Agonizing over Kickers

Aug 28, 2008, 4:16:04 AM by Jonathan Rand - FAQ

NFL head coaches probably would vote to outlaw field goals if they could.

For coaches, there is not a more exasperating position than place kicker. And it’s not just the nerve-racking experience of seeing a game won or lost by the swing of a leg.

There’s also the challenge of picking a dependable kicker. Except at quarterback, there’s no personnel decision more likely to invite second guessing than the choice of a kicker.

The safest route is to pick up a proven kicker, yet Herm Edwards this week cut veteran Jay Feely after two practices. It didn’t take the head coach long to conclude that he wasn’t watching the same guy who made 21 of 23 field-goal attempts for the Miami Dolphins last season.

Edwards explained that he wanted to go into tonight’s pre-season finale against the Rams with two kickers still competing, and he decided that Connor Barth and Nick Novak were those two.

That decision, of course, is liable to come back and bite Edwards as much as last year’s decision to draft Justin Medlock and not have him compete for the job. Even if Edwards is proved right about Feely, there’s no guarantee that he’ll make the right call between Barth and Novak because with kickers, you never really know – until the heat is on.

Even the strongest leg doesn’t make for a reliable kicker unless he also has the poise to deliver in the regular season. When Medlock’s pre-season yips continued in the opening game, Edwards cut him.

Edwards picked up third-year kicker Dave Rayner and finished with long-time veteran John Carney. With 20-20 hindsight, the Chiefs would’ve been better off keeping Lawrence Tynes, who was traded to the Giants and became a post-season hero.

Coaches loathe a lack of control. And nothing leaves them more helpless than seeing a game coming down to a good snap, a firm hold and a kick that’s long enough and straight enough.

An accurate kicker is crucial for the Chiefs this year. With a rebuilding offense, they’re likely to need as many field goals as they can get.

“All coaches always have a fondness for kickers,” Edwards said with a sarcastic smile.

“We make jokes and we laugh (about them) but they’ve got a tough job. They only get one shot. And that one shot can win games, tie games or put you in position to win a game. They have a tough deal. I know that. I’ve been around them long enough.”

If you go with a veteran kicker, you’re probably assured a certain level of competence. But you’d be hard pressed to find a Pro Bowl kicker unless you take a chance on a youngster still finding his way in the NFL, or sign the occasional elite kicker who becomes a free agent.

Barth is a rookie and Novak has had three regular-season cups of coffee. Both have performed well enough to stay in the picture but pre-season misses have prevented either from closing the deal. Had Feely kicked impressively, it’s likely that one of the others would be gone.

Edwards, indicated, however that he couldn’t justify keeping a kicker who didn’t kick as accurately as Barth and Novak, especially after he promised true competition at each position.

“Is it really competition or do you just say that?” Edwards asked.

“I’m trying to be fair. I’m trying to tell the truth. (Barth and Novak) have been 85-to-86 percent (in practices). If you can get a kicker who can kick 80 percent in the season, you’ll take that.”

If only kickers were that predictable.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former sportswriter and columnist in Kansas City and Miami, Rand has covered the NFL for three decades and seen 23 Super Bowl games. His column appears twice weekly in-season.