Time to start Kicking the Tires on Other Kickers
The Dolphins are in the midst of their annual OTA practices and Philbin has just announced that kicker Caleb Sturgis has a leg injury that will cause him to miss the remainder of the OTA’s. There was no indication that this was a serious injury, however, this is the 3rd straight off-season where Sturgis has had a leg injury that has prevented him from being a full-time attendant of either OTA’s or mini camp. Sturgis should be fine for the season, but between nagging injuries, and inconsistent play, I think it is time to bring in a veteran that can seriously challenge him for his roster spot.
To put it very simply, Sturgis last season had a field goal percentage of 78.4%, which was slightly better than his 2013 season when it was 76.5%, however, compared with the rest of the league it was downright terrible. Sturgis was ranked 28th out of 31 kickers and was only 4.1% more accurate than the worst kicker Blair Walsh of Minnesota. This is a far cry from the best kickers in the league, who are well above 90% (Vinatieri was ranked first, missing only 1 field goal out of 31 tries for a 96.8%, and Gostkowski was ranked 2nd with only 2 missed field goals in 37 attempts for a 94.6% efficiency.) On a side note, the 3rd best kicker in terms of field goal percentage was Connor Barth at 93.8%, who was cut by Miami in 2009, because he could not beat out Dan Carpenter. (In regards to Carpenter, who Sturgis replaced, mainly because of finances, finished last year ranked 7th, with a 89.5%, and made the second most field goals in the league with 34.)
I will admit that when Sturgis joined the team in 2013, I was cheering for him to beat out Carpenter, because Carpenter cost us at least two victories, where he choked on last second field goals. However, now in hindsight I would rather have Carpenter, than Sturgis.
The Dolphins at the moment only have one player to compete with Sturgis, and that is undrafted Rookie Andrew Franks, who has displayed that he has a big leg, but has also proven to be erratic. He does not look like a serious contender to upstage Sturgis from the starting position. Check the best pay per head services sites like www.AcePerHead.com.
At the moment there is not a lot of talented kickers available, but Miami may want to strongly consider bringing in either Shayne Graham the former kicker from the Saints or Jay Feely, a 14 year veteran, who actually played for Miami back in 2007. Graham finished last season with an 86.4% field goal percentage, and Feely has a career average of 82.6%, and both would be statistical upgrades over Sturgis.
Kickers have the ability to win or lose games for a team, and in an upcoming season where Miami could be on the cusp of making the Playoffs, it would be wise to find a kicker that can at least make field goals over 80% of the time. What does the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans think about whether or not Miami should look to replace Sturgis?
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This kicker thing will cost us a game, and will influence 4th down decisions.
This needs to be a priority given the role of this position is to score points.
Yes a good kicker can win games, and a bad kicker can lose games, and Sturgis is definitely in the latter category
Carpenter was cut over salary, not a couple of bad kicks.
Read the article hamilton Jimmy wrote in parenthesis that carpenter was cut for financial reasons
Bring back Potter at 6′ 2″ plus and 200 lbs. Sturgis needs to go! Guy kicks 60+ yarders in practice and pre-game warm-ups, but can’t connect on 40 yard+ field goals when it counts! Another gem of an Ireland pick!!! Replace him!!! I think the team will.