Should The St. Louis Rams Be Worried About Greg Zuerlein?

Call him Legatron, or Young GZ, but anyway you put it, Greg Zuerlein is still the young kicker for the St. Louis Rams. Normally the kicker isn’t a player that many go out of their way to talk about, but thats exactly what Im going to do. I am “calling out” Greg Zuerlein.

The one player that the St. Louis Rams normally expect to be automatic, has been everything but that in 2014. Zuerlein is 8/10(80%) this season which ranks him near the bottom of the league in terms of accuracy and that doesn’t even include the preseason in which he was only 10/14(71.4%).

What is even more concerning is the one area that Zuerlein is supposed to be exceptionally good in, kicks over 50 yards, he has struggled. Since starting his career 4-4, the Rams kicker has only made three of his last 12 attempts from 50+ including missing a 52 yard field goal last week against the Seahawks.

That miss could have been costly like his miss last season against the Seahawks had the Rams lost the fumble at the end and Seattle won by a single point. The 52-yard field goal would have put the Rams up 24-3 going into halftime and given them a five point cushion in the fourth quarter instead of a mere two.

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A football game shouldn’t ever come down to the kicker and a game isn’t won or lost because your kicker missed a field goal, the offense very well could have gotten a touchdown instead. However, as a kicker you have one job, and although that is easier said, a kicker is still expected to make field goals when his number is called upon, and when he doesn’t, it is disappointing and a huge let down for an offense.

Kickers are going to miss, there hasn’t been a kicker in NFL history to make 100% of his field goals, but the fact of the matter is, Zuerlein has not been as automatic or effective as we might like to think, at least not in 2014. Confidence is very important for a kicker and the fact that Zuerlein missed a 52-yard field goal at home in the Edward Jones Dome, is a little worrisome.

Not only has Zuerlein been ineffective on field goals, but his strong leg has also been invisible in the kicking game. Zuerlein only has 16 touchbacks on kickoffs this season which ranks 23rd out of 30 kickers who have kicked off at least 25 times. He is also allowing 42.9% of his kickoffs to be returned which ranks 20th.

The St. Louis Rams problems run a lot deeper than simply their kicker, but this is something that cannot go unnoticed. Whether it’s confidence, or Zuerlein is just off, the Rams kicker needs to step up his game.