By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — Last Saturday, Myles Price made a contested catch and turned it into an explosive play against the New York Giants. And then he made a one-handed grab for a touchdown. Four days later during joint practices, Price blew by the Baltimore Ravens’ defense for a touchdown to close out a situational drill. And then the next day, he got open and caught a TD during red zone drills.
What a week for the Vikings’ kick returner — or should we say, what a week for the Vikings’ wide receiver.
Last year Price caught everyone’s eye in training camp and the preseason because of his natural ability with the ball in his hands. In a preseason game against New England, he returned a kick 81 yards, weaving through traffic and breaking tackles and had a 20-yard punt return.
Price made the team and put together a good season as a returner, averaging 25.9 yards per kick return and 9.9 per punt return. The expectation was that he would come back and have a locked-in spot on the 53-man roster as the returner, which has now gained value again due to the NFL implementing new return rules.
But Price didn’t want to settle for just being a returner. In college, he had been an effective receiver, racking up 199 catches for 2,217 yards and 13 touchdowns while also rushing 33 times for 270 yards and three TDs. He wanted to prove that he could be a complete wide receiver at the NFL level, so Price spent the offseason focusing on several key areas that he felt could put him in position to see the field more offense.
“Every route in this offense has details to it,” Price said. “You have to be on point or KO [Kevin O’Connell] and coach Wes [Phillips], they're not going to trust you. Now I think I'm starting to show I can be trusted in the offense, and with trust comes more playing time and it’s about taking advantage of every opportunity at this point.”
The Vikings knew that Price had natural explosiveness but they were looking for him to show that he could get open against NFL defenders, which takes as much technique as it does God-given speed.
“I think he’s really started to hone in on the artwork of the receiver [position], getting on edges, being able to understand how to release at the line of scrimmage to give himself the best chance to activate his quickness and change of direction and vertical speed,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Then he’s worked really, really hard catching footballs. I mean, I think he’s so natural catching punts and just the tracking of that. I think there’s some correlation there, but you’ll see him on the jugs machine. quite a bit there.”
Price has something working in his favor in terms of the development aspect of his game: Receiver’s coach Keenan McCardell.
The former star NFL receiver has been a staple of the organization from back before O’Connell arrived and he’s been known for his ability to help receivers develop. Whether it’s star first-round picks like Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison, or later-round players like KJ Osborn and Jalen Nailor, the receivers seem to improve every year under McCardell.
“[McCardell] tells me, like, ‘you’re doing a great job right now,’ but he’s also one of those coaches, he doesn’t want you to get too high, right?” Price said. “Keep it even killed, so each and every day, he’s kind of telling me, ‘come on, you gotta do it again. You gotta stack days again.’ In my position, it’s never enough, you gotta continue to grow and grow and show that you can do more.”
One thing that has helped Price take McCardell’s coaching points and put the work into getting to the next level as a receiver is his confidence. Though he might have been the 80th guy on the roster when he arrived last year, there was never any indication of the light being too bright for the undrafted free agent. He jumped right in as a returner and took off.
“As far as confidence wise, like, it’s sky high, you know?” Price said. “I never think that I could be guarded, I never think I could be stopped, I think I can make every block, every hit, like, that’s just who I am as a person.”
As we have passed the halfway mark of camp and preseason games are still remaining, there’s no reflection from Price about his success so far but he does feel that he’s seeing the rewards of the effort he put into the offseason by getting passes thrown his way and making plays in camp.
“I think I’m kind of getting an opportunity to showcase who I am,” Price said. “Not just as a returner. Like how I could be utilized in the offense?
He continued…
“It’s always good when you see your hard work payoff. Like, of course, you’re gonna have moments where doubt might start to creep in or you have moments where it’s like, ‘could I do more?’ But when you’re in my position seeing your work payoff, I feel like that’s the most rewarding feeling that you could have.”
Others have enjoyed watching his improvement as well, including Vikings legend Randy Moss, who gave Price a little one-on-one coaching after watching him make plays in practice.
“He gave me a little vet move that I could apply to my game,” Price said. “I think that’s so cool.”
This is the type of development story the Vikings were looking for from this camp with three established starters but little in terms of proven depth behind them.
“It’s been really, really cool to see his growth really from day one of last year all the way through the offseason and where he is now,” O’Connell said.