Toast88
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With Fry gone and Eddy Pineiro on the hot seat and likely needing a nearly flawless next couple of weeks to make it to Sept. 5, the Bears will obviously have their eyes peeled for available kickers on the waiver wire and elsewhere when the cuts come later this month.
Some available kickers and kickers who are likely to be cut, who the Bears should keep in mind:
Joey Slye, Panthers - Has been perfect through two preseason games, including one at Soldier Field. He’s connect on field goals from 55, 54, 42, 40 and 29. He actually did miss a 50+ yarder last week, but the kick was called back because of a defensive penalty. Slye was undrafted out of Virginia Tech and hit 72 percent of his field goals through four years in college, including 68 percent his senior year. If the Bears bite on him, let’s hope he’s figured something out on the pro level and has turned a corner.
Sam Ficken, Packers - A project player who left Penn State after a four-year college career in 2015, Ficken has bounced around to a few different teams over the past several years before landing on the Packers over the offseason. He’s made his only attempt with Green Bay, but is just 3 for 6 as a pro. Still, he has intrigued in training camp and practice, enough so that the Packers at least considered him to replace Crosby, but ultimately decided to try to kick the tires on Vedvik—an attempt that did not come through. Just how intriguing has he been in training camp and practice? Hard to say—Only Chicago media actually count practice kicks these days (and for good reason). Ficken was a career 72 percent field goal kicker in college, but kicked 82 percent his senior year...4+ years ago...
Cole Hedlund, Colts - Undrafted out of Arkansas and North Texas, Hedlund was brought into Colts camp simply as an insurance policy in case Adam Vinatieri stepped in a hole, got kidnapped or died. But the coaching staff has been pleasantly surprised by the promising young man—not enough to unseat the K GOAT, but enough for other teams to take notice. He has hit from 42, 44, 25 and 41 yards and missed from 51 yards through the first two preseason games. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone else snatch him up before he gets to the Bears on the waiver wire. Hedlund was a career 72 percent kicker in college, but it’s worth noting that after leaving Arkansas and getting on at North Texas, he remade himself and delivered on 86 percent of his kicks from then on out.
Tristan Vizcaino, Bengals - A double duty guy who can kick AND punt, the future free agent has delivered on 2 of his 3 kicks this preseason, hitting from 57 and 47, and missing from 46. He’s also 3 for 3 on extra points. A lot is unknown here, as he’s simply not been given a ton of opportunity, and he’s not going to unseat veteran mainstay Randy Bullock. Still, there’s enough here to take a look at and consider. Vizcaino hit a 61-yarder at Jets minicamp earlier this year, about the same as his field goal percentage (60) in college in a year with the Washington Huskies, where he attempted just 20 kicks in his career. He averaged just over 40 yards a punt.
Matthew Wright, Steelers - The six-foot-tall prospect out of Central Florida has hit the only two field goals he’s attempted with Pittsburgh this preseason, from 46 and 42 yards. He’s probably not supplanting veteran Chris Boswell, despite the latter’s terrible 2018 season—Otherwise, you’d think the Steelers would be giving Wright more work. Wright hit 78 percent of his kicks throughout his four-year college career, including 86 percent his senior year. THIS GUY INTRIGUES THE HELL OUT OF ME.
Austin Barnard, Titans - Barnard was All Conference and 3rd Team All American while punting and kicking off at Samford. Averaged over 46 yards per punt and over 61 yards per kickoff. Supposedly can kick field goals as well, but I haven’t seen the stats or evidence to back that up. Still, the Titans must have believed in his kicking abilities enough to have him be their main offseason kicker while Succop works his way back from injury.
Greg Joseph or Austin Seibert, Browns - One of these guys will be cut, and the other will likely be the next Browns kicker. Neither has run away with the job. A former Florida Atlantic kicker with pro experience, Joseph delivered on 17 of 20 field goals for the Browns last year at an 85 percent clip. It seems he figured something out as a pro, because he made just 70 percent of his kicks in college. So what’s the problem? He missed four extra points last year, for starters. Also, his practices were shaky enough that the browns decided to spend a fifth round pick on Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert. Seibert is no stranger to big moments, as he had plenty under lights and on national TV under Lincoln Riley. He was the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year last year, and holds the all time FBS scoring record for a kicker. He connected on 80 percent of his kicks in his four-year college career. Greg Joseph has made 1 of 2 field goal tries this preseason, missing one from just beyond 50, while Seibert has missed his only try that I can see, a 50+ yarder in Week 2. At least one of these two guys will be released, and I think either one could be a decent professional kicking option, depending on the circumstances. It would be very Brownsian for Cleveland to spend a 5th on a kicker, only to cut him.
Matt Bryant, free agent, partially retired - A career 86 percent field goal kicker, the 44 year old hit on over 95 percent of his tries last year. He’s reportedly been in constant contact with his agent and is insistent he can still kick. Recent years suggest that’s probably right, as each of his past three years have been above 87 percent. This would be a reliable instant upgrade that would allow the Bears to simply focus on being a good football team and not on the constant kicking fiascos in Chicago. The only “um, but” is that Bears beat writers have said they’d prefer to find the next young Robbie Gould instead of spend heavy money or assets on a long-in-the-tooth veteran. They may feel different down the line, or the available options could force their hand.
I didn’t include Matt Gay because he’s not getting cut. He’s going to beat out Cairo Santos.
I didn’t include Cairo Santos because of obvious reasons.
