Fitzgerald and the kicking competition
There will be a kicking competition for the Panthers this summer. One participant, Matthew Wright, is a four-year veteran who joined the club in February. This is his third stint with Carolina. The other, Ryan Fitzgerald, arrived in Charlotte this week as an undrafted free agent out of FSU.
Fitzgerald spent five seasons with the Seminoles and was perfect on extra points the last two seasons while going 32-34 on field goals during that time, including 5-5 on kicks 50-plus yards last year alone. The production caught the Panthers eye.
"First of all, accuracy," Canales said Saturday of what stood out about Fitzgerald. "But then there's a lot of power in his leg; the ball jumps off his foot.
"When we're evaluating the kickers, you know, just looking for the guys that have a process, and he certainly has a plan, certainly has a process, and so (special teams coordinator Tracy Smith) Tracy's had great, great reports from just being around him for a couple of days."
That kicking competition won't wait until training camp either, Canales shared. The team is prepared to begin now, using OTAs to make any determinations.
"I mean, we'll start kicking now, and we'll give those guys opportunities," said Canales. "And we'll give those guys opportunities and, you know, places I've been in the past, in Tampa and in Seattle, you know, there was fun things at the end of practice, and it's like, all right, let's put the guys up, let's get the team around them and just create a comp a competitive moment."