Alvin Kamara’s locker is right beside Blake Grupe’s, so he knows better than anyone how tough this season has been for the Saints’ kicker.
The two team captains talk often.
“The sucky part about being a kicker in the NFL is everybody always says ‘You’ve got one job, just to kick’," Kamara said. “When you miss a kick, it’s the end of the world and they are calling for your job. But that dude’s got a lot of sh-- to him. I don’t know if the fans pay attention, but he’s definitely like a master of his craft, and he’s really passionate about what he does and he takes pride in himself. He’s kicking himself more than the fans, a coach, anybody.”
Grupe has made just 10 of 15 field goals this season. His 66.7% on field goals this season ranks dead last in the NFL. The league average is 83%.
He missed one field goal in each of the first three games, then responded by making both of his attempts in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. But in last week’s victory over the New York Giants, he missed two of his six attempts.
The distance on his five misses this season? 37, 40, 46 and two 52-yarders.
Those are almost considered chip shots in today’s NFL.
“He’s battling through this,” said Saints head coach Kellen Moore. “Everyone goes through challenging situations in the NFL. Our job is to rally him, rally the group. I think he’s going to respond to it really well. I have a lot of confidence in his ability to respond to this.”
There hasn’t been one common factor in the misses. There was one in the opener that he admits he rushed because the play clock was winding down. And there was one last week that special-teams coordinator Phil Galiano says the ball was leaning too much when Grupe kicked it. So the entire operation — the snap from Zach Wood, the hold from punter Kai Kroeger and the kick — all play a part.
“We’re working with some things, especially on the hashes and some things with the laces,” Kroeger said. “We are talking through what would be best. Sometimes, those kind of things happen and like anything else, we watch the film and we work through it. There has been a lot of communication between Blake, Zach and I. We feel we have a good plan moving forward on everything.”
Their next chance to right the ship comes Sunday in Caesars Superdome when the Saints (1-4) host the New England Patriots (3-2). Four of Grupe’s five misses have come in the Dome. The other one came outdoors at Lumen Field in Seattle.
“Right now, Blake is going through a little bit of adversity,” Galiano said. “So we’re going to figure out a way that we are going to overcome this adversity. I do know this. If you’re going to feel sorry for yourself, you have no chance at overcoming adversity.”
The most surprising part of Grupe’s woes is they it comes on the heels of one of the most impressive training camps and preseasons we’ve ever seen from a kicker. Grupe missed just one kick throughout training camp and the preseason. And that one came on a day when it just happened to start raining at the team’s practice facility right as he was kicking. He was so good that one sportswriter (me) predicted that Grupe would be a Pro Bowler this season.
So to see that success not transfer over into the regular season is shocking.
“It’s surprising to me, him and everyone,” Galiano said. “We all go through some tough times. He’s in the middle of some adversity. I believe in him, and he’s going to battle through it.”
In the NFL, teams often move on from kickers who are struggling. Look no further than Atlanta. The Falcons parted ways with long-time kicker Younghoe Koo after just one game this season. And it would be an easy move for the Saints considering they already have another kicker, Charlie Smyth, on their practice squad. But the Saints aren’t looking at making a move.
“We’re not going to make a change for the sake of making a change right now,” Galiano said. “We believe in him, and I think he’s going to come out of it and weather the storm.”
Despite the struggles, Grupe’s teammates believe he will come out of it, too.
“He’s a talented kicker,” Kamara said. “You don’t want to make any premature decisions based off a couple small mistakes. I can think of a million players that you could have wrote off early and they wouldn’t have been who they were.”
The only way to silence the criticism, though, is for Grupe to consistently start seeing his kicks sail through the uprights.
Galiano often shows his special-teams players different highlights of them having success. One of the ones he’s shown Grupe is the preseason game in August against the Denver Broncos. Grupe made all three field goals that day, including a 56-yarder.
“I could see his swagger,” Galiano said. “I told him this is the version of you that we have to get back. This is who we all believe in, and we know who you are and this is what we need back.”
The Saints need it.
But more importantly now, Grupe needs it.