Saturday afternoon has brought some kicker developments. While the Titans worked out Stephen Gostkowski, the Buccaneers brought in Tennessee’s longtime kicker.
Ryan Succop visited the Bucs on Saturday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Titans released Succop earlier this year, concluding a six-season Tennessee stay for the veteran.
Saturday’s session also featured Cody Parkey, per The Athletic’s Greg Auman (on Twitter). The former Bears kicker is at the Bucs’ facility for COVID-19 testing, with Auman noting he is expected to work out for the team in a few days. The Bucs appear to be planning to add to their current kicker competition or replace one of the current participants.
Tampa Bay has not enjoyed such kicker continuity in many years. The Bucs are currently holding a competition between Matt Gay and Elliott Fry. An 11-year veteran, Succop certainly has accomplished more than the two Tampa Bay kickers. Succop, 33, kicked in only six games last season, however, with injuries impeding him at multiple junctures.
Succop made just 1 of 6 field goals in his final Titans season, which began and ended on IR. The Titans stashed Succop on their IR list to start the season because of a knee injury and placed him on season-ending IR late in the season. Prior to that rocky slate, however, Succop played in every game for the Titans from 2014-18. He made at least 83% of his field goals in each of those seasons.
Parkey’s last significant role came with the Bears in 2018, but after his “double doink” miss, the Titans brought in the veteran during their search for a stopgap while Succop resided on IR. Parkey played three Titans games last season, going 3-for-3 on field goals. Parkey, 28, was a full-time kicker in four of the previous five seasons.
The Bucs have not featured the same primary kicker in a season since the 2011-12 campaigns, when Connor Barth held that job. Headlined by its second-round Roberto Aguayo miss, the franchise has spent the better part of a decade trying to find some stability at this spot. Gay, a 2019 rookie, went 27-for-35 on field goals last year and missed five extra points. The Bucs signed Fry, who has never kicked in a regular-season game, this offsesaon.
While Succop brings considerable experience, Gostkowski is certainly the more accomplished option. It will be interesting to see if the Bucs consider Tom Brady‘s longtime teammate as well, should the Titans and the veteran kicker not agree to terms.
Roberto Aguayo was a draft miss but the gamble generally pays off. Historically, thirteen kickers were drafted even higher than Aguayo (59th in 2016) and the average number of games played by that group is 121 led by Jason Hansen’s 327 total. Sebastian Janikowski, a member of this group also played at Florida St.
2nd round pick… lolol smh…
Drafting a kicker in the first round is never acceptable. Neither Hanson nor Janikowski were ever important enough to change their team’s fortunes based on the lack of overall success throughout their career tenures. Sea Bass wasn’t even that great of a kicker anyway. Sure, his leg was powerful, but his career 80.4% isn’t Hall of Fame worthy
I think if you took any random team in any random season you would probably discover they had on average about 3 games determined by a FG in the final minutes or OT. A potential 3 game swing in the standings is certainly significant so having an elite kicker definitely gives any team an edge.
Yes, but the leadoff to that game-determining kick is influenced by more crucial factors, such as quarterback play and dominance in the trenches. Simply put, unless you’ve got an established top 16 player at every other position, wasting a first round pick on a kicker is a lackluster investment. Agree to disagree
Go with the Gamecock not the Tiger.
Names of the post: Roberto Aguayo and Matt Gay