The inside story of the Rams’ kicker saga, and how they got to Matt Gay

Nine months after parting ways with longtime kicker Greg Zuerlein, the Rams have finally found the player they hope can be a longer-term solution at the position.

Maybe, possibly.

Matt Gay has only been on the team for two games, but he has made four of his five field goal attempts, all five of his extra points and kicked nine touchbacks in 10 attempts.

“It’s been two weeks,” head coach Sean McVay said this week.  “… But he is definitely demonstrating all of the things that you look for in somebody who is that long-term solution.”

The Rams technically have been through five kickers since training camp opened. Samuel Sloman got drafted and waived. Lirim Hajrullahu and Austin MacGinnis got signed, then cut (MacGinnis is back on the practice squad). Kai Forbath got signed, then put on injured reserve. Now the job belongs to Gay.

It’s not the journey they envisioned when they decided they weren’t going to bring back Zuerlein.

How did they get here?

Last offseason, the Rams took their first step toward an operational change that dictated more data-driven salary distribution (i.e., “don’t pay running backs,” investing in “value” positions such as No. 1 cornerback, pass-rushers and positionless receivers). The Rams will look to rely on young, cheap players to complement the marquee contracts on both sides of the ball.

A data-driven approach also means less investment in a kicker. In the spring, as the Rams evaluated their salary-cap options, they simply were not open to paying the $2.5 million to $3.5 million they thought it would take to re-sign Zuerlein.

Even if they were OK with paying Zuerlein, the Rams were in a bind. Internally, there were conversations about bringing in training camp competition for Zuerlein, who struggled at times in 2019 and posted the second-lowest field goal percentage of his career (72.7 percent).

But drafting a kicker, or bringing in a couple of camp bodies to compete with Zuerlein, would have been a sham. Zuerlein would have just signed a new contract, and a team already up against the edge of the cap isn’t going to cut a $3 million kicker. If a camp body proved to be better, they could try to stash him on the practice squad, but he could be poached and end up as a franchise kicker somewhere else.

And because Zuerlein was set to become a free agent, the Rams couldn’t wait to make their decision until after a possible kicking competition, because all of their contracts had to be under their cap by the new league year in March — well before the draft, OTAs and training camp.

Meanwhile, the Rams had no way of knowing whether Zuerlein would rebound from his down year. At best, data indicates that most kickers either regress or rise to the league-average in field goal percentage (which stays in the mid-80s), with very few outliers. Could Zuerlein climb back up to the mean? They couldn’t know for sure without collecting more data – which would mean paying him money they didn’t have.

Still, the Rams were open to bringing back Zuerlein — just not at his asking price. Their preference was for a lower base salary, and they wanted to bring in other kickers to have a true competition (which, at the time, they believed would stretch across the spring and summer months to give them a larger data set). Meanwhile, the team lost special teams coordinator John Fassel to an expired contract, and he joined the Dallas Cowboys. Zuerlein soon followed to the Cowboys, on a three-year, $7.5 million deal.

And thus, a Rams kicker search was launched for the first time since Fassel brought in Zuerlein in 2012.

In the spring, the COVID-19 pandemic changed nearly everything about the way the Rams could conduct their pre-draft evaluations.

Once they lost Zuerlein, the plan was to draft a kicker, then sign one from each of the alternate leagues, the Canadian Football League and the XFL/AAF.

Then, they’d closely watch other teams’ training camp kicking competitions and, as usual, send their pro personnel people to preseason games to check out any kickers they perhaps liked even better than the guys they had brought in, and who perhaps might get cut at the end of camp.

But because the pandemic shut down everything in March, the NFL combine and a handful of college pro days were the last opportunities to interact in person with draft prospects or free agents. Newly hired special teams coordinator John Bonamego was the only Rams coordinator to attend the combine, but after that, private workouts in which staff could better evaluate kicking prospects became nearly impossible. Agents sent videos, and team personnel held video conferences with prospects, but that was hardly an adequate substitute.

In mid-April, the Rams signed MacGinnis, widely considered to be the best kicker from the XFL, and CFL veteran Hajrullahu.

Then they drafted Sloman in the seventh round, which came as a surprise. Rodrigo Blankenship, thought by many draft analysts to be the top choice for a kicker-needy team, went undrafted. The Colts signed him, and he has made 23 of his 26 field-goal attempts, 27 of 29 extra points and has three touchbacks on five attempts.

Sloman mentioned during his post-draft interview that Bonamego had kept in contact with him throughout the pre-draft process and added that the special teams coach left him with the belief that if he weren’t drafted, he would still be a priority undrafted free agent addition.

