At 1-7 with nothing to lose, the Atlanta Falcons made a surprising decision to release veteran kicker Matt Bryant during the bye week and replace him with little-known Younghoe Koo.
In eight games, the 25-year-old journeyman who hadn’t kicked in an NFL game in two years quickly validated the move. Koo made 23 of 26 field goals and 15 of 16 extra points. Earlier today, the Falcons announced they had given Koo a one-year extension, along with punter Ryan Allen.
Following the announcement, Koo was quick to thank the organization on Twitter for “taking a chance” on him last year:
What initially seemed like an unlikely outcome due to Koo being an unknown commodity and replacing a fan favorite in Bryant, the young kicker made the most of his chance, while wearing Michael Vick‘s infamous No. 7 jersey.
It was expected that Atlanta would retain Koo, although the team has also said it intends to add competition at the position in the offseason. Still, bringing back the kicker with by far the most highlights in the NFL last season was essentially a no-brainer for the Falcons.
We’ll leave you with a couple of Koo’s best plays from 2019:
