Ever since watching Matt Gay sign a record-breaking contract with the Indianapolis Colts, the Los Angeles Rams have struggled to find an adequate kicker.
The Rams began the year with veteran Brett Maher at kicker although he struggled and was eventually released, being replaced by a young kicker in Lucas Havrisik.
That did not fix the issue, however, as Havrisik has arguably struggled even more, only making 15 of his 20 field goals and 17 of 18 extra points in eight games. Between the two kickers, the Rams have the most missed field goals in the league this season.
Despite Havrisik’s struggles though, Rams head coach stated that the team is not looking to bring in another kicker and explained why.
“That’s not something that we’re interested in right now,” McVay said. “When you look at the whole operation, it’s snap, hold and kick and when you haven’t had Alex Ward, that makes a big difference. He’s done a really good job. And so all of those things go hand in hand. I know the kicker is the one that everybody wants to kind of pin on. Oh, it’s a missed kick because he is the one that gets tagged with the stab. But there’s a lot of layers to it.
“We want look at it and we want to figure out what’s the best way to get our whole operation tighter and those will be things that we’ll look for. But as it relates to Lucas, that’s not something that we’re thinking about right now other than continuing to move forward with him and help him continue to have the best opportunity for success with everything that that process and procedure entails.”
While the Rams may not be looking for a replacement, McVay admitted that the struggles at the kicker position are affecting his play-calling.
“It does. It’s something that… I was talking about it and there were some opportunities that you have to be considerate of. Alright, are you operating in four down territory? Maybe different than what you had in previous situations. So I think you have to continue to monitor the ability to execute at a high level and if not, then maybe you’re saying, hey, we’re operating with a different mode and mindset,” McVay said.
“And so those are things that we’ll definitely have to identify and especially when every single game matters so much and points are at a premium and you’d like to be able to finish these drives where you’re just hopefully kicking extra points. But it certainly is something that comes into the thought process, especially given the things that you mentioned.”
The Rams recently brought in veteran Mason Crosby to compete with Havrisik although he was released a week later and eventually signed with the New York Giants.
With the Rams firmly in the playoff mix, the kicking position is something they definitely need to get figured out in the next couple of weeks or else they risk their season coming to an end because of it.
