Chicago Bears are shanking the kicking competition
The Chicago Bears seem to be missing an opportunity to find their next kicker.
At the conclusion of the debacle that was the Cody Parkey era, general manager Ryan Pace promised the Chicago Bears would leave no stone unturned in their search for their next placekicker.
That much was evident when they brought eight kickers into their rookie mini-camp, which ended Sunday.
In addition to Redford Jones, Chris Blewitt, and Elliott Fry, the Bears brought in five more kickers to compete — headlined by Casey Bednarski, John Baron, and Spencer Evans.
The first three were already signed, while the latter three were competing for a contract.
The competition started off hot with Matt Nagy lining up all eight kickers for a 43-yard field goal — the same distance as Parkey’s double-doink. Only Evans and Baron made it.
Next, at the end of the final day, Nagy has Jones and Bednarski square off form 32, 43, and 48 yards Bednarski hit all three while Jones missed one.
Today, kickers Redford Jones and Casey Bednarski competed at #Bears rookie minicamp. Whole team watched. Jones represented offense; Bednarski the defense. Bednarski made all three of his kicks: 32, 43 and 48 yards. And did a backflip. Offense did 25 up-downs with Jones losing.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) May 5, 2019
While Bednarski and Evans seemed to impress this weekend, especially under pressure, the Bears seemingly ignored those results and let both walk without a contract. Later on Sunday, they also parted ways with Jones, leaving only Blewitt and Fry on the roster.
Bears Kicker Standings
— Max Markham (@MaxMarkhamNFL) May 5, 2019
-along w/ record from 43 yards.
1. Casey Bednarski 1/2
2. Spencer Evans 2/2
3. Elliott Fry 1/2
4. Chris Blewitt 1/2
5. Redford Jones 0/2 (Doinked one)
6. John Baron 1/2
7. Justin Yoon 1/2
8. Emmitt Carpenter 1/2
The idea of bringing in a lot of competition and putting them in high leverage situations is a fantastic idea and almost a sure-fire way to find your next kicker.
Next. Day one of rookie camp features poor kicking. dark
In fact, it has only one fatal flaw — it doesn’t work if you ignore the results. It feels like that’s what the Bears did this weekend and it left fans feeling like they ‘blewitt’ — pun intended. Only time will tell whether they made the right choice, but it sure seems like the Bears may have left some points on the board this weekend.