Ramiz Ahmed Has the Leg But Does He Have Accuracy?
You knew the Bears were serious about the idea of giving players job competition at training camp as a way to callous the team for the regular season when they brought in a kicker to challenge Eddy Pineiro.
After all, if they weren't serious, why would they bring in anyone after the chaotic kicking competition they went through last offseason?
Ramiz Ahmed gets to be the next kicker to take a shot at beating out Pineiro.
It's a difficult task because the Bears like their current kicker despite a 23-for-28 season in his first year and a game-losing miss against the Chargers.
Ahmed has the leg strength to do it, but the accuracy will need to be proved. At Nevada, he was 15-of-16 from less than 40 yards on field goals but three of his five misses came from 50 or longer.
"Ramiz is a guy, a strong-legged guy, has a little soccer background," Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said.
Ahmed walked on at Nevada after going to UNLV and Arizona State without playof football. He made the team on a student tryout as a kickoff specialist, then the next season became their regular field goal kicker.
Tabor saw Ahmed kicking at a camp in Arizona and made a mental note of him and then the Bears brought him in to be what commonly is referred to as a "camp leg," to take some of the kicks from the regular kicker. Still, you never know what can happen when there is competition going on.
"I saw him there (in Arizona), and he was really striking the ball really well," Tabor said. "It's out in Arizona, so you have to kind of take that stuff into consideration, but just the ball flight, and you could tell he cleaned some things up technically from the last spring."
The soccer background Tabor referred to was in high school at Faith Lutheran in Nevada. Then Ahmed transferred and kicked for the Gorman High football team. He made 6-of-11 field goals, 71-of-74 point afters and helped his team win a Nevada state title.
Most kickers seem to improve greatly the longer they're past college and kicking full time. Ahmed hasn't made that transition yet and it's up to Pineiro to make sure it doesn't occur in Chicago.
Ramiz Ahmed at a Glance
Nevada K
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 182
Key Numbers: Ahmed was 5 of 8 in his career from 40 yards and longer at Nevada.
Chances of Making Roster: 1.5 on a 1-5 scale with 5 being the most.
2020 Projection: Cut just before the regular season.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
