Dallas continues to undervalue kicking game at its peril

Admit it, during Saturday afternoon’s preseason game between the Jaguars and Cowboys you held your beath after Dallas scored its first touchdown.

In came Brandon Aubrey, currently the only place kicker in camp in Oxnard, to attempt the point after. Visions of Brett Maher’s last six PAT attempts – all missed – danced in your head.

When Aubrey nailed the kick all of Cowboys’ fandom breathed a collective sigh of relief. We really got excited when he hit a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Of course, he would miss his next point after try before redeeming himself by making his final attempt. But still, 2-of-3 with one field goal inside of 30 yards?

No one at The Star or in Oxnard should be breathing easy. Nor should anyone be betting that Aubrey will be the starting kicker next month.

Stark Contrast

Aubrey’s ups and downs were in stark contrast to the goings on in Baltimore later in the evening.

Trailing 13-7 late in the first half the Ravens didn’t have enough time left to get all the way downfield. They didn’t have to.

All they needed to do was get the ball in Eagles’ territory because they have Justin Tucker as their kicker. Tucker trotted out and smoothly nailed a 60-yard field goal.

No one, repeat, no one was shocked. Tucker would add a 43-yard field goal while making both of his point after attempts.

The Ravens won the game 20-19. Without Tucker’s long field goal, they don’t win that game.

Tucker Nearly Automatic

Since signing with Baltimore in 2012 – that means all 32 teams whiffed on drafting arguably the best kicker ever – Tucker has almost been automatic.

Justin Tucker

In 11 seasons, Tucker has made 90.5% of his field goals. He is 161-for-196 (82.1%) from beyond 40 yards. He is 57-of-80 (71.2%) from beyond 50 yards.

Tucker has attempted 418 extra points in 11 years and made 413 of them (98.8%). His touchback percentage is just under 63 percent.

In short, since 2012, the Ravens have never had to worry about their kicker as Tucker has played in all 178 games since he earned the job.

The Cowboys have not enjoyed that luxury is a very long time. Certainly not during the time Tucker has been in the league.

Cowboys Kicking Woes

In 2011, the Cowboys started the season with David Buehler but switched to Dan Bailey during the season. While Bailey wasn’t quite as automatic as Tucker, he got the job done.

Since Bailey was cut due to injury concerns, Dallas has deployed six kickers. This includes safety Jeff Heath, who filled in quite well in emergency relief.

Dallas Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey kicks in the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

But the other five kickers did not. Mike Nugent, Kai Forbath, and Lirim Hajrullahu played a total of eight games. Forbath had the better output, hitting all 10 of his field goals and all 10 extra points in 2019.

Nugent was 7-of-9 in field goals and hit all eight extra points while Hajrullahu hit five extra points and never attempted a field goal in his one game.

Greg Zuerlein spent two years as the kicker in Dallas and hit 82.9% of his field goals and only 89.3% of his extra point attempts.

His tenure was sandwiched by two stints in Dallas by Maher. Maher would only make 79.6% of his field goals but only missed four out of 122 extra point attempts in the regular season.

Unfortunately for Maher, his performance against Tampa Bay in January probably ended his NFL career.

After missing those five against the Bucs, he shanked his first extra point attempt against 49ers so badly it got blocked.

Missed Opportunity

Kickers like Tucker – and long-time Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski – don’t come along every year. Which is why Dallas bringing Maher back in 2022 was so frustrating.

Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski prepares to kick off against the Detroit Lions in this 2007 game. (Photo by Richard Paolinelli)

The Nebraska alum made only 20 of his 30 field goal attempts for the Cowboys in 2019. He was out of football in 2020 and didn’t exactly set the world on fire for the Saints in 2021.

How the Cowboys didn’t look 200 miles to the south and see the kicker from the University of Texas and not draft him in 2022 still boggles the mind.

Cameron Dicker – dubbed “Dicker The Kicker” in Austin – is the second coming of Tucker. He even went to the same college as Tucker.

Instead of taking defensive tackle John Ridgeway – another Jerry Jones reach to get a player from Arkansas – the Cowboys should have taken Dicker. Instead they brought back Maher.

If they had, they wouldn’t have had the issues at the end of the year and they wouldn’t be hoping a USFL player will turn into the second coming of Bailey.

Dicker Can Kick

Dicker wound up being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Eagles. After hitting both field goals and point after attempts in one game, Dicker wound up going to the Chargers.

Once in Los Angeles Dicker would hit 19-of-20 field goals, missing his only attempt beyond 50 yards. He was a perfect 22-of-22 in extra points. Of his 55 kickoffs, 46 of them were touchbacks (83.6%)

AUSTIN, TX – OCTOBER 13: Cameron Dicker #17 of the Texas Longhorns kicks a field goal in the first half against the Baylor Bears at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Oh by the way, on Saturday, he hit a 50-yard- and a 25-yard field goal as well as both point after attempts. He will be the Chargers’ kicker for a long time to come.

Cowboys Undervalue A Valuable Position

Dallas needs to do a better job finding a kicker. The position can ultimately win or lose enough games to determine playoff positioning – or if making the playoffs will happen at all.

Dragging guys off the street — or off of minor league rosters that would struggle to beat the best college teams — and hoping for a miracle is not the best approach.

Barring a trade with the Chargers – who would be insane to let Dicker get away – the Cowboys are going to have to hope they can find the next Tucker/Dicker.

This time, they need to draft him before some other team can.