Now we will discover if LA Rams really can do better at suddenly vacated role

It's almost a foregone conclusion that if your name or your performance gets called out by Sean McVay, something is about to happen in your career. Changes are afoot, and the next day or two are bound to be a rapidly dynamic roller coaster. But if those comments are pointed directly at a player with the context of 'We've got to do better!' then it's time to pack the suitcases and prepare to travel back to a familiar and cheaper residence.

It happened once before over rookie kicker Sam Sloman. It's just happened again, this time with veteran kicker Brett Maher. The tell tale signs lined up so accurately just 24 hours ago that we were able to predict this sudden LA Rams roster news a day before it happened.

Yes, LA Rams Head Coach Sean McVay is THAT predictable.

Can the Rams do better now?

The LA Rams were never sold on veteran Brett Maher. In fact, he was never trialed by the team throughout the off-season. He was signed out of a desperate need, a need created because the Rams released rookie kicker Christopher Dunn early in the offseason, but released his competition and teammate Tanner Brown before the season began.

Brett Maher started the 2023 NFL season on the practice squad. He was not signed to the 53-man roster until he had kicked all three extra points and three of five field goals to help the Rams defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1. While Mather was not great, he was good enough to help the Rams get three wins in six games. But in Week 7, he left seven points on the football field, prompting the Rams to make a move.

Now the LA Rams have a new kicker in their sights, the fo backup to Indianapolis kicker Matt Gay. Yes, there is a great deal of irony here, as Gay is the former LA Rams kicker who signed a lucrative free agent contract to defect to the Indianapolis Colts, which has left the Rams scrambling this season for a starting placekicker. He is currently competing on the Cleveland Browns practice squad.

So, who is the new player? Well , his name is Lucas Havrisik, and he was a former kicker for Arizona University.

Havrisik graduated in 2021, but was not picked up by any NFL team. The Colts signed him to their practice squad in 2022, but released him. The Cleveland Browns signed him to their 2023 practice squad, where he will be signed and join the LA Rams roster.

Can the Rams do better at kicker? I don't know, but I do know that if Lucas Havrisik misses field gols, this is going to be a much longer season.