Tag: Caleb Shudak

Titans sign K Michael Badgley, waive both young kickers

The Titans have parted ways with both Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolff in favor of veteran Michael Badgley.

After an entire offseason of wondering who was going to win the competition between kickers Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolff, the answer resoundingly ended up being neither of them.

Tennessee parted ways with both Shudak and Wolff on Tuesday afternoon, and have now chosen to go with veteran kicker Michael Badgley.

Badgley had a brief and unsuccessful stint with the Titans in 2021 before revitalizing his career with the Colts and Lions, making 85.7 and 83.3 percent of his kicks, respectively, the last two years.

As for Shudak and Wolff, the two of them appeared to have strong training camps, but Wolff ended up missing 1-of-2 field goals in the preseason, and Shudak barely made his lone attempt.

The Titans entered the offseason looking for a kicker with a bigger leg, and while both young kickers seemed to have that trait, clearly it wasn’t enough for Tennessee to move forward with either.

Badgley is now the only kicker on the Titans’ roster and it appears as if it’s his job to lose. However, the “Money Badger” is already having a rough go of it at his first practice.

This situation is still fluid, but Badgley did end his rough day on a high note by nailing a 49-yard field goal to end practice.

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Update on Titans’ kicker competition going into 3rd week of training camp

An updated look at the Titans’ kicker competition ahead of the third week of camp and first preseason game.

The Tennessee Titans’ kicking competition between Trey Wolff and Caleb Shudak continues to be a toss-up two weeks into training camp.

It seems as if the Titans are choosing to alternate between the two kickers each practice, allowing them to operate as if they are the team’s primary kicker every other practice.

According to Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com, Wolff was 6-of-7 in a field goal period during Friday’s practice, with makes from 33, 40, 47, 52, 33, and 43 yards out, and a miss from 46,

Wolff had another miss on top of the 46-yarder, with the Texas Tech product failing to hit a 55-yard attempt to end a mock two-minute drill. In total, Wolff has now made 32 of his 36 kicks in camp (88.9 percent).

As for Shudak, he didn’t kick in Friday’s team period, but was 9-for-9 during Thursday’s practice, per Wyatt. He’s more than holding his own whenever it’s his turn to trot out there, making 93.1 percent of his kicks since training camp began (27-of-29), per Wyatt.

After another week of practices, the next step in the competition will come in preseason Week 1, when the Titans take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Saturday at noon CT.

We currently do not know how the Titans are planning to split the kicks in that game, but it’s a safe bet that we’ll probably get to see both Shudak and Wolff at some point.

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Titans’ kicker competition neck-and-neck entering 2nd week of camp

The Titans’ kicker competition appears to be neck-and-neck as we enter the second week of training camp.

The Tennessee Titans’ kicker competition is fully underway, with both Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolff vying for the lone kicking job on the roster in training camp.

And as we now enter the second week, the battle between both guys is about as close as you could possibly get. Tennessee’s two kickers have only missed two field goals each since the start of training camp, according to the numbers collected by Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.

Kicker Trey Wolff was 7-of-8 in practice, with makes from 42, 34, 38, 33, 52, 33 and 54, and a miss from 46. He’s now 26-of-28 in camp. Kicker Caleb Shudak did not kick in the team period, and he’s 18-of-20 in camp.

Wolff has made 26 of his 28 kicks (92 percent), while Shudak has gone 18-of-20 (90 percent). In the last two days, Wolff didn’t kick on Monday and Shudak didn’t kick on Tuesday.

Here’s what Wyatt wrote about Shudak on Monday:

Kicker Caleb Shudak was 7-of-8 in today’s practice, and he’s now 18-of-20 in camp. Shudak was good from 42, 34, 46, 33, 52, 33 and 54 yards, with a miss from 38 yards.

While both kickers have displayed leg strength early on with makes over 50 yards, John Glennon of Nashville Post made it a point to mention Wolff’s powerful leg on Tuesday.

During his time at Texas Tech, Wolff only attempted two field goals of 50-plus yards (2-for-2), but his leg strength consistently showed on kickoffs, producing a touchback on approximately 54 percent of his kicks in 2022, subsequently leading to a kickoff grade of 73.7, per Pro Football Focus.

As for Shudak, he may not have the powerful leg that crushes the ball on contact, but the former Big-10 kicker consistently proved throughout his college career that he’s capable of performing in whatever elements are thrown his way.

The second-year kicker currently holds the Iowa record for career field-goal percentage (minimum 25 attempts) at 82.8 percent (24-29).

