With their fifth round selection, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have once again selected a kicker. This time in the form of Utah’s Matt Gay.
With the 145th pick in the 2019th NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have selected Utah kicker Matt Gay. Failing to learn from their nightmares of 2016 and Roberto Aguayo, Tampa Bay becomes the first team to yet again, take a kicker off the board.
In two seasons with the Utes, Gay never missed an extra point, going 85 out of 85. He converted a career 86% of his kicks over that span as well, going 56/65.
This must be deja-vu for Tampa Bay fans as there are many holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball and along the offensive line, but the Buccaneers instead elect for a special teamer in the fifth round. Not to mention, the Buccaneers just extended the contract of current kicker Cairo Santos this offseason.
In 2018, Santos kicked for both the Buccaneers and the Rams, missing four kicks total on the season, all over 40 yards. He will now compete with Gay for the starting job in 2019.
The question now must be: how much longer does Jason Licht keep his job? Having more busts to his name than successes, his time must be running dry in Tampa Bay. With defensive line talent such as Miami’s Gerald Willis, and a massive need on the offensive line, he had the audacity to call in a kicker to the league office as his pick.
With that being said, the Buccaneers still have two picks left in the draft to right this wrong and add more talent to this roster entering a make-or-break 2019 season. Thus far, the 2019 Draft has not been a fruitful one for the Buccaneers.