The Los Angeles Rams offseason has had more than its fair share of surprises. Letting go of star running back Todd Gurley caught some people off guard, but nobody expected the Rams to be without longtime kicker Greg Zuerlein in 2020.
Zuerlein left this offseason to sign a three-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys. He had been one of the most consistent pieces of the Rams the past few years, but is coming off his worst season.
With Zuerlein gone, Rams general manager Les Snead admits that he has worries over filling the position, via Cameron DaSilva of USA Today:
“I would be lying if I said it’s not a concern,” Snead said on a conference call Monday.
With an open spot at kicker, the Rams have their work cut out for them to fill it. With many free agents, including kickers, already signed to a new team, the Rams may have to look to the draft to find a solid replacement.
Although it is hard to justify a draft pick on a kicker, Snead has stated that he wants to find someone with the longevity and consistency Zuerlein has exhibited for most of his career:
“But we’re definitely diving into that part of the pool and in the process of hopefully finding someone similar to Greg – and by similar I mean someone that can be around a long time because with Greg, he had some superpowers. His ability to kick from 50-plus was a superpower that you can’t put that on just anyone,” Snead said.
Although Snead stated he wants somebody like Zuerlein, he further explained that he did feel a change was necessary. As mentioned, Zuerlein struggled last season. He missed the go-ahead field goal at the end of a Week 5 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks and finished the season with just five of 11 makes from the 40-49 yard range.
Snead hopes to find more consistency from that range, in particular, this season:
“We weren’t as consistent kicking the football last year as in years past. With Greg, we definitely would’ve liked to have Greg back, but we weren’t able to get something done,” he said. “But we did know this: Going into this year, we needed to become a more consistent football team kicking field goals, especially from 40-49 range, and whoever that was going to be. Whether it was Greg or someone new, we were going to have to somewhat take a risk with and find out during the season how that part of the game was progressing.”
Whatever risk the Rams take should be interesting to watch. Hopefully they can find a young talent to replace Zuerlein or at least a temporary replacement that can be consistent in 2020.
