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Matt Nagy reacts to Chicago Bears kickers missing minicamp kicks

ByMatt Eurich 3 hours ago
 
 

The kicking situation is going to continue to hover over the Chicago Bears until they get it right this offseason. The team is going to use a variety of different methods to try to determine the winner of that job, but no one has asserted himself as the best option early on this offseason.

It was revealed after the team's minicamp practice on June 11 that all three of the team's kickers struggled when attempting a 42-yard field goal. Elliott Fry, Chris Blewitt and Eddy Pineiro attempted the kick in front of their teammates and all three missed the attempt. What did head coach Matt Nagy think?

"Whatever went through your mind went through my mind," Nagy told the media.

It is clear the organization is not happy with where this battle currently stands. The team even brought in a kicking consultant in Jamie Kohl to help oversee this battle during the offseason. So far the results have not been all that great for the team. There is still a lot of time to go before the start of the regular season, but it does not sound as though any of these kickers have been able to consistently impress the organization this offseason.

Blewitt played collegiately at Pitt between 2013 and 2016. In his freshman campaign, Blewitt made 14 of his 18 field goals and 40 of his 41 extra points. He followed that up by making 16 of his 21 field goals in 2014 and 50 of his 51 extra points. He then had an abysmal final two seasons. He made just 15 of his 23 attempts in 2015 and 42 of his 43 extra points in 2015. He followed that up by making just 10 of his 17 field goal attempts in 2016 and 66 of his 69 extra points. He ended his career by making just 69.6 percent of his field goal attempts. He also missed six extra points.

Fry was signed by the Bears in mid-April. He kicked collegiately at South Carolina. In his freshman season he made 15 of his 18 attempts and 54 of his 55 extra points. He backed that up by making just 18 of his 25 attempts the following season. He also made all 51 of his extra points that year. Fry went on to make 20 of his 28 attempts during the 2015 season for South Carolina and all 25 of his extra points. He capped off his final year by making all 31 of his extra points and 13 of his 17 field-goal attempts.

The Bears traded for Pineiro after rookie minicamp. He kicked for just two seasons at Florida in 2016 and 2017 before declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft. He made 21 of his 25 attempts during the 2016 season and all 32 of his extra points. He backed that up by making 17 of his 18 attempts during the 2017 season. He also made 24 of his 26 extra points. Pineiro appeared to be the favorite to land the kicker job for the Oakland Raiders last year but suffered a season-ending injury during the preseason.

All of this stems from Cody Parkey's big playoff miss against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round. The team decided not to go after a veteran this offseason in free agency and that could end up costing them if one of these options does not pull out ahead of the others.

Edited by soulman
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I can tell you all what's going through my mind.

WTF is going on with these guys heads when not one of them can make a 42 FG under far less pressure than a game winner in a playoff game?  Did someone put a voodoo hex on our 42 or 43 yard lines?  Piniero can boot one from 80 yards but can't make one from 40 yards?

This is more than just disheartening especially since out of 8 guys who tried out these are the two best of that lot and a former college wunderkind we actually traded for.  Forty-two yards should be a cake walk for all three of these bums.  Let's hijack Robbie Gould.

Edited by soulman
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It’s looking more and more like the move is going to have to be picking the best of these guys for the PS to work with for a year and then bringing in Matt Bryant. And I’m fine with a legitimate one-year option for stability at the position. Gould will in all likelihood be a FA next year too and that becomes an actual viable option should they decide that’s best. 

I’m trying to be realistic about this kicking competition and doing so means we can’t expect these guys to make every kick even in practice, but man there isn’t ANY optimism to be seen at all. 

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9 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

I’m trying to be realistic about this kicking competition and doing so means we can’t expect these guys to make every kick even in practice, but man there isn’t ANY optimism to be seen at all. 

As am I but when a HC as positive as Nagy is showing his annoyance you know these guys are f'n up big time.

What gets me is how they all come with these sterling credentials;

Blewitt wins a national PK competition run by Jamie Kohl our kicking consultant.

Fry was perfect or nearly perfect on his AAF kicks.

Piniero was another college wunderkind with a cannon for a leg and accuracy to boot.

And so far not one of these guys seems to be separating himself from the others and proving he's any better than Parkey.  I'm beginning to think like you are.  Find the most dependable vet they can get on a 1 year minimum deal and sign Gould next spring OR keep putting out feelers for a trade with SF.  The bigger problem with that however is can we afford Robbie and still extend our target guys.

 

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They are missing these big moment kicks in front of reporters.  

But I am guessing they are making like 90% of their kicks in their own little practices.  If they werent they would be sent home.

Its like free throws.  They are probably kicking 800 balls a day or whatever threshhold is before you get sore.  Reporters are seeing the few competition kicks. 

Bears are being stupid because the narrative has become these guys can't kick at all. 

That being said it is extremely concerning that they are missing kicks with this situational pressure on.  Pressure is intense.  Its a huge story and they are fighting for a job or perhaps being put of league. 

But each of these guys has made huge kicks in games and each is talented.  Its almost like we should go another direction in approach to this competition.

Give most talented guy the job and let him relax.  

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46 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

They are missing these big moment kicks in front of reporters.  

But I am guessing they are making like 90% of their kicks in their own little practices.  If they werent they would be sent home.

