Bucs normal supervisor Jason Licht is aware of that good kickers will be exhausting to seek out. No place has tormented Licht and the Bucs greater than the kicker place over time.
That’s why the Bucs simply would possibly remorse eliminating getting old kicker Ryan Succop if Licht can’t make lightning strike twice and discover a appropriate alternative for the regular leg Tampa Bay has loved over the previous three years. Succop turns 36 this yr and not has the leg power to be correct from past 47 yards. That’s one thing head coach Todd Bowles mentioned publicly on the finish of the 2022 season.
“Ryan was very environment friendly this yr, however we’ve acquired to have the ability to kick longer area targets than we’ve kicked,” Bowles mentioned on his radio present. “I feel we’ve acquired to get previous 47 yards, be capable to kick from 50, 55 yards as nicely.”
The stats again Bowles’ declare up. Succop was 29-of-31 (93.5%) on area targets between 20 and 49 yards out, however simply 2-of-7 (28.6%) on kicks past 50 yards.
Bucs Okay Ryan Succop – Photograph by: USA At this time
However do the 5 misses from past 50 yards outweigh the 29 makes from inside 49 yards? It’s an enormous gamble in a season wherein Bowles could wind up on the new seat.
So now Licht will embark on discovering Tampa Bay’s tenth kicker within the tenth yr of him serving because the Bucs normal supervisor. Right here is the chronological order of Tampa Bay’s kickers throughout Licht’s tenure: Pat Murray (2014), Kyle Brindza (2015), Connor Barth (2015), Roberto Aguayo (2016), Nick Folks (2017) adopted by Murray (2017) once more, Chandler Catanzaro (2018) and Cairo Santos (2018) and Matt Homosexual (2019) adopted by Succop.
That’s 9 kickers within the first seven years earlier than Succop’s three seasons with the Bucs.
That’s not the definition of “not good.”
That’s the definition of “horrific” relating to the Bucs’ monitor report of discovering an correct leg.
Jason Licht Has Drafted 2 Kickers, Would possibly Draft A Third
Two of the kickers the Bucs have had over the past decade had been draft picks. Will that immediate Tampa Bay to draft a 3rd one this yr to switch Succop?
Licht was extensively scorned and ridiculed for buying and selling up within the second spherical to pick out Aguayo, who was an All-American and Lou Groza Award winner at Florida State. Aguyao was simply Licht’s worst-ever draft choose. He lasted only one season in Tampa Bay after connecting on solely 71% (22-of-43) of his area targets and simply 94.1% (32-of-34) of his further factors. Aguayo rapidly flamed out of the NFL.
Bucs Okay Matt Homosexual – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Licht drafted Homosexual, one other Lou Groza Award winner, within the fifth spherical of the 2019 draft. It seems he was truly a heck of a draft choose – simply not for Tampa Bay. Homosexual struggled as a rookie, connecting on 77.1% (27-of-35) of his area targets and simply 89.6% (43-of-46) of his further factors. Homosexual missed a game-winner towards the Giants and missed a number of kicks in a season-ending loss to the Falcons.
Licht signed Succop to compete with Homosexual in camp this subsequent yr and the veteran gained the job. Succop went on to have a record-setting season with the Bucs in 2020, serving to the workforce win Tremendous Bowl LV. Along with being excellent within the postseason, Succop broke Martin Gramatica’s franchise report with 136 factors. He related on 28-of-31 (90.8%) area targets and 52-of-57 further factors (91.2%) further factors in 2020.
In the meantime, Homosexual signed with the Rams in 2020 and improved to hitting 87.5% of his area targets and connecting on 100% of his further factors. In 2021, Homosexual helped the Rams beat the Bucs and win Tremendous Bowl LVI throughout a Professional Bowl season. Homosexual hit on 94.1% of his area targets and 98% of his further factors that season.
Final yr, Homosexual proved he had turn out to be a really correct kicker, hitting 93.3% of his area targets and 96.9% of his further factors. That earned Homosexual an enormous contract extension with Los Angeles, making him the highest-paid kicker in NFL historical past. Homosexual signed a four-year, $22.5 million extension with the Rams.
There was some logic in Licht’s thought course of when it got here to drafting kicker. Kickers rating extra factors than every other place for each workforce yearly. It’s an important place to get proper and discover stability with. Playoff groups not often have shaky kickers.
Actually, this yr in Tampa Bay the place the Bucs shall be beginning a brand new quarterback with a brand new play-caller operating a brand new offense one may guess that having a gradual leg kicking area targets and further factors is perhaps as necessary as ever. Not solely will Licht and Bowles want to seek out the precise alternative for Tom Brady this yr, they’ll have to seek out the precise alternative for the regular Succop.
Ryan Succop’s Cap Financial savings Was Valued, However At What Value?
Generally you get what you pay for in life, and that could possibly be true with the Bucs on the kicker place. The Bucs gave some thought to conserving Succop for yet one more season. However in the long run, his $3.75 million in wage cap financial savings was valued extra in an offseason when Tampa Bay is tremendous tight towards the cap.
Former Bucs Okay Roberto Aguayo – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
A rookie kicker – whether or not a late, Day 3 draft choose or an undrafted free agent – would come tremendous low-cost, but additionally comes with some peril. The Bucs struggled mightily with Aguayo in 2016 and Homosexual in 2019 throughout their rookie seasons.
The Bucs had Succop compete with Jose Borregales throughout coaching camp and the preseason previous to the 2022 season, due partly to the veteran’s declining leg power. Nevertheless, they determined to maintain him over the younger upstart due to his accuracy. The 25-year outdated Borregales is presently kicking for Orlando within the XFL and should or will not be again this yr to compete with Jake Verity, presently the one kicker on Tampa Bay’s roster.
In 5 years at East Carolina, Verity related on 75.5% (74-of-98) of his area targets and 97.7% (30-of-31) of his further factors. His finest season got here in 2018 when he hit on 90.5% of his area targets, adopted by an 82.8% season in 2019.
However Verity struggled as a fifth-year senior in 2020, connecting solely 66.7% (14-of-21) of his area targets, which precipitated him to go undrafted. He’s removed from being a lock for the beginning job in Tampa Bay this yr.
There won’t be a kicker with a draftable grade this yr. Rutgers’ Harrison Mevis, Syracuse’s Andre Szmyt, Michigan’s Jake Moody, Ohio State’s Noah Ruggles, North Carolina State’s Christopher Dunn, Maryland’s Chad Ryland and Georgia’s Jack Podlesny are the names to know this yr.
The present crop of obtainable free brokers with younger legs beneath the age of 33 consists of Chase McLaughlin, Brett Maher and Quinn Nordin, and is uninspiring.
The truth that the Bucs are considering going with a rookie once more is a scary one as a result of it merely hasn’t labored nicely previously. And it might lead the workforce to remorse letting Succop go in the long run.
