Bullock In 'a Zone' Thus Far in Camp
NASHVILLE – For the first time in years, the Tennessee Titans don’t have to spend training camp wondering who will be their kicker when the regular season starts.
Randy Bullock, who had the job for most of last season, has seen to that.
“Extremely consistent,” special teams coach Craig Aukerman said Sunday. “He’s missed – maybe – three kicks all training camp. He’s locked into a zone right now, and we’re excited. He’s just got to continue to build on it.”
Things were no different in Thursday’s preseason loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Bullock was good on both of his attempts, a 33-yard field goal and a PAT in the second quarter. Additionally, all three of his kickoffs reached the end zone.
Assuming nothing dramatic happens between now and Sept. 11, when the Titans open the season against the New York Giants, it will be the first time since 2018 that their Week 1 kicker is the same as at the end of the previous season. Ryan Succop was the last to do it, but a knee injury caused him to start 2019 on injured reserve and sent the franchise on a wild journey that included eight different kickers in a span of 33 games.
Bullock took over for Tennessee in Week 2 last season. He missed two field goal tries in his first three games (10 attempts) then connected on all but three more over the remainder of the season. Three of his field goals were game-winners (two in overtime), which was one fewer than he had made in his first nine seasons combined.
The 32-year-old made 83.9 percent of his field goals and 93.3 percent of his PATs en route to 120 points for the Titans in 2021. The point total was the second highest of his career and ninth in franchise history. However, all of his misses came from 40 yards or longer, and only 56.2 percent of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.
Rookie Caleb Shudak was signed during the offseason, presumably to provide a challenge, but injured himself during an on-field session in June and has been on the Physically Unable to Perform list since the start of training camp. When, or if, he will kick at all during the preseason is unclear.
Last season, Sam Ficken and Tucker McCann battled during training camp. An injury to McCann in the preseason opener and a 58-yard field goal by Ficken the next week at Tampa Bay seemed to settle the issue. Ficken was on the 53-man roster at the start of the regular season but was injured days before the game and missed the entire regular season.
In 2020, McCann and Greg Joseph went through training camp (there were no preseason games due to COVID-19) only to have franchise officials sign Stephen Gostkowski days before the start of the regular season.
Bullock spent last year in training camp with the Detroit Lions after having signed with them early in the offseason. He made all three of his field goal attempts and the only PAT he tried but was released at the end of the preseason nontheles, which is why he was available when Tennessee went looking for a kicker once again. For what it’s worth, the Lions ultimately used four different kickers.
Before that, he spent four full seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He started his career with three-plus seasons as a member of the Houston Texans (2012-15) and has kicked for both New York teams (the Jets and Giants) and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“His confidence is really high right now,” Aukerman said. “And we’re trying to put him in different situations as far as two-minute [drill], whether we have a hurry-up field goal at the end. He’s really focused in on the 40-49 yards, which is doing really well.
“Now, we’ve got to back him up a little more to continue to build his confidence in 50-plus field goals.”
