The team signed a highly rated UDFA Kicker last year in Garibay and he was terrible. The team said they were targeting K’s in this years draft but the run started too early (Pats took one in round 4 I believe and a P in round 6). As much as I want a reliable K I’m not sure I would’ve taken a chance on a guy early day 3 since there’s no guarantee a rookie K is going to be able to handle it.
The two vets available in Crosby and Gould have shown clear signs of deterioration and are just a name going forward as they are old. Folk who should be released is also 38. As much as those names seem nice they aren’t real fixes especially past a year or so.
This is where the conflict comes in. With the lack of reliable options on the open market and the chance of disaster with a young guy, does Maher honestly become the best option?
For 17 weeks, Maher was one of the biggest bright spots on the team. He was top 5ish in percentage and by week 4/5 we could finally go take a bathroom break during a kick or XP. Money Maher actually was delivering.
We all know how it ended starting week 18 versus Washington. He went on an all time bad missed XP streak which concluded with him seeming to have the yips. Despite all that, if he was able to shake the late season swoon and you could guarantee me a pre-week 18 Maher I’d be good to go. 2022 Maher was the most reliable thing since prime Bailey here, up until week 18.
I know those missed XP’s are burnt in our minds. But do we feel that Maher gets a chance to at least prove he’s over the XP thing? If he is, he’s a top 5 kicker based on his pre-yip weeks which were basically all year. I’m not sure how I feel completely but am leaning to thinking he should at least get a TC/PS try.
