Cowboys Kicker Search: Trust Coach 'Bones' Fassel to Sign a Winner?
Throughout the course of a 12-win regular season and NFC Divisional Round appearance, the Dallas Cowboys had their share of ups and downs last year. But there may not have been a more bizarre "down'' moment than kicker Brett Maher's in the Wild Card round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Despite cruising to a 31-14 victory, Maher's performance stole headlines following the Wild Card win.
A career 95.5-percent extra-point kicker, Maher botched his first four attempts and finished the game a mere one of five (20 percent) from 15 yards out.
“I think everything’s on the table,” special teams coordinator John Fassel said this week as the team tries to upgrade at kicker. “Let’s face it, if you look at Brett, he had a great year. He had a bad game. But he played 22 games; he had a bad game and a half. I think everybody’s on the table. I’m proud of what Brett did here. If he gets a shot here or somewhere else, I’m sure he’ll perform well.”
With Maher not presently on the roster, 26-year-old Tristan Vizcaino remains the lone kicker under contract in Dallas, leaving a void to fill. Despite knocking down 91.7 percent of his career kicks, Vizcaino's sample size is limited to just 12 attempts over his three-year NFL tenure.
“Anybody else on Earth who is not on the team right now is under consideration,” Fassel said. “That’s everyone really. I think we have a lot of different guys that we’re still looking at — XFL, USFL, veterans on the street, younger guys who still haven’t found a way.”
“There's a lot of guys that have performed at a good level in the NFL, and you weigh that against everything else. There's really no secrets of who's available. I think the good thing for us at the kicker spot is just being patient and deciding who that second guy is we're going to bring in, whether it's now or training camp to compete against Tristan."
"Bones'' actually mentioned three "name'' guys in Robbie Gould, Mason Crosby and Ryan Succop - which seemed an unconventional way to go about this. But there are a lot of things about Fassel's approach that are unconventional, as has been the case during his long and successful NFL career. In this case, though? Whether it's the elevation of Vizcaino or the return of Maher, or another option, special teams will be an area of emphasis entering Cowboys training camp. ... and at some point the questions need to be not only about the guys making the kicks ... but also about the guys making the decisions about who makes the kicks.
You can find Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard
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