Robbie Gould Playoff Winner - Bears Seahawks 2007
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Surprising news came from Chicago late last night when it was announced that the Bears had release longtime kicker Robbie Gould. Gould had struggled with accuracy this preseason, but has a career 85.4% completion percentage.
Greg Zuerlein, on the other hand is an enigmatic kicker who has sporadic support among Rams fans. I mean who doesn"t love to see someone hit 60 yard bombs? But those bombs become a bit tougher to watch when you consider that Zuerlein has a career 78.2% completion percentage (66.7% in 2015).
That being said, Gould is 34 while Zuerlein is only 28. It"s also worth noting that when he"s not asked to attempt 9 50+ FGs in a season, "Legatron" generally does pretty well. Of his 26 missed FGs in his career, only 11 have come from inside 50 yards.
If long distance kicking is your argument though, you might want to slow down and take a look at Gould"s stats as well. Gould is 23-31 from 50+ in his career - vs. 16-31 from Zuerlein. One might ask why a 5th year kicker has as many 50+ attempts as a 11 year vet, but that"s a discussion for another day....
Heading into this offseason, Jeff Fisher let it be known that "Young GZ" would face some competition heading into the 2016 season, but that never really materialized even after adding Taylor Bertolet as an alternative in camp.
Personally, I think that the Rams could use a veteran kicker... but I"m not the one making the decisions.
Source: http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2016/9/5/12797936/should-the-rams-pursue-robbie-gould
