Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht didn’t hesitate to give his honest opinion about the performance of Roberto Aguayo.
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Jason Licht took a big step last year to improve the Buccaneers kicking game. As we all know, the Bucs made a trade to move up and select Roberto Aguayo in the second round of last year’s draft, making him the highest selected kicker in a decade.
Well it didn’t work out so well in year one. Aguayo was the worst in the NFL last year, connecting on only 22 out of 31 field goal attempts for a 71% rate. In the first quarter of last year, Aguayo missed two field goals and an extra point. He never missed an extra point in college, so clearly he fell below his expectations.
It’s year number two, and he is going to have to earn his job. The Bucs have signed Nick Folk, formerly of the Jets. Folk made 87% of his kicks last year (27-31), and three out of four of his misses were blocked.
In a discussion with Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Licht made it abundantly clear why competition was brought in:
"“Read the stats, he wasn’t very good last year,’’ Bucs general manager Jason Licht said. “He wants to improve and he’s going to work at it. And we still have confidence in him but you’re always trying to get better.’’"
Ouch comes to mind as an initial reaction. Not that he is wrong in any way. Aguayo was hard to watch for most of 2016. Even so, however, that can’t be easy to take from one of your bosses. One thing you can say about Jason Licht is that he is honest. He will admit his mistakes and move on from them. He made that clear again, per Stroud:
"Licht hinted strongly following the season that Aguayo would face veteran competition. “Or he’ll be competition for somebody else,’’ he said."
You can’t be much more honest than that.
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The Bucs will be just fine at the kicker position. Nick Folk is as solid as they come. The Jets have reaped the benefits of both his consistency and his ability to be clutch. They will move forward with Aguayo, or without him. We know the Bucs brass is watching.