Tag: samuel sloman

Rams release struggling rookie K Samuel Sloman

The Rams have finally moved on from Samuel Sloman after seven shaky games.

The Rams are officially making a change at kicker. After signing Kai Forbath from the Bears’ practice squad last week, the Rams have released rookie Samuel Sloman.

Sloman had been the team’s kicker for the first seven games of this season, but he missed one kick in six of his seven appearances. He had a 48-yarder blocked on Monday night against the Bears, which seemed to be the final straw for Sean McVay and John Bonamego.

The Rams drafted Sloman in the seventh round this year out of Miami (Ohio) and he beat out Austin MacGinnis and Lirim Hajrullahu in training camp to earn the job in L.A. But after missing three field goals and three extra point attempts in seven games, the Rams felt it was time to move on.

Forbath will take over kicking duties for Los Angeles, bringing plenty of experience to a team that has been searching for a replacement for Greg Zuerlein.

With a spot available on the 53-man roster, it’s likely that the Rams will activate A’Shawn Robinson soon, possibly as early as this week before Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.

Rams sign K Kai Forbath off Bears practice squad

The Rams have added a kicker in wake of Samuel Sloman’s recent struggles.

Fans have been calling for the Rams to make a change at kicker with Samuel Sloman missing three PATs and two field goals in six games, and they could be on the verge of doing so. The team announced on Tuesday that it has signed kicker Kai Forbath off the Bears’ practice squad, adding him to the 53-man roster.

Sloman is still on the roster, however, so this could be a sign that the Rams will allow him to compete with Forbath throughout the week.

Forbath previously spent time with the Vikings, Jaguars and Cowboys, most recently kicking for Dallas late last season. He began his career with Washington in 2012 and has made 86.8% of his field goal attempts in his career.

To make room for Forbath on the 53-man roster, the Rams placed Ogbonnia Okoronkwo on injured reserve.

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Sean McVay on Samuel Sloman: ‘He’s got to improve’

Samuel Sloman missed his third PAT of the season on Sunday night.

The value of kickers in the NFL went up when the NFL moved the extra point distance back to 33 yards in 2015, no longer making them automatic conversions that were rarely missed. Rams kicker Samuel Sloman has already missed three PATs in six games, including another that was blocked on Sunday night against the 49ers.

Those misses, combined with his 77.8% field goal accuracy have caused some frustration among fans, and now that frustration seems to be spreading to Sean McVay. On Monday night in wake of the Rams’ loss to San Francisco, McVay was asked about Sloman’s performance thus far and he needs to see improvement from the rookie kicker.

“We’ve said it week in and week out. Obviously, you want to not have to continue to talk about the missed extra points or some of the things,” McVay said. “Did a nice job responding. Definitely want us to handle that last kickoff situation a little bit differently, where we’re trying to pin them deep when they’re set up for an onside return and you got a chance to pin them a little bit deeper than kicking it that deep into the end zone. That was not what we wanted. He’s got to improve.”

The response McVay is referring to was the 42-yarder Sloman made against the 49ers, which was his first made field goal longer than 40 yards this season. While it certainly was good to see Sloman convert that kick, there is still reason for concern at the kicker position.

Even the best miss field goals and PATs, but Sloman’s kicks have been driven too low – something McVay has also talked about this season – and often seem at risk of being blocked. That increases the likelihood of kicks being missed, which is an adjustment Sloman will have to make.

McVay hasn’t said whether the Rams will bring in another kicker or consider making a change, but if Sloman keeps missing on a seemingly weekly basis, they may not have a choice.

ESPN suggests Rams make rare kicker trade with Giants

Bill Barnwell says the Rams should trade Sloman to the Giants for Graham Gano.

Finding a consistent and reliable kicker can be difficult – and trusting a struggling kicker to come around can be even more challenging. The Rams are dealing with both right now as Samuel Sloman has had some trouble making his kicks after the Rams picked him from their three-man camp competition.

But there could be a solution: trade Sloman to New York. At least, that’s what Bill Barnwell of ESPN suggests the Rams do.

In his trade deadline preview, Barnwell laid out 13 trade ideas for NFL teams. His final one involved the Rams sending Sloman and a 2021 sixth-round pick to the Giants in exchange for veteran Graham Gano.

Here’s part of what Barnwell wrote about the idea, explaining why it makes sense for both teams.

Sloman’s Rams have been the second-worst team in the league on scoring kick attempts. The Giants have been the NFL’s second-best team on those same plays, in part because their kicker has been off to a hot start. Gano is 13-of-14, including four makes in five tries of 50 yards or more. The former Panthers kicker missed all of 2019 with a broken leg, but he is only three years removed from a Pro Bowl-caliber season in 2017. The Giants are 0-5 and should be trying to amass draft capital; they can get a sixth-rounder here if they’re willing to take a shot on Sloman.

Sean McVay said this week that he doesn’t want to overreact to Sloman’s struggles this season by making a change at kicker, but he did say he wants to see more consistency from the rookie. So far, he’s missed two field goal attempts – one from 29 yards and another from 53 – and two extra points. Gano, on the other hand, has made all four of his field goal attempts (two from 40-49 yards) and missed one of his seven PATs.

