You would think it would be easy for NFL teams to scout kickers. You look at how accurate he’s been in college, measure his leg strength, and run him through a few confirmation drills. But there seems to be some difference between the college and pro games. Some of the balls aren’t as friendly, and there can be an adjustment period with snaps and holds.
However you want to slice it, Roberto Aguayo has gone from Mr. Automatic at Florida State to a potential liability for the Bucs. Two games into the preseason, he’s missed a PAT and a 32-yarder, as well as pushing a 49-yard attempt wide.
This isn’t surprising in that it was known coming in that Aguayo didn’t have a power leg. When he converted all 198 of his extra points in college, those with of the chip-shot variety. He went 21 of 26 on field goals last year, but he was just 5 of 10 from 40-plus yards. And only 47 of his 84 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.
Bigger issue, though, is the reality that it’s harder kicking in the pros. In the last 20 years, 17 kickers have been chosen in the first five rounds of drafts. Only two of those kickers went on to show that they should have been picked even earlier – Stephen Goskowski and Nate Kaeding. (That’s regular-season Kaeding – he missed some clutch kicks in painful playoff losses.)
In the last 20 years, only four rookie kickers (out of 18) hit at least 80 percent of their field goals in their first season.
| KICKERS CHOSEN IN FIRST FIVE ROUNDS (last 20 years) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rd | Player | G | FG | FGA | Pct |
| 1997 | 3rd | Brett Conway, G.B. | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 1999 | 3rd | Martin Gramatica, T.B. | 16 | 27 | 32 | 84% |
| 2000 | 1st | Sebastian Janikowski, Oak. | 16 | 22 | 32 | 69% |
| 2001 | 5th | John Markham, NYG | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 2001 | 4th | Bill Gramatica, Ariz. | 13 | 16 | 20 | 80% |
| 2002 | 4th | Travis Dorsch, Cin. | 1 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 2002 | 4th | Jeff Chandler, S.F. | 6 | 8 | 12 | 67% |
| 2004 | 3rd | • Nate Kaeding, S.D. | 16 | 20 | 25 | 80% |
| 2004 | 5th | Josh Scobee, Jac. | 16 | 24 | 31 | 77% |
| 2005 | 2nd | Mike Nugent, NYJ | 16 | 22 | 28 | 79% |
| 2006 | 4th | • Stephen Gostkowski, N.E. | 16 | 20 | 26 | 77% |
| 2007 | 5th | Justin Medlock, K.C. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 50% |
| 2009 | 5th | David Buehler, Dall. | 16 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 2011 | 4th | Alex Henery, Phil. | 16 | 24 | 27 | 89% |
| 2012 | 5th | Randy Bullock, Hou. | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 2013 | 5th | Caleb Sturgis , Mia. | 16 | 26 | 34 | 76% |
| 2016 | 2nd | Roberto Aguayo, T.B. | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan