5 kickers the LA Rams can sign after the 2020 NFL Draft

The LA Rams need a kicker, but won’t choose one in the 2020 NFL Draft. So who can the Rams target as a priority undrafted free agent to replace K Greg Zuerlein

The LA Rams special teams coordinator John Bonamego won’t have much of a grace period before proving his reputation. After all, he’s one of the NFL’s most accomplished special teams entities in the league today. And the Rams will test that reputation right out of the gates.

Finding a rookie kicker in the NFL is not an easy task. Kickers usually come in two varieties: big booming legs who consistently get a touchback on kickoffs. Or the greater accuracy player who struggles with big kicks, but is an almost certain three-points from within 40 yards.

The trick is deciding which of the two categories, which is easier to coach up to the other variety. Well, we have some history to fall back upon.  The Detroit Lions had an accurate kicker whose range was limited in 2019 by the name of Nate Freese. At that time, the Lions decided to keep Freese and let Bonamego work with him to improve his range.

So the Rams will likely follow a similar path in 2020. So which kickers in 2020 are accurate yet not on the national radar? Well, the problem is getting NFL team scouting departments to agree on players. Since the NFL canceled visiting the players at their campus on Pro Day nationwide, many kickers are now just reports provided from national statistics.

So we’ll do our part to help out by naming five players who the Rams should consider priority signings as undrafted free agents:

Small schools

Miami of Ohio’s Samuel Sloman was a four-year kicker with excellent accuracy. The 5-foot-8 205 pound kicker was incredibly accurate with extra points, recording 97.4 percent accuracy.  His field goal accuracy was a career 79 percent, but he did make 86.7 percent of his attempts in his senior season.

Utah State’s Dominik Eberle was a five-year redshirt kicker whose accuracy peaked in his senior season.  The 6-foot-2 190-pound player was perfect on extra points and held a career accuracy for field goals of 79 percent.  But his accuracy in his final season shot up to 87 percent accuracy. His range is suspect, but that is something coaching and strength training can assist with once he arrives at the NFL.

California kicks

UCLA’s JJ Molson was a four-year kicker whose best season was his sophomore year. He missed just one extra point over four years but attempted 152, a much greater number than others listed so far. Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 197 pounds, the young man is familiar enough, playing right in the Rams’ back yard. His career accuracy was just 68.9 percent of the time, but he boasts an incredibly strong leg. He did not get many chances at a chip shot, instead, the majority of his attempts were beyond the 40-yard mark. He did achieve an 81 percent accuracy in his sophomore season, so there is something to work with.  His 2019 stats detailed were: 40 of 40 extra points, 8 of 14 field goals, 1 of 1 0-30 yards, 4 of 6  30-39 yards, 3 of 5 40-49 yards, 0 of 2 50+, 87 percent kickoff touchback rate, longest FG 49 yards.

Stanford’s Jet Toner did not play in his freshman year. But the 6-foot-4 199-pound kicker was incredibly accurate after he began kicking.  He was perfect on 101 extra-point attempts in three seasons. He was 82.5 percent accurate on 57 field goal attempts as well. His longest FG made was a 51-yard attempt in 2019. Since he also is a California kicker, the Rams would do well to sign him even without the hope of retaining him for the 2020 season. Any kicker who stands 6-foot-4 is definitely worth a look.

And beyond

Texas Christian’s Jonathan Song is one of the most accurate kickers available to sign in 2020.  Standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 175, this young man does not have many attempts in college but has certainly made the best of his opportunities. He made 90.9 percent of his 44 attempts in college, and 98.1 percent of his 106 attempts at an extra point.  His number of kicks is suspect, however, as is the fact that the school did not attempt any field goals over 50 yards, and only asked him to kick four between 40-50 yards. He made three of four attempts in that range. Of course, he would be given every opportunity to build his leg strength in the NFL.

The LA Rams will not find a Greg Zuerlein from the get-go out of the 2020 NFL Draft hopefuls this year. But perhaps the team can find one or two prospects who can be coached up to that level.  Now it will be up to the LA Rams, and John Bonamego, to find them.