There are many positions to be excited about when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys as training camp is in full swing. They have a three-headed monster at wide receiver with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb. Aldon Smith, Everson Griffen, and Dontari Poe provide veteran leadership and experience on the defensive line. However, there’s another position that fans should be happy about, and it’s not a sexy one that gets a lot of headlines.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein, who signed a three-year, $7.5 million dollar deal in March, is off to a blazing start in training camp. Entering Thursday’s practice, he was an amazing 18 of 18 on his attempts so far which is an encouraging sign based on what he did in 2019. Zuerlein was only 24 of 33 on field-goal attempts and his 72.7% clip was the second-lowest of his career. In particular, he struggled on kicks between 40-49 yards only connecting on five of 11 attempts (45%).
That probably explains why many scratched their heads when the Cowboys released Kai Forbath earlier this month after he went 10 of 10 on his attempts last season, and seemed to be on a collision course with Zuerlein for kicking duties in 2020.
Nonetheless, Zuerlein is getting back to the form that earned him the nickname “Greg the Leg” during his days with the Los Angeles Rams. For his career, he’s been a very solid kicker. He’s connected on 201 of 245 attempts (82%) with his best year coming in 2017 when he nailed 38 of 40 field goals (95%) on his way to receiving All-Pro/Pro Bowl honors.
When he’s himself Zuerlein is one of the better kickers in the NFL. Now the question will be can he keep up this momentum into the regular season as he looks to bounce back from a rough 2019 season.