McVay blames himself for making Sloman attempt a 53-yarder into the wind, but the 29-yarder and PATs should be almost automatic.

“You look around the league and there’s such a small inventory, we expect them to be more consistent,” McVay said. “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. 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.”

It’s highly unlikely the Rams trade Sloman, but it’s possible they’ll make a change at the position if he doesn’t improve in the coming weeks.

Rams want Samuel Sloman ‘to be more consistent’ but will stay patient

Samuel Sloman has missed two PATs and two field goals in five games this season.

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.

Rams fans growing impatient after Samuel Sloman’s latest miss

This was Samuel Sloman’s fourth miss in five weeks.

The Los Angeles Rams held a three-man competition at kicker this offseason, pitting a rookie out of college against two others who hailed from the XFL and CFL. Samuel Sloman wound up winning the battle as a rookie out of Miami (Ohio), but Rams fans wanted the team to keep Lirim Hajrullahu, who had a successful career in the CFL.

That sentiment hasn’t changed four-plus games into the season.

Sloman had already missed two field goals and a PAT in the first four games, and on Sunday against Washington, he missed another extra point attempt after Darrell Henderson’s 1-yard touchdown.

After he pulled it left of the upright, Rams fans on Twitter shared their ever-increasing frustration and impatience with the rookie kicker.

Sean McVay hasn’t lost confidence in Sloman just yet, but if he keeps missing kicks, the Rams might have to make a change. Hajrullahu and Austin MacGinnis are both still available, though the Jets worked out Hajrullahu last week so he’s generating some interest.

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Sean McVay evaluates Samuel Sloman’s first two games for Rams

Sean McVay feels good about Samuel Sloman’s performance up to this point despite his two misses this season.

The Rams were on the prowl for a new kicker this offseason for the first time since Greg Zuerlein was drafted in 2012. The search led them to three different kickers who battled it out in training camp, with Samuel Sloman coming out on top as the victor.

The rookie out of Miami (Ohio) is only two games into his NFL career, and there have clearly been some growing pains to work through. He clanked his first field goal attempt against the Cowboys off the upright in Week 1, and last week in Philadelphia, he had his final extra point blocked.

Despite some early struggles, Sean McVay hasn’t lost confidence in his young kicker. He likes what he’s seen from Sloman, particularly his mental toughness after missing his first field goal try.

“I think he’s done a nice job and I think there’s a couple things where – you look at the blocked extra point that we had the other day. I mean, you’ve just got to get some more height under it. He didn’t hit it clean and didn’t have much trajectory underneath the ball. It was a flat line-drive that that’s going to get blocked regardless of how good the protection is,” McVay said. “But he’s got a nice way about himself. I do like his mental toughness. I like how he’s kind of unfazed. I think you want to give them some understanding that he’s done a lot of good things, too. I thought the most impressive thing I’ve seen from him was the response after he clings the upright against Dallas, ended up making an extra point, a couple of field goals that we had to have in that game when you end up winning by three. So, I think it’s been positive. There’s definitely some room for improvement, but I don’t want to be too quick to judge with two games of inventory for a guy that didn’t have a preseason. It’s a rookie kicker. There’s so much involved just from a mental approach that I do feel good where he’s at and you want to continue to just monitor that and see him progress. I think as he gains experience, his confidence will come with that as well.”

Sloman beat out Lirim Hajrullahu and Austin MacGinnis in camp after a late push in the Rams’ final practices before the season began. He was clutch at Miami and has a big enough leg to drill long field goals, it’ll just take some time for him to get acclimated to kicking at the professional level.

The Rams would love if their offense kept scoring touchdowns and didn’t put Sloman in positions to attempt long field goals, but at some point, he will be tested from distance.

That time simply hasn’t come yet, with all of his attempts coming from inside 40 yards.

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Sean McVay explains why Rams picked Samuel Sloman as their kicker

Sam Sloman beat out Lirim Hajrullahu and Austin MacGinnis in camp.

One of the biggest decisions the Rams had to make this week was at kicker, where they had three guys competing for one spot. Although it seemed like Lirim Hajrullahu was leading the race over Samuel Sloman and Austin MacGinnis, he wasn’t the last kicker standing.

Instead, the Rams chose Sloman, whom they drafted in the seventh round this year out of Miami (Ohio). Being a draft pick did nothing to guarantee him a spot on the team, but he earned it in camp with a strong performance.

After making their final roster cuts Saturday, Sean McVay explained why the Rams chose Sloman over the other two kickers, and it obviously came down to the wire.

Although Sloman had the worst conversion rate in the Rams’ two scrimmages, he apparently had a great final week of practices in Thousand Oaks. That’s encouraging heading into the regular season, where he’ll be thrown to the fire on Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys at SoFi Stadium.

He was also the youngest of the bunch at only 22 years old, though he’ll turn 23 on Sept. 19.

Sloman also spoke to reporters Saturday and he found out he made the team in the most 2020 way possible: by getting a COVID test on his way into the facility.

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