My Two Doubloons: Matt Gay Has A “Leg Up” in The Kicking Competiton.

It’s been a while since the Buccaneers have had a consistent kicker, but it hasn’t been that long since the fans were excited about a kicker only to be let down.

It’s a theme in Tampa.

Hold your breath here comes a field goal attempt.

The Bucs have gone through a plethora of kickers in the recent past. Connor Barth and Patrick Murray saw the action and their walking papers on several occasions. Kyle Brindza was supposed to be the one, and he let the team down. Jason Licht drafted one of the best kickers in college history, and he made the organization a laughing stock. They even brought in guys from other countries to no avail. Then there was Chandler “Can’t kick” Catanzaro and Nick Folk, and you know how that turned out. Tampa seems to be cursed.

The Bucs found a shining beacon in our darkest hour when happened upon Cairo Santos, but the Bucs wanted more.

During the 2019 NFL Draft, the Buccaneers did the unthinkable when they drafted a kicker in the fifth round. Many have said, “if you draft a kicker anywhere you are picking them too high.” Kickers should go undrafted right? Maybe this time the Buccaneers got lucky when they selected Matt Gay in the fifth round.

I’ve seen this guy nail 62 and 63-yard field goal attempts, indoors and outdoors, with pressure and no pressure, and I’ve seen him miss a couple of gimmie attempts. However, I believe he’s only missed two in practice to date. Arians keeps saying the kicking competition is going strong. I believe Santos’ days may just be numbered.

Have you heard Matt Gay kick? His kicks boom!

Of course, Arians isn’t making any calls yet on who gets the job and heck he may even use both in certain situations, which
I’m completely fine with, but instead, he will wait to make his decision during the preseason, so he can see the guys against other players.

However, Arians is clear on how he feels about Matt Gay and his range as he stated after practice on August 5th that,

“Normally, you’ve got to get to the 35, but with him, it’s usually the 40 or 42. So, as long as he can consistently do that, he can be a weapon for us. The competition is pretty strong right now between him and Cairo.”

From what I’ve seen of practice it looks like Gay has a “leg up” in this kicking competition. Hopefully, our kicking woes will be left behind us.

Feature Image Credit: Bucs K Matt Gay - Photo by: Cliff Welch/ PewterReport