Its like free throws.  They are probably kicking 800 balls a day or whatever threshhold is before you get sore.  Reporters are seeing the few competition kicks. 

Bears are being stupid because the narrative has become these guys can't kick at all. 

That being said it is extremely concerning that they are missing kicks with this situational pressure on.  Pressure is intense.  Its a huge story and they are fighting for a job or perhaps being put of league. 

But each of these guys has made huge kicks in games and each is talented.  Its almost like we should go another direction in approach to this competition.

Give most talented guy the job and let him relax.  

I think the point you may be missing is this one.

12 hours ago, soulman said:

"Whatever went through your mind went through my mind," Nagy told the media.

If Nagy isn't satisfied that would tend to belie any possibility that they're making 90% of their practice kicks.  If that was the case Nagy would tend to be a little more gracious and at least say something that gave them credit for that much but he didn't.  He's pissed.

Another report said it's likely that one will be released following OTAs and the leading candidate for being let go is Blewitt.  That leaves Elliott Fry and Eddie Piniero in a two-way battle this summer and in preseason unless they decide to bring in an experienced vet.

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2 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

And Blewitt has now been cut

 

Yup......

Chicago Bears waive kicker Chris Blewitt

ByMatt Eurich 2 hours ago
 
 

The Chicago Bears have made a change to their kicker competition. The team announced on Wednesday it has waived Chris Blewitt. That leaves the team with Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro at the position.

This move comes after all three of Chicago's kickers struggled at the start of minicamp. The three kickers had a chance to attempt a 42-yard field goal in front of their teammates and all three missed their attempts. Head coach Matt Nagy shared his frustration after practice on Tuesday.

"I mean, that’s about as real as it gets," Nagy said after practice. 'They were 0-for-3 out there. For today, we can’t have that. We're going to figure this thing out. But 0-for-3 today, no good."

Blewitt was the second kicker signed by the team this offseason after the addition of Redford Jones in January. Jones was released earlier this offseason. Blewitt is someone that general manager Ryan Pace singled out earlier this offseason for how well he was performing.

“He just clearly separated himself," Pace said at the Owners Meeting. "Just the power and the pop in his leg is what jumped out in the workout. You could feel his confidence and all those things are there, too."

Blewitt played collegiately at Pitt between 2013 and 2016. In his freshman campaign, Blewitt made 14 of his 18 field goals and 40 of his 41 extra points. He followed that up by making 16 of his 21 field goals in 2014 and 50 of his 51 extra points. He then had an abysmal final two seasons. He made just 15 of his 23 attempts in 2015 and 42 of his 43 extra points in 2015. He followed that up by making just 10 of his 17 field goal attempts in 2016 and 66 of his 69 extra points. He ended his career by making just 69.6 percent of his field goal attempts. He also missed six extra points.

His departure leaves the Bears with Fry and Pineiro as their top options.

The Bears traded a 2021 conditional seventh-round pick to the Oakland Raiders in order to acquire Pineiro in early May. He kicked for just two seasons at Florida in 2016 and 2017 before declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft. He made 21 of his 25 attempts during the 2016 season and all 32 of his extra points. He backed that up by making 17 of his 18 attempts during the 2017 season. He also made 24 of his 26 extra points. Pineiro was set to be Oakland's kicker last season before suffering an injury before the year began. He spent all of last season on injured reserve.

Fry ended his collegiate career at South Carolina by making 66 of his 88 attempts. He also missed just one extra point. Fry has not attempted a kick at the NFL level. He spent the early portion of this year kicking in the Alliance of American Football. Prior to the league folding, Fry had made all 14 of his attempts with a long of 44 yards for the Orlando Apollos.

All of these problems at the position go back to Cody Parkey's big miss in the playoffs back in January. For a Bears team that has hopes of making a deep playoff run this upcoming year, they have to get the kicker position figured out as soon as possible.

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2 hours ago, soulman said:

I think the point you may be missing is this one.

If Nagy isn't satisfied that would tend to belie any possibility that they're making 90% of their practice kicks.  If that was the case Nagy would tend to be a little more gracious and at least say something that gave them credit for that much but he didn't.  He's pissed.

Another report said it's likely that one will be released following OTAs and the leading candidate for being let go is Blewitt.  That leaves Elliott Fry and Eddie Piniero in a two-way battle this summer and in preseason unless they decide to bring in an experienced vet.

He is pissed, and rightfully so, that they aren’t making the one kick that matters.  

Doesn’t mean they aren’t drilling vast majority of kicks on their own with their coach.  

Edited by dll2000
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If they suck in pre season you can always find a veteran and sign him. 

Problem is you may be getting an older weaker leg.  

You want the younger, stronger more talented guys to find their way so you can get that emergency 55 yard field goal and kick to end zone or high to one yard line as needed.  

Obviously you need a guy who can make the 42 yarders first.  

But giving up field position on every kick off is not nothing. 

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3 hours ago, dll2000 said:

He is pissed, and rightfully so, that they aren’t making the one kick that matters.  

Doesn’t mean they aren’t drilling vast majority of kicks on their own with their coach.  

If they were quite possible missing the challenge kick wouldn't loom so large.

That was my point and in all honesty I believe Nagy's as well.  His comments indicate he's losing patience and the release of Blewitt somewhat confirms it doesn't it?  I mean if he was nailing 90% of his kicks why release him.  Facts are facts brother.

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