Chicago Bears: How Nagy might evaluate kickers during preseason games

How will the Chicago Bears evaluate their kickers as the preseason games begin next week?

One of the pleasant surprises from the first week of Chicago Bears training camp has to be the kicking situation. What has been nothing short of an anxiety-inducing nightmare this offseason, the kicking competition so far has given Bears fans a reason to be optimistic.

If you’re keeping score at home, on Friday, Elliott Fry connected on 10 of his 11 kicks to move to 27 for 31 so far in camp. That total includes one day in sloppy conditions in which it was wet, slippery, rainy and windy — or as it’s known in the Windy City — a beautiful day.

As for his competition, Eddy Pineiro, he has connected on 20 of 24 kicks in camp but has not had to deal with less than ideal conditions.

Both kickers have been extremely accurate, and while Fry has connected on some lengthy kicks, it has been apparent in camp that Pineiro has the stronger leg.

All good news, right? Of course it is. If they were missing these kicks, it would be a huge cause for concern. However, just because they are making these kicks doesn’t mean the Bears have solved their kicking problem. Remember, neither one has really been tested in a game situation. That will all change next Thursday when the Bears take on the Carolina Panthers in their first preseason game of the year at Soldier Field.

Judging by his approach last preseason, and his stated intentions this preseason, it’s safe to assume Matt Nagy will not be playing his starters much during the games. The priority will be to get his players to Week 1 healthy. So the preseason will be all about evaluating specific things — like how a specific blitz works, or whether a player can play special teams. In other words, we are not going to learn much about the offensive or defensive starters.

So why not use this as an opportunity to really evaluate the kickers? This could result in Nagy employing his kickers in some unconventional situations. He could choose to kick a field goal on a down other than fourth depending on the distance. Maybe he finds his offense on the 30-yard line and the conditions are windy and the ball is on the left hash and Nagy wants to test his kicker in a specific situation.  If that’s the case, then he could decide to send him out then.

He may also decide to call for a field goal late in the play-clock to manufacture a little extra pressure. This would simulate a pretty stressful situation for a kicker who prefers to stay in their pre-kick routine as much as possible.

Perhaps he could even pit the two against each other. Let’s say one of the kickers misses a kick early in the game and Nagy finds himself in the same areas of the field later on. He could have the other kicker attempt a similar try.

Look, we will not know which one of these kickers will emerge the leader until the rubber meets the road and they start to feel some pressure. While preseason games provide some, Nagy will have to do his best to manufacture a little extra to really test his guys. Buckle up — the preseason might actually be exciting.