Charlie Smyth: New Orleans Saints to evaluate kicker situation
Head coach Kellen Moore says the New Orleans Saints will “evaluate” kickers Daniel Carlson and Charlie Smyth ahead of Sunday’s game with the Cleveland Browns.
Carlson has been the Saints’ first-choice kicker this season, but the 31-year-old has struggled for consistency.
Smyth, a former Gaelic footballer from Mayobridge in County Down, made his NFL debut last season but returned to the practice roster after the Saints elected to bring in Carlson for the start of the current campaign.
However, Carlson’s form has opened the door for Smyth to potentially return to the playing roster. Moore said both he and his coaching staff will “evaluate the field goal situation and opportunities”.
Moore said that the Saints had not brought any additional kickers into their squad, which leaves Smyth and Carlson in contention to start against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“That’s something we’ll have to work through and discuss to find the best solution for Sunday,” said Moore.
“We’ll see how it goes. We’ll have some kicking sessions throughout this week and we’ll see where we are at.”
Former Gaelic footballer Smyth made 12 of 16 field goals and was successful on each of his 13 extra point attempts as a starter last season, after his historic NFL debut last November.
He had a mixed pre-season and Carlson was selected to be the Saints’ first choice after a kicking competition ahead of the NFL season.
But Carlson has a success rate of 66% this season from 12 field goal attempts and his only perfect game with the boot came in September, when he landed three kicks against the Baltimore Ravens.
He has made 16 of his 18 extra point attempts as the Saints have just two wins from seven games this season.