Josh Lambo has been one of the league’s best kickers since he signed with Jacksonville in 2017. In fact, his 95% conversion rate on field goals during his time in a Jaguars uniform (which ranks third in NFL history) is the best of any placekicker in the league during that span.
But that might not be enough to keep him on the roster. The seventh-year specialist missed 12 games last season with a hip injury, and one of the kickers who the team brought in during that time, Aldrick Rosas, is apparently pushing Lambo for the starting job.
“We’ve got two guys and they’re both very good kickers and they’re competing to win the job,” new special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen said, per ESPN’s Mike DiRocco. “That’s what we’re doing every day and they’ve both been great.”
Rosas’ career field-goal percentage sits at 81.4%, but he went to the Pro Bowl in 2018 as a member of the New York Giants, hitting 32 of 33 attempts that season. The Giants released him last summer after he was charged with three misdemeanors stemming from an alleged hit-and-run, to which he later pled no contest.
The Jaguars signed him to the practice squad on Sept. 28 and elevated him to the active roster less than a week later, and he made four field goals in his debut. He was released on Oct. 30, and the next day, the NFL suspended him for four games for the hit-and-run incident. Jacksonville brought him back while he was still under suspension, and after it was lifted, he started five of the final six games.
“We have two guys that are very talented kickers, very talented,” coach Urban Meyer said. “And we’re going to do that quite often before we have to make a decision.”
Rosas was re-signed in March, and according to DiRocco, they each made 58-yarders on the first day of mandatory minicamp on Monday, with Lambo going 5-of-5 and Rosas going 4-of-5 during the field goal portion of Tuesday’s practice.
Given Lambo’s productivity, he’s unlikely to lose the battle with Rosas, assuming he’s fully recovered. But either way, it seems this showdown will continue much further into camp.