The Tampa Bay Buccaneers find themselves in a familiar (if unwelcome) situation: needing a kicker. After cutting Ryan Succop, the Bucs are back on the hunt, and knowing general manager Jason Licht, it may well lead them to the NFL Draft.
While Succop was a reliable kicker within 50 yards of the uprights, he was all but useless beyond it, making just two of seven field goal attempts beyond 50 yards in 2022. This was less of a problem when the Bucs had Tom Brady leading the best scoring offense in the league, but that is no longer a luxury they enjoy.
The Bucs saved $3.75 million against the cap by cutting Succop. Their current financial woes make it unlikely that they will be able to pay a top-end free-agent kicker to replace him.
That leaves the draft or signing an undrafted free agent, which may not be ideal. Jason Licht has not been very successful drafting kickers, trading up to the second round for Roberto Aguayo in 2016 and taking Matt Gay in the fifth round in 2019.
Aguayo flamed out almost immediately. He struggled mightily his rookie season, making just 71% of his field goals. The Bucs cut him in 2017 and he never kicked in the NFL again.
Gay also struggled his rookie year and was also cut by the Bucs after just one season. However, he managed to turn things around with the Los Angeles Rams, becoming one of the league’s most accurate kickers and signing the biggest free agent contract for a kicker ever with the Indianapolis Colts.
Despite the lack of success in the draft, it is the cheapest option for the Bucs, who have five picks between rounds five and six. Ideally, the Bucs would simply sign a kicker as an undrafted free agent, freeing up their draft capital for more valuable positions, but that has not warded Licht off in the past.
Here are rookie kickers the Bucs could target in the draft and in free agency afterward:
Jake Moody
Michigan’s
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Michigan’s Jake Moody is arguably the best kicker prospect in this year’s draft. He went 60-for-60 on extra points and made 82.9% of his field goals while leading all of college football with 35 field goal attempts.
Moody also attempted the most kicks beyond 50 yards with seven. Though he only made three of these long kicks, Michigan’s trust in his leg is a good indication that he has the potential to make these kinds of kicks.
In addition to field goals, Moody can also do kickoffs. He averaged 68.1 yards per kickoff and recorded 67 touchbacks and 10 fair catches in 2022 according to Pro Football Focus. This accounted for 82.8% of all his kickoffs.
Christopher Dunn
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One of college football’s most accurate kickers in 2022, NC State’s Christopher Dunn made 96.6% of his field goal attempts and went 30-for-30 on extra points. He also made both of his field goal attempts beyond 50 yards.
Drafting Dunn would mean the Bucs would only use him as a field goal and extra point specialist. He has no experience with kickoffs and at 5’8″ and 179 pounds, special teams coverage would be like shooting a potato gun at a freight train.
Chad Ryland
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Maryland’s Chad Ryland is a well-rounded kicker with plenty of experience kicking the long ball. Since 2020, he has made 84.5% of his field goals and in his collegiate career has made 60% of his attempts beyond 50 yards. Ryland can also handle kickoffs. His kicks averaged 67.3 yards per attempt with a 4.01-second hangtime per PFF.
Gavin Baechle
El Paso Times—USA Today
An under-the-radar prospect, UTEP’s Gavin Baechle is highly accurate. In addition to hitting 100% of his extra points, he made 91.7% of his field goals and went two-for-three on kicks beyond 50 yards in 2022. He also handles kickoffs, averaging 67.7 yards per kick and forcing a touchback or fair catch on 76.6% of his kickoffs per PFF. Baechle’s lower profile would make him an ideal undrafted free agent prospect.
Story originally appeared on Buccaneers Wire