By Jordan Long
The Dallas Cowboys open up the preseason on Saturday when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars. One of their biggest camp battles is for starting kicker between Tristan Vizcaino and Brandon Aubrey.
The Cowboys’ kicker last year was Brett Maher. Maher was pretty much money for the Cowboys when the offense stalled in opponents’ territory. He was 29 of 32 or making 90.6% of his kicks. His long was 60 yards. Dallas even made the postseason.
The Cowboys season though ended in the divisional round against the San Francisco 49ers. They dropped the game by a final score of 19-12. Overall, on field goals, Maher was 2-2 in the playoffs with a long of 43. What cost him his job in Dallas was he couldn’t nail extra points in the playoffs, going 1-6. Dallas knew they had to let him go.
Dallas entered training camp with two kickers vying for one roster spot, Vizcaino and Aubrey. Vizcaino has played 7 NFL games since 2020. He is 11 of 12 in kicking field goals with a long of 47. Aubrey on the other hand has never kicked a field goal in the NFL.
Both haven’t been impressive in camp. On Saturday, they went a combined 9 of 15 or a 60% make rate. That isn’t good but the biggest problem with their misses is they came from 42 yards or shorter. Those are kicks they are supposed to make. According to CBSsports.com, Michael Gehlken who is a reporter for the Cowboys stated in a tweet, “Cowboys kicker Tristan Vizcaino missed four straight FGs from 33, 38, 39, and 39 yards. The first 39 yard try had poor operation with bad snap, so team reloaded to the second try. All misses wide left. Vizcaino 4-of-8 with context of bad operation on one. Brandon Aubrey: 5-of-7. Missed 33, 42.”
This seems like a problem for sure. The only good news is those are in practice and not game situations. The Cowboys will know where their kicker battle stands in preseason games. Of course, if Vizcaino and Aubrey still struggle, the Cowboys could bring in a veteran kicker. Right now isn’t the time to panic yet at the kicker position.
Leave a Reply