Kicker is far from the biggest concern for the Chicago Bears this offseason, which depending on how you look at it, is a welcome change. Still, that hasn’t stopped general manager Ryan Pace from bringing in competition at all positions, including kicker.
The Bears signed former Nevada kicker Ramiz Ahmed to a one-year deal on Friday, where he’ll battle Eddy Pineiro for the starting kicker job.
Let’s get to know the Bears’ newest kicker:
1. He’s competition for kicker Eddy Pineiro
The addition of Ahmed signals competition for Pineiro, who had a decent rookie season. But don’t worry, this competition won’t be as extensive as last offseason. Ahmed doesn’t have professional experience — and he last kicked for Nevada as a senior in 2018 — but he’ll serve to challenge Pineiro.
The Bears are determined to utilize competition this season to get the best out of a roster that, after contributing to a 12-4 season in 2018, dropped in production with a 8-8 year in 2019. While Pineiro wasn’t without his struggles — he had a rough streak where he went 3-of-7 on field goals — he had an overall productive season, connecting on 23-of-28 (82.1%) of field goals.
2. Ahmed was a walk-on at Nevada
Before landing the starting kicker job with the Wolf Pack, Ahmed attended UNLV and Arizona State. He never played football before transferring to Nevada in 2017 during his junior year. When Ahmed transferred to Nevada, he made the team as a walk-on in 2017. Although, he didn’t play until his senior year.
3. Ahmed has already won a kicking competition
When the Bears finally return to the practice field, they’ll have several competitions worth watching. While all eyes will be on quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, Pineiro will once again need to prove himself in camp — and he’ll do it against someone that has experience in kicker competitions.
In his senior year, Ahmed won the starting job out of training camp with the Wolf Pack. Ahmed finished the season 15-of-20 on field goals and 40-of-44 on extra points. While Ahmed’s accuracy beyond 50 yards is questionable, his accuracy under 40 yards was near perfect, where he connected on 15-of-16 field goals in his career.
Ahmed has already proven he can win a kicker competition. But so has Pineiro, and he’s done so on the Bears.
4. Ahmed struggled kicking beyond 50 yards in college
Call it the Cody Parkey effect, but there’s extra caution when it comes to Bears kickers stepping up to kick a field goal from 43 yards and beyond. While Pineiro had a rough streak last season — where he hit 3-of-7 field goals, including some with game implications — he also showed that he has the leg to make long kicks. Most notably, Pineiro connected on a 53-yard field goal to lift the Bears over the Broncos in Week 2 last season.
But Ahmed hasn’t been as lucky beyond 50 yards. While he was nearly perfect under 40 yards — connecting on 94% of field goals — he had his struggles beyond 50 yards. At Nevada, Ahmed was just 1-of-4 beyond 50 yards. Hopefully, the Bears won’t have to attempt many 50-yard field goals.
