Rams better hope they get Colts' Blake Grupe, not the Saints'

The Los Angeles Rams needed to make a change at kicker. After tiding them through last season, Harrison Mevis' range limitations caught up to him this season, producing a 3-of-7 mark on field goal attempts of 40-plus yards. 

Is Blake Grupe, his replacement signed off the Jets practice squad, the answer? Well. That depends. 

Like the Rams' Joshua Karty, Grupe was released by the New Orleans Saints, the team that originally signed him in 2023, in late November after a rough start. The Colts picked up early the next month and Grupe was spotless the rest of the way: 11-of-11 on field goals, 10-of-10 on extra points. 

That's the version the Rams will hope they get for as long as Grupe holds the job. If the other Grupe rears his head, he won't have the gig for long.

Can Blake Grupe approximate his Colts precision with Rams?

Here's a reason for hope: although Grupe wasn't often asked to make long kicks in New Orleans, he promptly banged through a career-long 60-yarder with the Colts. 

On attempts of 40-plus, Grupe went 5-of-5, including 4-for-4 on tries from 50-plus. Now that's the kind of kicker Rams head coach Sean McVay could count on. 

It wasn't so pretty with the Saints. 2-for-5 from 40 to 49 yards? 3-for-6 on 50 or more? Yeah, that won't cut it. Medium-range inaccuracy is why Mevis lost his job.

2024 was Grupe's only reliable season in New Orleans. He missed four field goals all year (he did botch a pair of extra points) and made 6-of-8 from 50 or beyond. 

In his Saints career, his field-goal success rate is an unimpressive 79.8 percent. 

With the Colts, however, Grupe couldn't miss. The Rams aren't seeking perfection, just the absence of total disaster. If Grupe can pick up anywhere near where he left off in Indy, that'll do.

Throw out last year, actually, and Grupe was solid, though hardly elite, from long range in New Orleans. He converted 83.3 percent of his field-goal tries between 40 and 49 yards, and a serviceable 70.6 percent from 50 or more. 

After enduring the Karty and Mevis experience since the start of last season, McVay would take that, too.

Like Mevis, Karty's replacement a year ago, Grupe is unlikely to be a long-term solution. The Rams would be prudent to keep combing the market for kicking competition. 

As far as a practice-squad pickup, Grupe is a solid find. Depending, that is, on whether LA gets Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. 

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