Chargers work out pair of kickers

The Chargers could be looking to resolve their kicking issues.

According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Chargers worked out kickers Dustin Hopkins and Elliott Fry on Tuesday.

One day after head coach Brandon Staley said he and the coaching staff were confident in Vizcaino, Los Angeles felt it was still in its best interest to check out some options to see if one might be capable of resolving the kicking issues.

Hopkins was recently let go of by Washington after serving as the team’s kicker from 2015. In those six years, Hopkins made 163 of his 194 field goal attempts (84%), with his best season coming in 2018, where he made 26 of his 29 attempts (89.7%), including 4-of-5 from over 50 yards.

Fry, on the other hand, recently spent time on the Falcons’ practice squad. Between his time with Atlanta, the Bears, Ravens, Panthers, and Buccaneers, Fry only had one field goal attempt. According to Yates, he went 9-for-10 in his workout for the Chargers, with his lone miss coming from 64 yards out.

Chargers training camp: Needle slightly tilted towards kicker Tristan Vizcaino

Tristan Vizcaino had a bounce-back performance.

Chargers kickers Michael Badgley and Tristan Vizcaino’s performances were showered in boos by over 30,000 people that were in attendance for practice at SoFi Stadium this past Sunday.

At practice Wednesday, it was Vizcaino who had a bounce-back outing, finishing with a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals. Badgley, on the other hand, went 3 of 5, with his longest being from 46 yards.

Undrafted free agent Alex Kessman has been overshadowed by the two because he hasn’t rotated in with the first team all that often and he finished 2 of 6 this past weekend.

Practices have been a gauge as to who has the early leg up (no pun intended), but the preseason games will tell all. Not only will there be field goals and extra points to be made, kickoffs will also be a determining factor.

In my latest 53-man roster, I have Vizcaino winning the starting job but only will time tell.