Meanwhile, a league source told The Athletic there was “not much interest” in Blankenship from the Rams throughout the draft process.

Samuel Sloman struggled with the height on his kicks, which led to blocks. (Robert Hanashiro / USA Today)

During the spring and summer, team facilities remained closed and in-person workouts were canceled. Each kicker participated in virtual meetings, but didn’t get the live reps that would have begun the competition in earnest. Instead, they hauled bags of footballs and a kicking tee to whatever open field they could find to get their reps in.

Ultimately, the kicking competition — far from what the Rams had planned — was crunched into two weeks of training camp and two scrimmages. Because the data from across the league — again, other than a few outliers — indicates that placekicking essentially is random, a larger set of reps and a larger pool of candidates is needed to really discern. A general manager, for example, wouldn’t evaluate a quarterback off of just one game, or 30 passes in practice.

“It was kicking a lot every day, and trying to evaluate those guys on the limited opportunities we had on the field,” punter Johnny Hekker said. “It made it really difficult to evaluate. There were a lot more limited opportunities and we didn’t get to see other guys, and it just put a premium on the guys that were out there who were available. … Numbers were limited.”

Hajrullahu seemed to jump out to an early lead during the few reps reporters observed during practices — he was the only kicker to make all five attempts in the first scrimmage — but the competition appeared to even out in the second week. Hajrullahu pinged the crossbar on a 53-yard attempt during the second scrimmage. That drew some concern — not about placekicking, but about kickoffs. McVay previously had made it clear that whomever the Rams chose would have to handle both jobs.

Bonamego and Sloman, another league source said, had established a great rapport since the pre-draft process and Sloman, the source added, was “lights out” in practices as the competition drew to a close. The Rams liked his upside as a younger kicker. The team didn’t analyze the second scrimmage as much — they had to use a third-string holder — but Sloman was the only kicker to hit both of his 53-yard attempts.

Concerns remained about inexperience and accuracy, but without a preseason, the Rams couldn’t watch other teams’ competitions and bring in additional candidates.

So Sloman was the guy.

“It was really tight all the way through,” McVay said in early September, as the Rams’ initial roster was released. “Sam really just made a push these last couple of days. … Some of the youth that he has … and I also was impressed with just the mental toughness in these circumstances.

“All three of those guys did a nice job, but it certainly wasn’t like a runaway easy decision. Sam was the guy that we felt best about. He kind of played his best in the last couple of days and I liked the way that he handled some of the tough days, the way that he consistently responded as well.”

To their credit, the Rams were patient with Sloman. And to Sloman’s credit, he never truly cost them a game.

But low trajectory on his kicks led to three blocks, and his kickoffs weren’t hanging long enough to give the coverage unit time to get into their lanes downfield. Of Sloman’s 37 kickoff attempts, 22 went for touchbacks.

Those issues were much bigger in the minds of the Rams’ staff than Sloman’s 53-yard missed field goal into a crosswind in Buffalo in Week 3. McVay blamed himself for putting Sloman in that position. The other stuff was the problem, and well into October, it wasn’t getting fixed.

“Sam was a great guy,” Hekker said. “I think his best attribute was his mental toughness. He was really just able to isolate every rep as an individual trial. He was also talented, but then you get into games … That was just a tough break for Sam. He’s a great guy and we all wish him the best, but I think it was an appropriate time to move on and pursue other options.

“Kicking is kicking. You gotta make your kicks – he could make kicks … but the occasional ball with not great trajectory was leaving us susceptible to stuff, kickoffs weren’t what we were looking for, so it was just a difficult thing. It wasn’t a deal where we were asking him to do things he couldn’t do.”

During October, as the Rams evaluated other teams’ practice squads for possible competition for Sloman, they were faced with another pandemic-related snag. Per NFL rules, if they brought in a kicker, they’d have to keep him on their active roster for at least three weeks, essentially resulting in a huge personnel inefficiency by keeping two kickers on the roster. Most teams had already gobbled up the viable kickers onto their practice squads as emergency options, should their starter face a COVID-19 situation.

McVay had history in Washington with Forbath, a veteran kicker who coincidentally was on Dallas’ practice squad because they brought in Zuerlein, so the Rams signed him to put some pressure on Sloman, whom they opted to give one more chance.

Forbath had to clear five days of COVID-19 protocols, so his first workout in front of the team was actually at SoFi Stadium, before the Oct. 26 game vs. Chicago. During the game, Forbath watched as Sloman made a 22-yard field goal, then had a 48-yarder blocked easily. At that point, Forbath knew it was his turn.

“He’s pretty accurate from inside the 50-yard range and he’s got experience, and I think that’s really important. The game’s not too big for him,” McVay said of Forbath at the time. “And I think he’ll bring some stability to that spot and hopefully some more consistent production that we haven’t had this year.”

After releasing Sloman on Oct. 27, the Rams could have waited for him to clear waivers, then bring him back to the practice squad. They didn’t. Sloman later signed with Tennessee’s practice squad.

Instead, the Rams re-signed MacGinnis, whom they had passed on in training camp, to be the practice-squad kicker behind Forbath.

In two games for the Rams, Forbath made two field goals (both under 29 yards), had five returnable kickoffs in nine attempts, injured his ankle on a kickoff against Seattle and then badly missed a 48-yard field goal try. He was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 16, and the Rams essentially were back to the beginning of the process — and this time, the pool was even smaller.

Hekker and long snapper Jake McQuaide were on a mission.

They heard Forbath was about to go on injured reserve. The number of viable free-agent kickers was, because of COVID-19 precautions, essentially non-existent because they all were either on practice squads, or not great options. The Rams knew they’d have to sign someone to the active roster, and that person would have to be solid enough to merit a three-week stay, with MacGinnis remaining in reserve.

“Jake is a steel trap. He remembers things,” Hekker said. “We have all these kicking issues, and Jake had brought up (Gay’s) name a few times. And then Kai got hurt, so I’m thinking, ‘Let’s see if we can get him out here.’

“Jake went back and watched all of his film from the year before — some of his misses, some of the things that had happened — and we were just as impressed as we had been when we saw him kick against us last season.”

Matt Gay has displayed a strong leg with the Rams, especially on kickoffs. (Courtesy of Los Angeles Rams)

Gay, who was drafted in the fifth round by Tampa Bay in 2019, hit a 58-yard field goal against the Rams. He converted 27 of 35 field-goal attempts (77.1 percent) and made 43 of 48 of his extra points (89.6 percent). After the season, Tampa Bay brought in veteran Ryan Succop to compete with Gay, and ultimately waived Gay, who then signed to the Colts’ practice squad this September.

Hekker and McQuaide texted McVay to convey their enthusiasm about Gay, and their hope that the Rams would bring him in. Hekker recalled watching Gay warm up before their matchup in 2019 and shared major praise.

“Just watching him warm up, he’s a guy that had leg talent pretty comparable to Greg (Zuerlein),” Hekker said, “and that’s pretty rare. So we just thought it would be a great deal.”

Gay arrived at the practice facility on Nov. 21, a Saturday, just two days before his first game with the Rams — against Tampa Bay, his former team. That night, he started out a little shaky, with a miss on a 44-yard field goal attempt. But Gay also made the game-winning 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

“You can’t write it,” Gay said. “It’s one of those stories that you’re sitting on the practice squad, and then the first game you’re activated, you’re going back to the place you were last year — the place you felt like you should have been — and (playing) Monday Night Football. … There was a lot of emotion for me, coming back in.”

In last week’s loss to San Francisco, Gay’s two field goals and two extra points totaled more points (eight) than the Rams’ offense scored (six).

“I really like (Matt’s) demeanor. I like the way he has handled himself,” McVay said. “He’s got a great way about himself and the production speaks for itself. Looking forward to seeing that continue. … Good opportunity for him to show why we have the high level of confidence in him through the two weeks that he’s been with us.”

Technically, Gay is in the final week of his three-week “tryout” period, as dictated by the NFL’s COVID-19 rules.

So far, even Gay’s one missed field goal was not egregious. He’s getting good hang time on his kickoffs — with seven touchbacks in nine kickoffs — showing a skill he wasn’t able to demonstrate in Tampa Bay, where the punter handles those duties. The ball is jumping off his foot with good height. He’s clicking with his fellow specialists.

“Matt’s looking just like we anticipated,” Hekker said. “He’s been a great asset for us.”

The Rams especially would find Gay’s likely 2021 price tag of $600,000-$700,000 to be an asset, and have planned to put their $2 million in savings on Zuerlein toward a franchise tender for starting cornerback Darious Williams. Even having that relatively small amount freed up will be important this spring, as COVID-19-related league losses will shrink the salary cap to an estimated $175 million.

But if Gay doesn’t work out at least through the rest of the year, the team is either back to MacGinnis, or to square one.

And then the kicking carousel would continue its frantic, stressful spin.

(Top photo of Matt Gay: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)