Regardless of how well these guys are doing right now, this position battle will ultimately be settled in the preseason. It’s nice to see these kickers do well in practice, but if they fold when the pressure is really on in a game situation, then the team will have to go in another direction.

Obviously, the preseason attempts don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, but the reality is, they’re kicking for their job at that point. So even if the final score doesn’t really matter, you can bet the pressure will be on them whenever they trot on that field.

Nevertheless, keep your eyes peeled on how these practices are playing out because something like that could end up being the tiebreaker should both kickers perform well in the team’s upcoming three preseason games.

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Titans specialists training camp preview: Locks, competition, prediction

A look at the Titans’ specialists, a group that has just one job up for grabs ahead of training camp.

As we continue to make our way through previewing each position group ahead of Tennessee Titans training camp, we now move to the specialists.

Truth be told, this is one of the easier ones to discuss considering two of the jobs are already locks — and so much so, that two of the positions, punter and long snapper, don’t even have backups listed on the roster.

As for the remaining third, kicker, there are two players vying for the role, leaving it up in the air going into training camp.

This article is going to discuss which specialists are locks to make the team, as well as who is battling for the opportunity of a lifetime. Without further ado, let’s take a deeper dive into Tennessee’s special teams unit.

Ryan Stonehouse’s ‘Madden NFL 24’ ratings reflect the absolute unit his leg is

Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse didn’t score the highest overall rating at his position in “Madden NFL 24” but his kick power was accurately rated.

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re a Tennessee Titans fan and will be using the team in “Madden NFL 24” when it gets released next month. If that’s the case, you’re in good hands at punter.

That’s because Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse, who was arguably the best at his position during a historic rookie season, has been properly rated by the game to reflect just how damn powerful he is.

When it comes to his overall mark, Stonehouse scored an 82, which could be higher but is still the third-highest mark among punters in the game.

The only two rated higher are the two punters who were named first-team All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl over Stonehouse, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Tommy Townsend and the Las Vegas Raiders’ A.J. Cole, respectively.

Where Stonehouse was absolutely properly rated was in kick power (KPW), where he was given a perfect 99, the highest mark of any punter in the game.

Via EA.com

Stonehouse routinely showed off his monster leg last season, blasting punts that flipped the field on a regular basis for Tennessee’s inept offense. And the result was him smashing an 84-year-old record for gross yards per punt with 53.1.

The only knock on Stonehouse was his inability to consistently angle punts to pin opponents deep, which was the reason (and a weak one) he didn’t get the accolades Cole and Townsend received (he did get second-team All-Pro, though). Even still, Stonehouse ranked fourth in net yards per punt.

Knowing that, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that his kick accuracy rating came in tied for the fifth-highest in the game at 88.

On that front, Stonehouse, who is following one of the greatest directional punters these eyes have ever seen, Brett Kern, has been improving in that area this offseason, at least according to special teams coordinator, Craig Aukerman.

If he can nail down that part of his game, the 24-year-old will dominate the title of the league’s best punter for years to come, and he may finish as the greatest to ever do it. He’s that good.

But that’s enough punter love for now. Here’s a look at how other Tennessee specialists were rated ahead of the release of “Madden NFL 24” in August.

Update on Titans’ kicker competition following minicamp

A look at what we know about the Titans’ kicker competition following mandatory minicamp.

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As we slowly inch closer to Tennessee Titans training camp in late July, there will be a lot of position battles to keep an eye on.

While most people will focus on the competitions on offense and defense, Tennessee’s special teams unit has a significant position battle of its own.

Right now, the Titans have two kickers on their roster who only have a combined one game of NFL experience between the two of them.

Caleb Shudak has one contest under his belt, going two-of-three in his only professional outing last season. Meanwhile, while Trey Wolff is a 2023 UDFA who is trying to steal the job away from a 2022 UDFA.

In a recent mailbag article, Jim Wyatt of Titans Online stated that Wolff was getting the majority of the work for a “stretch,” but the Iowa product did get back to kicking throughout minicamp.

Here is what Wyatt had to say about the kicking competition, including his count for makes and misses:

Caleb is back and kicking again. It was interesting to see kicker Trey Wolff get most of the work for a stretch there, but Caleb kicked on Wednesday and Thursday of this week’s minicamp. I’ve been charting the field goals in the open periods, and Shudak is 14-of-15, while Wolff, who signed as an undrafted free agent from Texas Tech earlier this offseason, is 29-of-32 during the open periods. Both of those guys have kicked well so far.

