Buccaneers sign Zach Hocker to compete with Nick Folk at kicker
The Buccaneers add a kicker, signing Zach Hocker
We all know about the Buccaneers kicking situation. Yesterday, the Bucs released talented but inconsistent rookie Roberto Aguayo. Nick Folk is here so it seemed that the competition for kicker was over. A veteran kicker would stabilize the situation where it hadn’t been in the past. Well, the competition may not be over. Take a look:
Bucs announce they've signed Zach Hocker after tryouts today to challenge Nick Folk in training camp.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 13, 2017
It’s not surprising, although it may not mean that the competition continues. Take a look at what coach Koetter had to say (per team website):
"“Well we are going to bring in another kicker because we want to have another leg in camp. Anything can happen – a guy could pull a hamstring, twist an ankle. As long as we have room, we would like to have another guy that can kick the football. As of right now, Nick is going to be our kicker.”"
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It sounds like barring a miracle, Nick Folk is going to be the kicker for this team. They could have worse things, as Folk has posted an 81% field goal percentage during the last seven years with the Jets. He only posted a percentage lower than Aguayo’s once when he only made 64.3% of his kicks for the Cowboys back in 2009.
Nick is a solid kicker, and he is a clutch one.
But it can never hurt to bring another player in. The Jets had competition for Folk nearly every year and it served to push him to perform his best. He won each competition and had solid seasons in each.
And like Koetter mentioned, there is always the possibility of injury. Folk could land awkwardly after kicking a field goal and that could be it for him. A blitzing special teamer could land on him and injure him, or they could make him do the splits and tear a hamstring. Having another kicker around, just in case, makes sense.
We shall see how this plays out through the month of August.