- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 421,446
- Reaction score
- 43
With the Indianapolis Colts releasing veteran Matt Gay, what is next for them at the kicker position?
Already on the roster at that position is second-year kicker Spencer Shrader, whom the Colts signed last month during free agency.
Shrader is a familiar face for the Colts. Coming out of Notre Dame in the 2024 NFL draft, he signed with Indianapolis as an undrafted rookie and spent training camp and the preseason with the team.
Shrader would start in the Colts' Week 1 matchup against Houston last season while Gay was sidelined with an injury. But once healthy, Shrader was then on and off the Colts practice squad for the first half of last season before landing in Kansas City and then with the New York Jets in the latter portion of the year.
In total for his rookie year, Shrader was 9-for-9 on extra points and 5-for-5 on field goals, according to PFF.
During Gay's two years with the Colts, he was reliable under 50 yards, missing only three attempts, but struggled from 50-plus yards, going 11-for-22 on such attempts. Shrader, meanwhile, doesn't have an NFL attempt of 50 or more yards.
The Colts clearly like Shrader a fair amount or they probably wouldn't have released Gay. However, with that said, I fully expect GM Chris Ballard to make another kicker addition at some point, whether during the draft or after, to create a competition for that role, which is an element that Ballard mentioned after the 2024 season that he wants to have throughout the roster this year.
With help from PFF's big board, here are some of the top available kickers in this year's draft class:
According to Over the Cap, here are some free agent options at the position who are still available:
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Free agent, draft options for Colts after releasing kicker Matt Gay
Continue reading...
Already on the roster at that position is second-year kicker Spencer Shrader, whom the Colts signed last month during free agency.
Shrader is a familiar face for the Colts. Coming out of Notre Dame in the 2024 NFL draft, he signed with Indianapolis as an undrafted rookie and spent training camp and the preseason with the team.
Shrader would start in the Colts' Week 1 matchup against Houston last season while Gay was sidelined with an injury. But once healthy, Shrader was then on and off the Colts practice squad for the first half of last season before landing in Kansas City and then with the New York Jets in the latter portion of the year.
In total for his rookie year, Shrader was 9-for-9 on extra points and 5-for-5 on field goals, according to PFF.
During Gay's two years with the Colts, he was reliable under 50 yards, missing only three attempts, but struggled from 50-plus yards, going 11-for-22 on such attempts. Shrader, meanwhile, doesn't have an NFL attempt of 50 or more yards.
The Colts clearly like Shrader a fair amount or they probably wouldn't have released Gay. However, with that said, I fully expect GM Chris Ballard to make another kicker addition at some point, whether during the draft or after, to create a competition for that role, which is an element that Ballard mentioned after the 2024 season that he wants to have throughout the roster this year.
With help from PFF's big board, here are some of the top available kickers in this year's draft class:
- Ryan Fitzgerald (Florida State)
- Caden Davis (Ole Miss)
- Ben Sauls (Pitt)
- Andres Borregales (Miami)
According to Over the Cap, here are some free agent options at the position who are still available:
- Nick Folk
- Matt Prater
- Eddy Pineiro
- Michael Badgley
- Greg Joseph
- Riley Patterson
- Cade York
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Free agent, draft options for Colts after releasing kicker Matt Gay
Continue reading...