Judging by those numbers, this battle is practically as even as can be. Shudak may have a smaller sample size, but he has made approximately 93 percent of his kicks. Meanwhile, Wolff has a larger sample size but a slightly lower field goal percentage (approximately 90 percent).

Longtime beat writer, Paul Kuharsky, provided this nugget in terms of what he’s seen so far from both kickers:

This battle likely won’t be settled until the preseason, but as of right now, this could go either way.

Titans’ Craig Aukerman talks returner options, kicker competition, more

Titans special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman touched on a number of topics on Tuesday, including returner options, the kicker competition, and more.

The Tennessee Titans made coaches available on Day 2 of organized team activities and special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman was among them.

On the subject of kick returners, Aukerman revealed that rookie running back Tyjae Spears will be among those in competition for that specific job.

“It’s early on, obviously this is what the offseason is for,” Aukerman said, per Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky. “We’re going to try a lot of guys out there. We obviously liked [Spears’] skill set coming out of college. It’s a little bit too early but we’re going to try him out there and see how that works.”

Aukerman also named Spears as someone who will be in contention for punt return duties, along with second-year wide receiver Kyle Philips.

Aukerman spoke about the new kickoff rules, the kicker competition and much more during his presser on Tuesday. Here’s a look at all of it.

Titans offseason preview for special teams: A question mark at kicker

In our final offseason preview ahead of free agency, we take a look at the Titans’ special teams.

In the very last of our offseason previews for the Tennessee Titans ahead of the start of free agency, we take a look at the special teams unit.

Tennessee went the young route at punter in 2022, with the team opting to keep undrafted free agent Ryan Stonehouse over franchise great and long-time punter, Brett Kern.

The move paid dividends, as Stonehouse posted a historic rookie season thanks to a monster leg that averaged an NFL record 53.1 gross yards per punt, smashing an 82-year-old mark.

At kicker, Randy Bullock provided stability once again, but his lack of elite leg strength prevented Tennessee from attempting longer field goals, which was likely at least part of the motivation to cut him recently.

With Bullock gone, the Titans are now in uncertain waters at the position, with the only kicker on the roster being 2022 UDFA, Caleb Shudak. That’s especially ominous for a team that had kicker issues in recent years.

As far as the return units were concerned, there was nothing much to write home about, whether it was returning kicks and punts, or defending them.

With all that in mind, here’s a look at what the team might do on special teams in 2023.

Titans activate OLB Ola Adeniyi from IR among five moves

Titans OLB Ola Adeniyi is set to make his return after a nine-game absence.

The Tennessee Titans announced a grand total of five moves on Saturday ahead of their Week 13 battle against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

The team has activated outside linebacker Ola Adeniyi from injured reserve. Adeniyi was designated to return earlier in the week and is set to play in his first game since Week 2.

In order to make room for Adeniyi on the roster, the Titans waived kicker Caleb Shudak, who filled in for veteran Randy Bullock in Week 12. Shudak made three of four field goals in the Titans’ 20-16 loss to Cincinnati.

Shudak’s fate was sealed once Bullock, who had missed two games in a row, was deemed healthy enough to play this week. It’ll be interesting to see if the Titans try to bring Shudak back on the practice squad if he clears waivers.

Now, a look at all five of the moves Tennessee made ahead of Sunday.

Titans kicker Caleb Shudak to make NFL debut in Week 12 vs. Bengals

Titans rookie kicker Caleb Shudak will make his NFL debut in Week 12 against the Bengals.

Tennessee Titans rookie kicker Caleb Shudak will be making his NFL debut in the Week 12 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On top of activating Shudak from the physically unable to perform list and placing him on the 53-man roster, the Titans also ruled out kicker Randy Bullock, who will miss his second straight game due to a calf injury.

In addition to those moves, the Titans are also elevating defensive back Greg Mabin and linebacker Andre Smith from the practice squad for the contest. Both players will revert back to the practice squad after the game.

Shudak was impressive during OTAs, making 19 of his 24 attempts. It was thought he could give Bullock a run for his money for the starting job, but a leg injury put Shudak on the shelf until he was activated this week.

As Titans special teams coach Craig Aukerman said earlier in the week, Shudak offers a bigger leg than Bullock, which means the Titans might actually be able to go for the longer field goals they avoid with Bullock.

However, Shudak’s lack of experience is a concern, making him a total wild card in what is one of the toughest games of the year for Tennessee.

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