I didn’t include Dan Bailey because he’s worse than Cody Parkey—literally, statistically he’s worse.
Some available kickers and kickers who are likely to be cut, who the Bears should keep in mind:
Joey Slye, Panthers - Has been perfect through two preseason games, including one at Soldier Field. He’s connect on field goals from 55, 54, 42, 40 and 29. He actually did miss a 50+ yarder last week, but the kick was called back because of a defensive penalty. Slye was undrafted out of Virginia Tech and hit 72 percent of his field goals through four years in college, including 68 percent his senior year. If the Bears bite on him, let’s hope he’s figured something out on the pro level and has turned a corner.
Sam Ficken, Packers - A project player who left Penn State after a four-year college career in 2015, Ficken has bounced around to a few different teams over the past several years before landing on the Packers over the offseason. He’s made his only attempt with Green Bay, but is just 3 for 6 as a pro. Still, he has intrigued in training camp and practice, enough so that the Packers at least considered him to replace Crosby, but ultimately decided to try to kick the tires on Vedvik—an attempt that did not come through. Just how intriguing has he been in training camp and practice? Hard to say—Only Chicago media actually count practice kicks these days (and for good reason). Ficken was a career 72 percent field goal kicker in college, but kicked 82 percent his senior year...4+ years ago...
Cole Hedlund, Colts - Undrafted out of Arkansas and North Texas, Hedlund was brought into Colts camp simply as an insurance policy in case Adam Vinatieri stepped in a hole, got kidnapped or died. But the coaching staff has been pleasantly surprised by the promising young man—not enough to unseat the K GOAT, but enough for other teams to take notice. He has hit from 42, 44, 25 and 41 yards and missed from 51 yards through the first two preseason games. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone else snatch him up before he gets to the Bears on the waiver wire. Hedlund was a career 72 percent kicker in college, but it’s worth noting that after leaving Arkansas and getting on at North Texas, he remade himself and delivered on 86 percent of his kicks from then on out.
Tristan Vizcaino, Bengals - A double duty guy who can kick AND punt, the future free agent has delivered on 2 of his 3 kicks this preseason, hitting from 57 and 47, and missing from 46. He’s also 3 for 3 on extra points. A lot is unknown here, as he’s simply not been given a ton of opportunity, and he’s not going to unseat veteran mainstay Randy Bullock. Still, there’s enough here to take a look at and consider. Vizcaino hit a 61-yarder at Jets minicamp earlier this year, about the same as his field goal percentage (60) in college in a year with the Washington Huskies, where he attempted just 20 kicks in his career. He averaged just over 40 yards a punt.
Matthew Wright, Steelers - The six-foot-tall prospect out of Central Florida has hit the only two field goals he’s attempted with Pittsburgh this preseason, from 46 and 42 yards. He’s probably not supplanting veteran Chris Boswell, despite the latter’s terrible 2018 season—Otherwise, you’d think the Steelers would be giving Wright more work. Wright hit 78 percent of his kicks throughout his four-year college career, including 86 percent his senior year. THIS GUY INTRIGUES THE HELL OUT OF ME.
Austin Barnard, Titans - Barnard was All Conference and 3rd Team All American while punting and kicking off at Samford. Averaged over 46 yards per punt and over 61 yards per kickoff. Supposedly can kick field goals as well, but I haven’t seen the stats or evidence to back that up. Still, the Titans must have believed in his kicking abilities enough to have him be their main offseason kicker while Succop works his way back from injury.
Greg Joseph or Austin Seibert, Browns - One of these guys will be cut, and the other will likely be the next Browns kicker. Neither has run away with the job. A former Florida Atlantic kicker with pro experience, Joseph delivered on 17 of 20 field goals for the Browns last year at an 85 percent clip. It seems he figured something out as a pro, because he made just 70 percent of his kicks in college. So what’s the problem? He missed four extra points last year, for starters. Also, his practices were shaky enough that the browns decided to spend a fifth round pick on Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert. Seibert is no stranger to big moments, as he had plenty under lights and on national TV under Lincoln Riley. He was the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year last year, and holds the all time FBS scoring record for a kicker. He connected on 80 percent of his kicks in his four-year college career. Greg Joseph has made 1 of 2 field goal tries this preseason, missing one from just beyond 50, while Seibert has missed his only try that I can see, a 50+ yarder in Week 2. At least one of these two guys will be released, and I think either one could be a decent professional kicking option, depending on the circumstances. It would be very Brownsian for Cleveland to spend a 5th on a kicker, only to cut him.
Matt Bryant, free agent, partially retired - A career 86 percent field goal kicker, the 44 year old hit on over 95 percent of his tries last year. He’s reportedly been in constant contact with his agent and is insistent he can still kick. Recent years suggest that’s probably right, as each of his past three years have been above 87 percent. This would be a reliable instant upgrade that would allow the Bears to simply focus on being a good football team and not on the constant kicking fiascos in Chicago. The only “um, but” is that Bears beat writers have said they’d prefer to find the next young Robbie Gould instead of spend heavy money or assets on a long-in-the-tooth veteran. They may feel different down the line, or the available options could force their hand.
I didn’t include Matt Gay because he’s not getting cut. He’s going to beat out Cairo Santos.
I didn’t include Cairo Santos because of obvious reasons.
I didn’t include Dan Bailey because he’s worse than Cody Parkey—literally, statistically he’s worse.
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