa State’s all-time leading kick returner, averaging 26.8 yards per runback in his career.

Possessing power and speed, Nwangwu was compared to San Francisco 49ers running back Raheem Mostert, Tyler Dunne reported. Mostert, undrafted in 2015, has risen to NFL prominence and lead back duties for the 49ers after originally being scouted as a big-play returner.

Nwangwu showed just that in several crucial moments throughout his career. The biggest: an 80-yard kickoff return moments after Oklahoma State took the lead over the Cyclones. The return set up a tying score and led to a 37-30 Iowa State victory — the first time the Cyclones beat the Sooners at home in 60 years.

“Kene Nwangwu is the sleeper of the draft, the hidden gem bound to make the crucial play in the crucial moment. That’s what he did repeatedly at Iowa State and, with a creative coach, he’ll do it again in the pros. Because it’s also important to remember who exactly makes those plays on the game’s grandest stage — players nobody gave a damn about on draft weekend,” Dunne wrote.

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