Tag: Tristan Vizcaino

Patriots sign kicker Tristan Vizcaino, release kicker Quinn Nordin

The New England Patriots added depth to the kicking position on Friday.

The New England Patriots signed kicker Tristan Vizcaino, and released kicker Quinn Nordin on Friday afternoon.

Vizcaino has bounced around the league over the past couple of seasons. He played six games for the Chargers last season, going nine-of-10 on field goals and 17-of-22 on extra points. He played in one game with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020, prior to his time with Los Angeles.

Nordin was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He did not play any regular-season games for the Patriots last year, as Nick Folk was the starting kicker last season. The Patriots were able to re-sign Folk this offseason, doing so back in March.

New England has found stability at the starting kicker position, and now they are looking for ways to tighten up their depth.

[lawrence-related id=123293]

Report: Patriots to work out free agent kicker Tristan Vizcaino

The 25-year-old has been in the NFL for three seasons, most recently with the Chargers, and he’s kicked in seven regular season games.

The New England Patriots are set to work out free agent kicker Tristan Vizcaino on Monday, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Vizcaino is set to workout with Josh McDaniels’ Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday, according to Pelissero.

The 25-year-old has spent time with six NFL teams over the course of three years in the league and he’s appeared in seven games. Vizcaino most recently was with the Los Angeles Chargers and he went 6 of 7 with field goals, with a long of 46. He did go 10 of 15 on extra point attempts last season with the Chargers, which doesn’t look great on the resume.

The Patriots re-signed Nick Folk to a two-year deal worth $5 million after an excellent year in 2021. Former undrafted free agent Quinn Nordin is also on the roster, but he was not spotted at the team’s OTAs.

Vizcaino could potentially come in just to take some of the load off Folk this offseason.

[listicle id=122911]

Chargers add 4 players to COVID-19 list, remove 5

As the COVID-19 outbreak on the Chargers continues to develop, the team placed four players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

As the COVID-19 outbreak on the Chargers continues to develop, the team placed four players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday afternoon.

The following players were officially added:

LS Matt Overton

K Dustin Hopkins

OT Trey Pipkins

CB Davontae Harris

Five players came off the Reserve/COVID-19 list, with those being:

DL Justin Jones

EDGE Chris Rumph

QB Chase Daniel

OL Senio Kelemete

KR/PR Andre Roberts

The Chargers currently have 14 active-roster players, with the most notables being Joey Bosa, Corey Linsley, Mike Williams, Nasir Adderley, and Michael Davis. However, there’s a chance they could play this weekend, given the new guidelines.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association on Tuesday adopted the new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention guidelines that would reduce the quarantine time to five days from 10 days for all players, including those who are unvaccinated, if they are asymptomatic.

Chargers hope Dustin Hopkins will fix kicking problems

Dustin Hopkins marks the 11th kicker to play for the Chargers since 2017.

On Monday, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said this of Tristan Vizcaino: “We still have a lot of confidence in Tristan,” despite his ongoing struggles.

Three days later, Los Angeles waived Vizcaino and signed eight-year NFL kicker Dustin Hopkins.

Hopkins joins the Bolts with Washington franchise records for highest career field goal conversion rate (84.0%) and most field goals from 50 or more yards (14). In addition, he made 163 of his 194 field goal attempts.

“With his experience, his productivity, we just felt like this was good timing for us and for him,” Staley said.

Furthermore, the team is hopeful that Hopkins’ kicks can find the end zone more frequently, as Vizcaino’s kickoff touchback rate was 41.94%, which ranked 30th in the league.

Vizcaino was the first kicker since Vikings’ Fred Cox in 1974 to miss five extra-point attempts through a team’s first six games.

“We still believe in him as a player and we’re going to continue to coach him, but we felt like with where we’re at this season, we felt like Dustin would give us a lift and it would also allow us time to continue to develop and coach Tristan.”

On Thursday, the Chargers signed Vizcaino to the practice squad.

Hopkins makes his first start in the blue and gold against the Patriots Sunday, marking the 11th kicker to play for the Bolts dating back to 2017.

Chargers sign kicker Dustin Hopkins

The Chargers have a new kicker.

The Chargers signed kicker Dustin Hopkins and waived Tristan Vizcaino on Tuesday, the team announced.

The decision to part ways with Vizcaino came after his array of struggles, most notably missing five extra points in six games. Furthermore, his kickoff touchback percentage was 41.94, which ranked 30th in the league.

Hopkins played seven seasons with Washington before being released last week. The reason for being let go of was because of his inconsistencies the past two seasons.

Hopkins missed seven of 34 field goal attempts, as well as two extra-point attempts. Through the first six games of 2021, he missed another two extra-point attempts and two field goals.

The 31-year old holds franchise records for highest field goal percentage (84.0 percent) and most field goals from 50 or more yards (14). He made 163 of his 194 field goal attempts in that timespan.

Aiding the special teams was a priority through the bye week, and head coach Brandon Staley made the point to address it with returner Andre Roberts and now Hopkins.

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 reaffirm faith in kicker Tristan Vizcaino

The Chargers are going to continue to roll the dice with Tristan Vizcaino.

Chargers kicker Tristan Vizcaino missed his extra-point attempt in the team’s most recent loss to the Ravens. It marked his fifth miss in the last four games.

The week before that, Vizcaino missed a crucial game-tying point against the Browns late in the fourth quarter, which would have been costly had quarterback Justin Herbert not engineered the game-winning drive.

Despite his rough start to the season, head coach Brandon Staley continues to have faith in Vizcaino, who won the job over Michael Badgley.

