Florida’s dynamic performance last season was fueled in large part by players who are now departing for the professional ranks. One under-appreciated member of the team who is also parlaying a strong season into an NFL bid is kicker Evan McPherson, who is leaving Gainesville after only his junior season.
Although he was often overlooked thanks to his role on special teams, McPherson was something of a secret weapon for the three seasons he played for the Gators. His career 85% success rate on field goal attempts was his flashiest statistic – it led the SEC by the time he took his final kick in the Orange and Blue.
Although some can boast a high rate of successful kicks, his aim is true on distance attempts as well as shorter ones. He explained his mentality when presented with 50-plus yard kicks to Justin Melo of The Draft Network in a recently featured interview.
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“You can’t go out there and overthink it,” said McPherson. “There’s true value in a kicker that can make the deep kicks. That’s where you separate yourself from the pack. We’re out there to make every single kick. The long ones are the fun ones.”
The thrill of the kick was something of a theme throughout McPhereson’s comments to TDN. Like any of the best players in the game, he doesn’t shrink from the spotlight. He thrives in it.
“As a field goal kicker, we sometimes decide the outcome of a game,” continued McPherson. “That’s very exciting to me. We can win it or lose it. I get a thrill out of that. I enjoy being the deciding factor. I love the pressure that comes with it.”
Yo, this isn’t natural @McPherson_Evan pic.twitter.com/hRN6Dd6x1M
— Alek (@abennett50_) January 27, 2020
The fact of the matter is that kickers rarely hold enough value to a team to make spend draft capital on one worth their while. However, if there’s a kicker deserving of a place among the players selected in the 2021 NFL draft, it’s hard to argue against the former Gator as the pick.
There’s no two ways about it, McPherson is deservingly confident in his place in this draft. He said it best, opining:
“A team should draft me because I’m the top kicker in this draft. I’m going to help a team at the next level.”
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