We’re now eight weeks into the regular season and the Los Angeles Rams still have not securely filled the void at kicker left by Greg Zuerlein. They gave rookie Samuel Sloman a shot after picking him over Lirim Hajrullahu and Austin MacGinnins in camp, but he only lasted seven games. Kai Forbath was signed off the Bears’ practice squad to replace Sloman, but he missed a 48-yarder on Sunday against the Dolphins – and it wasn’t even close.
MacGinnis is back on the Rams’ practice squad and will have a chance to once again prove himself to the coaching staff, but even he’s not a proven solution for Los Angeles’ kicking woes. In eight games, the Rams’ kickers have already missed seven attempts: four field goals and three PATs.
Sean McVay and John Bonamego will have some extra time to mull things over during the team’s bye week, deciding whether to continue forward with Forbath or give MacGinnis a chance. Based on McVay’s comments Monday, it sounds like Forbath will remain the top option.
“Obviously it was disappointing to see the result on the one field goal that we attempted to try to cut it to a one-possession game and miss-hit that,” he said. “I do think you want to still demonstrate a little bit of patience, understanding that one kick – that was big – it didn’t help us yesterday, but I think you want to give a guy a chance to continue to compete and evaluate. With that small inventory that we had from yesterday, we’ll continue to evaluate both of those guys and Kai will remain in that role right now.”
The trade market is an option for the Rams if they don’t feel great about either of their current candidates. However, it’s rare for a team to part ways with a good kicker via trade, given the low return that comes with it.
The free-agent market is barren, too, providing no better options to Los Angeles than Forbath and MacGinnis. In all likelihood, the competition between those two will be ongoing into Week 10 against the Seahawks, thanks to the expanded practice squad that allows the Rams to keep two players in-house.
Until they find a consistent solution to this problem, they should keep scouring for candidates. Because although their kickers haven’t cost them a win yet, that could very well happen in the second half of the season if things don’t improve.
