The Philadelphia Eagles don't think they have a kicker problem.
They may be right, but the loyalty to Jake Elliott could seriously cost them.
Howie Roseman has every reason to believe in Elliott based on his track record. He's 28 of 29 in the playoffs, an astonishing 96.6% conversion rate. Only Robbie Gould has a higher field goal percentage in the postseason than Elliott of kickers that have 25+ postseason attempts (100%).
If the Eagles need a big field goal in the postseason, Eliott has been the guy.
So why are there questions regarding Elliott's performance? Simply put, Elliott has been one of the worst kickers in the NFL over the past two seasons.
Elliott has hit just 48-of-63 field goals over that stretch, as the 76.2% field goal conversion is ranked 20th of 21 players with 50+ field goal attempts. Elliott is also 5-for-his-last-15 on field goal attempts of 50+ yards, a 33.3% conversion rate.
This is a cause for concern, something the Eagles didn't address this offseason. The Eagles doubled down on Elliott by not brining in competition, restructuring his contract and giving him $5 million guaranteed for this season.
Most teams would bring in someone just in case Elliott struggles. Most teams aren't the Eagles.
"Still confident in him," Eagles special teams coach Michael Clay said back in May. "You could go game by game, situation by situation, but nobody really wants to hear any of that. Everybody wants to know, what have you done for me last?
"But for Jake, 10 years in the NFL, 10 years to do it in Philadelphia, big kicks, hard to go against a confidence in that."
The Eagles don't have a kicker problem as long as Elliott hits field goals in games. This questions won't be answered until Week 1, unless Elliott immensely struggles.
What if Elliott struggles this summer? What do the Eagles do and how do they handle it?
There will have to be competition brought in
If Elliott ends up missing long-distance kicks early in the year, do the Eagles just double down and ride with it? At some point, a missed Elliott kick or two will cost them a game if he continues to struggle.
Perhaps if it doesn't hurt the Eagles' ability to win games, they just chalk it off. Still hard to justify trusting a player who hit 74.1% of his field goals last year (20-of-27) and who was 4-of-8 from 50+ yards -- in an era where kickers are making 60+ yard kicks on the regular.
Elliott isn't the biggest issue on this team, and this really isn't an issue if he makes kicks.
If the Eagles are forced to bring in competition, there are two options they can turn to.
Brandon McManus: McManus struggled on field goals last season (80%, 6-for-12 on 40+ yards) but was excellent the season before (95.2%, 6-of-7 from 40+). He's kicked in Lincoln Financial Field before, having played college football at Temple.
Daniel Carlson: Carlson hit 22-of-27 field goals last seaosn, an 81.5% clip. The former All-Pro was 11-of-16 on kicks of 40+ yards (68.8%) and 5-of-8 on 50+ yards (62.5%). Carlson is available and could challenge Elliott, but he has the same issues from long distance.
Love of the game
Eagles special teams coordinator Michal Clay suggested Elliott has to get back to basics and why he fell in love with football in the first place. Elliott's athleticism is uncharted, as he's a scratch golfer, tennis player, and arguably the best athlete on the team.
Kicking is natural for Elliott, which is why the Eagles have faith he can kick his way out of questions about his job.
"For a lot of these players, whatever bad things happen, they fall into that pit hole of like, "Am I good enough," Clay said. "Obviously, you're good enough to play in the NFL. There's only 32 kickers in the NFL or vice versa. There's only 64 starting DNs.
"So for him to fall in love with the game again and keep that energy and keep that confidence up, I think is going to be huge for Jake. That's where I come in being his caddy and keeping him up in all those situations."
The Eagles are bullish with their confidence in Elliott, but this question will continue to grow if he struggle sto start the year,
Elliott has to get off to a hot start to erase the doubts. They may creep into the building with every missed kick.
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