Pressure is on Sloman. LA Rams sign former Dallas kicker Kai Forbath

LA Rams pull the trigger on upgrading the kicking game, signing former Dallas kicker Kai Forbath

The LA Rams had seen enough. After a confusing kicker competition for their field goal kicker resulted in the Rams choosing drafted kicker Sam Sloman, the results have been disappointing. That should not have surprised anyone, as all reports about the kicker competition between  Lirim Hajrullahu, Austin MacGinness, and Sam Sloman scored Sloman as a distant third.

And yet, Sloman got the job. While that should have been the end of it, the controversy was only beginning. While the Rams showed immediate improvement in both offense and defense, the special teams’ production continued to disappoint.  Not only did the Rams suffer by the inability to attempt long-range field goals, but even the under 40-yard range was a nail-biter. And when the Rams failed to make their third extra point of the young season, the team had seen enough.

They made a move.

Kicking Competition: Part II

The Rams signed the ex-Dallas Cowboys kicker who was virtually perfect for the Cowboys in 2019, Kai Forbath.

While that should mean the beginning of the end for Sam Sloman, the current plan is to keep both kickers on for now.

Looks like the kicking competition is back on the menu, boys! But what a strange way to shoulder a new competition. Will this truly serve to motivate an underperforming Sloman? Were the results of the previous competition so lopsided in Sloman’s favor in secret that neither Hajrullahu nor MacGinnis deserved another chance?

Kai Kan Kick

So now we need to focus on Kai Forbath. Can he kick? Well, he did show up late for the Dallas Cowboys and put on one helluva December for them.

But now the LA Rams have muddied the waters a bit. But the true key is that long-distance kicking. The Rams so far with Sloman are 0-1 at a range of 40+ yards. What about Forbath? Can he kick for distance? Well yes.

So now the Rams are back to the drawing board on the Kicker competition.  While he has been a bit of a gypsy, playing for six different teams over the past eight seasons, he has been very accurate over the past four seasons.  He was 100 percent accurate in both 2016 and 2019. In 2017, he was 84.2 percent accurate, and in 2018, he was 80 percent accurate.  For comparison purposes, Sloman is just 77.4 percent accurate, and his range is less than 40 yards.

The Rams have made a move. Can we trust the same decision-makers who chose Sloman over Hajrullahu and MacGinnis to make the right decision now?  Well, it’s the only option.