The Cowboys signed Greg Zuerlein yesterday. Yes, sorry, the signing of a kicker was probably the biggest NFL-related news item to come down the pike yesterday. It's a name that gets people interested because of past fantasy success and the cool nicknames, but it should be noted that he's available because he's coming off a disappointing season.
Zuerlein made just 73 percent of his field goals a year ago; he was 24 of 33. That's actually not a career-low; back in 2015, he converted only 20 of 30 three-point kicks. That season he dealt with a groin injury for a portion of the year; he's had various lower-body injuries during his career.
Zuerlein's 2019 season looks even worse if you look at the first-half/second-half split. In the first eight games, he had 70 kicking points. That tied for 4th in the NFL, behind only Zane Gonzalez, Justin Tucker and Josh Lambo. But everything went south for the Rams and Zuerlein in the last eight games. He had only 44 points. That was better than only four other kicking games.
KICKING POINTS, 1ST HALF/2ND HALF | |||
---|---|---|---|
Kicker | 1-8 | 9-16 | Total |
Falcons | 41 | 84 | 125 |
Butker | 70 | 77 | 147 |
Lutz | 67 | 77 | 144 |
Gould | 65 | 74 | 139 |
Cowboys | 65 | 71 | 136 |
Sanders | 29 | 69 | 98 |
Tucker | 75 | 66 | 141 |
Hopkins | 33 | 63 | 96 |
Bailey | 59 | 62 | 121 |
McManus | 51 | 61 | 112 |
Bullock | 46 | 59 | 105 |
Patriots | 62 | 58 | 120 |
Chargers | 55 | 58 | 113 |
Jets | 22 | 58 | 80 |
Myers | 52 | 57 | 109 |
Gay | 68 | 56 | 124 |
Hauschka | 40 | 56 | 96 |
Elliott | 46 | 55 | 101 |
Gonzalez | 76 | 51 | 127 |
Seibert | 54 | 51 | 105 |
Colts | 50 | 49 | 99 |
Boswell | 68 | 47 | 115 |
Prater | 66 | 47 | 113 |
Crosby | 59 | 47 | 106 |
Carlson | 44 | 47 | 91 |
Fairbairn | 54 | 46 | 100 |
Pineiro | 50 | 46 | 96 |
Zuerlein | 70 | 44 | 114 |
Lambo | 75 | 43 | 118 |
Slye | 65 | 41 | 106 |
Rosas | 30 | 41 | 71 |
Titans | 38 | 36 | 74 |
As we regularly point out, kicker performance is tied closely to team success. Dallas, you'll note, ranked 5th in kicking points the second half of last season. A healthy Zuerlein tied to a strong offense that is one of the favorites in the NFC East could be very good. Probably better than he would have been with the Rams.
--Andy Richardson