The Rams knew there would be some growing pains when they went from an All-Pro kicker in Greg Zuerlein to a rookie seventh-round pick, Samuel Sloman. The transition hasn’t exactly been seamless through five weeks, with Sloman missing two of his field goal attempts and two PATs.
As panicked as Rams fans are about their team’s kicking situation, Sean McVay isn’t worrying just yet. During his media session on Monday, he admitted the Rams want Sloman to be more consistent, but pointed out that kickers across the league are struggling and the talent pool at the position is especially thin.
“You look around the league and there’s such a small inventory, we expect them to be more consistent. But you’re looking at it and you’re seeing a lot of these great kickers are missing extra points and missing some field goals,” he said. “I look at the one in Buffalo. I know I’ve brought this up a couple of times, but I put that more on me than anything else. But I do expect him to be automatic in those things. You don’t want to overreact to one miss, but we do want him to be more consistent. I think this was something that we knew based on getting a rookie kicker, there would be some things that might be a little bit different than what we’re accustomed to, where you’re spoiled from Greg Zuerlein and the production that he had, but we’re going to continue working with them and keep correcting and seeing how the rest of the way goes.”
It’s not a huge vote of confidence from McVay, but he recognizes that one of Sloman’s misses was tough to criticize. In Buffalo, the Rams attempted a 53-yard field goal into the wind, which Sloman just missed wide of the upright. His other missed field goal was his first-ever attempt in the NFL, though that shouldn’t be an excuse for not converting the 29-yarder.
The tough part with Sloman is that he hasn’t exactly been tested much. Seven of his eight attempts have come between 20-39 yards, with the other one being from 53 yards out. He has yet to attempt a kick in the all-important 40-49 range, but that test will come at some point.
McVay makes a good point about kickers missing attempts around the league – Zuerlein himself has missed two PATs and one FG – but that doesn’t excuse Sloman from his failed conversions. If he continues to miss, the Rams will have to look at making a change.