Coming out of their bye week, the Chargers are looking into their suspect kicker spot. They worked out both Dustin Hopkins and Elliott Fry on Tuesday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Washington released Hopkins last week, opting to go with Chris Blewitt. Hopkins had been Washington’s kicker since 2015. The 31-year-old specialist profiles as an intriguing free agent, and the Chargers have seen newcomer Tristan Vizcaino struggle immensely in his first season with the gig.
Although Vizcaino is 6-for-7 on field goals, he has missed five extra points in six games. Beating out Michael Badgley for Los Angeles’ kicker post, Vizcaino is 10-for-15 on PATs, inviting obvious speculation about his status coming out of the Bolts’ bye. With the Chargers looking like one of the AFC’s top teams, they may try and acquire more stability at the kicker spot entering Week 8.
Fry fared well at this workout, Yates adds, noting the young specialist made 9 of 10 field goals, with his only miss coming from 64 yards (Twitter link). South Carolina’s kicker from 2013-16, Fry has logged many workouts and spent time on practice squads since his Gamecocks eligibility ceased. But he has played in just one game, with the 2020 Falcons, as a pro.
Hopkins made 86% of his field goal tries this season and has hovered around this success rate throughout his career, leading Washington to give him new deals in 2018 and this past offseason. Washington retained Hopkins on a one-year deal worth $2.5MM in March.
The WFT will once again soon be in search of a new kicker, Once they can point their fingers at a missed kick that cost them a game they will can Chris and say that he
BLEWITT !!