“We’re going to make sure we keep all our options open at that position,” Staley said. “But we still have a lot of confidence in Tristan.”

This begs the question, how many more errors can Vizcaino commit until confidence runs out?

The 25-year-old Vizcaino has a strong leg, but if his errors continue to hinder the Chargers’ offense, especially in crucial moments, this may become a detrimental problem.

Football is a team sport, so the blame can’t wholly be put on Vizcaino; however, it is imperative that he returns from the bye week with improved accuracy.

Signing of Andre Roberts should not stop Chargers from continuing to shore up special teams

The Chargers need to strongly consider bringing in another kicker.

Even after the addition of veteran returner Andre Roberts, the Chargers’ special teams department is far from solidified. The team continues to be haunted by ongoing issues in the kicking game.

Tristan Vizcaino, who was given the nod over Michael Badgley for the starting kicker, has not done much to show he was the right man for the job.

In six games, Vizcaino has missed five extra points, which marks the most in the NFL.

Vizcaino was coveted for his leg strength by the coaching staff, but he has yet to make a field goal over 50 yards, and his kickoff touchback percentage is 41.94, which ranks 30th in the league.

Head coach Brandon Staley acknowledged his struggles with the extra points, adding that a good chunk of it has to do with Vizcaino’s confidence.

His confidence may be shallow because the Chargers have been giving up a ton of pressure off the right side of their field goal and extra point protection.

But the bottom line is that it’s a glaring concern that has been near costly, most notably the missed extra point against the Browns late in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game at 42.

Despite the 25-year-old’s growing pains, Los Angeles might be wise to strongly consider bringing in another kicker to avoid any blunders down the final stretch of the season.

The pool of available kickers is not deep, but a few notables include Dustin Hopkins, Giorgio Travecchio, Stephen Gostkowski, and Eddy Pineiro. Or, a pair of Chargers, Badgley or Josh Lambo, might intrigue.

Would it be surprising to see the coaches roll with Vizcaino following the bye? Not at all, given Staley’s comments on him needing to grow his confidence.

However, it is not worth taking the chance of these types of errors to grow any further, which is why change has to be taken into consideration.

Chargers’ players of the game vs. Washington

Highlighting the most impactful players for the Chargers in their Week 1 victory over Washington.

The Chargers kicked off the 2021 regular season in the win column after downing Washington on the road.

Who had the biggest impact on the game in all three phases?

Here are the players of the game in Week 1:

Offensive Player of the Game: QB Justin Herbert

Either one of wide receiver Keenan Allen or Mike Williams could have been slotted here after their stellar performances but at the end of the day, the engineer of the offense gets the nod.

A stat line of 337 passing yards and a touchdown is seen as pretty normal in today’s NFL, but it is what Herbert did that earned him the award, managing to overcome a fumble into the end zone that resulted in a touchback and a red zone interception.

He led an offense that went 14 of 19 on third down, scoring drives of 75, 76 and 68 yards to close out the game, and a go-ahead touchdown pass to Mike Williams prior to that to make up for the hiccups.

So much for all that talk of a second season regression. Herbert is the real deal.

Defensive Player of the Game: LB Kyzir White

This would’ve gone to Joey Bosa, Derwin James or Asante Samuel Jr. for their outings as a whole but for today, I’m giving it to the player that made the biggest defensive play of the game.

Following Herbert’s interception in the red zone, all the momentum was on Washington’s side. That was until running back Antonio Gibson took a carry up the middle, only to meet White who was able to punch the ball out and have it recovered by Kenneth Murray.

Herbert followed that up with his lone touchdown pass to Williams which ultimately sealed the deal.

White finished the game with five tackles and the forced fumble.

Special Teams Player of the Game: K Tristan Vizcaino

The coaches made the decision to make Vizcaino the starting kicker over Michael Badgley, and he did not disappoint in his regular season debut for the Chargers. Vizcaino was a perfect 4-of-4 on his field goals of 33 and 27 yards and both extra points.

Chargers vs. Seahawks: Takeaways from first half of preseason finale

What stood out in the first half of the Chargers’ preseason finale.

The Chargers currently trail the Seahawks in the preseason finale by the score of 17-0.

Here are a few quick takeaways from the first half of play:

Michael Badgley gains ground

Badgley has yet to attempt a field goal, but he benefited from Tristan Vizcaino missing the only one from 47 yards out. Coming into the game, Badgley had a slight lead over Vizcaino and the miss should only help his cause to being the starting kicker this season.

Trey Pipkins’ struggles continue

Pipkins was expected to be the team’s swing tackle after having his fair share of live-game opportunities last season, but he has yet to show he’s improved. The third-year player allowed another sack for the third consecutive week. Pipkins has had no answers for speed rushers.

Tyron Johnson emerges

It was a quiet first two weeks for Johnson, which was primarily due to him being used improperly. So quiet that many even pegged him as a bubble player, but he has made his presence known with four catches for 41 yards. Johnson should be a key contributor this season. Rookie Josh Palmer has flashed, catching three passes for 26 yards.

Larry Rountree continues to be consistent

Rountree has been the MVP of the backfield this preseason, and he continued to show why in the first half. Given the ball four times, Rountree gained 22 yards, with a long of 15. The rookie out of Missouri showed great vision, feet and burst running the rock and great awareness in pass protection. He was even given reps as the first-team kick returner.

Depth is an issue

I get it, it’s just the preseason and these games don’t matter. However, we are able to gauge how the backups are in case injuries occur, and it’s safe to say that the Chargers have holes at a few positions, specifically along the offensive line and in the secondary.