Round 1 Goes To Ryan Succop
August 13th, 2022
Power and pressure on display in the preseason opener.
About 5 1/2 months ago at the NFL Scouting Combine, general manager Jason Licht said he wanted and expected a kicker competition between 2021 practice squad kicker José Borregales and Super Bowl season hero Ryan Succop.
Licht cited Borregales’ accuracy in practice. What Licht didn’t cite was a loss of confidence in Succop, whose longest field goal was 48 yards last season, when he was very average overall.
Both kickers have had a solid training camp, but head coach Todd Bowles has been consistently clear that kicking under the lights in preseason games would be critical for Borregales and to a lesser extent Succop.
Tonight in the preseason opener against Miami, Borregales got all the work. And he opened eyes making all three of his extra points and a 55 yarder that might have been good from 65 yards. But then the air went out of the Borregales balloon when he missed a 49-yarder that would have won the game with no time left on the clock.
And Borregales didn’t just miss; it was a mis-hit ball that had some weird slice on it and hit the upright.
Succop didn’t kick tonight, but Joe still has to give him the edge in Round 1 of the preseason. Inconsistency under pressure is not what Todd Bowles wanted to see from Borregales.
As Joe wrote earlier this summer, history says Bowles won’t hesitate to pull the plug on Succop if he’s confident in Borregales. But the odds of that happened just plummeted.
It’s a kicker’s life.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:45 pm
Borregalis ruined Trask’s amazing game-winning drive.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:47 pm
I don’t think you get a round 2, I think Borregales just lost the job.
If I’m the Bucs, I just go ahead and cut Borregales and bring in someone else. The only time that it matters if you make kicks is in the game, and if that’s the regular season… Well, I’ll take my chances with the veteran, even if he doesn’t have much distance anymore.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:48 pm
Screw Borregales. Total bum.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:49 pm
Lol wow I guess no slack with these fans crazy
August 13th, 2022 at 10:50 pm
TKO. Feel bad for him, but no chance they keep him now. Good thing they were able to simulate a pressure kick.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:51 pm
I do not think it plummeted at all. I think the rookie Punter and kicker will be the starters.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:52 pm
Lol relax everybody. We chased off Matt Gay as well. Need a kicker with a stronger leg than Succop IMO.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:55 pm
Round 1 goes to Kyle Trask!! Watch out Brady! He’s coming for your position.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:55 pm
The #19 is cursed for Bucs kickers
August 13th, 2022 at 10:56 pm
Bucky23 – Yeah, but Gay had already gone through his rookie season, that’s where kickers generally struggle. Borregales hasn’t gone through that struggle yet, and with Brady in, almost certainly, his last year, you can’t have a rookie kicker out there blowing games for you.
Then again, Gay single handedly losing the Bucs 2 games cost Winston his job, which is why the Bucs went after Brady. It’s very likely if Gay doesn’t lose the games, the Bucs are 9-7 under Winston in Arians first year, they had locked up Winston before Brady even hit the market.
So you can look at it either way I suppose.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:57 pm
“Need a kicker with a stronger leg than Succop IMO”
Accuracy is what matters. Leg strength is highly overrated for kickers. Remember Kyle Brindza? Succop is our guy.
August 13th, 2022 at 10:58 pm
Rod Munch is on this and every one of Joes articles with his amazing analysis and the Bucs should hire you and NDOG
August 13th, 2022 at 11:00 pm
Tbbucs3 – what happens when they need a 50+ yard field goal in the playoffs to advance and Succop doesn’t have the leg for it?
August 13th, 2022 at 11:02 pm
It’s the first preseason game and Munch and other Negative Nancy’s just can’t help themselves, but PLEASE stop with your comments 😳 it’s insane and obviously your only on here to stir things up and you and NDOG keep real Bucs fans off the site and just came here and to see your comments and that many post is ridiculous!!! Go get a GF bro
August 13th, 2022 at 11:03 pm
Exactly Rod. Succop came through consistently when it mattered in the playoffs and you can’t have a guy nut up and hit a 2 iron fade as time expires.
August 13th, 2022 at 11:05 pm
So we dump him and he goes on to have a HOF career with some other team. I doubt Succup would have made that kick from 49 yards out.
August 13th, 2022 at 11:07 pm
Can bucs force succop to restructure contract and keep both
August 13th, 2022 at 11:08 pm
Cmurda are you serious and that’s your and Rods opinion after the first preseason game ? Oh my God and why don’t you, Rod, and NDOG start your own site and have 6 followers that agree with your in-depth analysis and negativity 😳
August 13th, 2022 at 11:17 pm
So, he hit the 55 yarder that Succop would have been short on… And Succop is no lock to hit from 49 either… So, I see no reason to give the edge to Succop except for experience. They would not have been in a position to kick a game winner if Succop missed (likely) the earlier 55er. Edge: Borregales.
August 13th, 2022 at 11:22 pm
What is the average make % of a 49 yard kick in the NFL? 50+ is about 57-to 63%.
So no gimme. He was iced after making it on the time out call.
Somehow as bad as the kick was it still had the distance and hit the upright.he made all 3 extra points and a 55 yarder that would have been a punt if succop was the kicker.
Don’t write him off too fast.
We did that with Gay. And the pro bowler then beat us in the Superbowl
August 13th, 2022 at 11:27 pm
Sure let’s dump him now so he can get picked up by another team and beat us with a game-winning field goal in the playoffs.
August 13th, 2022 at 11:27 pm
Yucs2Bucs – I’m brilliant, NDOG is a moron. Get it straight, dummy.
August 13th, 2022 at 11:29 pm
@YTB,
Not necessarily. That’s my opinion so far. I reserve the right to change my opinion but it’s going to take this kid making that kick look like a fluke and him drilling fg’s as the norm. Best of luck to him. I want him to change my mind. That would be for the best. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. A quick lookback at our history with kickers in the Post-Gramatica (love that dude) Era reveals the last thing we should do is dump a veteran kicker that has performed well for us particularly in our franchise’s biggest games. Matt Gay’s name came up. Rightfully so but let’s not forget about Matt Bryant. That one was far more painful than the Matt Gay decision. All Bryant did was excel for years after we foolishly let him go for the exact same reason many folks on here are wanting Succop gone. No thanks. This kid would have had to sweep me off of my feet like “Salma Hayek wanting to spend some alone time with me” style. That certainly did not happen with the clock winding down and I’m doubting that it will.
August 13th, 2022 at 11:32 pm
With this high power offense, fgs should be few and far between
August 13th, 2022 at 11:33 pm
Yucs2Bucs – My only point is that you have a veteran team, and mixing in a rookie kicker with a veteran team normally leads to bad things. BTW, I was for keeping Gay in his 2nd year, Brady’s 1st year, because I thought Gay showed plenty of progress and would be a good kicker going forward, but rookie kickers almost always lose you a game or two, and Gay lost as us 2 games. That’s probably what you’d get from Borregales as well. It doesn’t mean in a year or two he might not be a good player, but who knows, we haven’t seen anything from him yet, other than missing the single pressure kick he’s faced.
August 13th, 2022 at 11:56 pm
You guys realize this was barely better than college football?
August 14th, 2022 at 12:46 am
Urban Meyer said it best….”make your bleeping kicks!!”
August 14th, 2022 at 1:15 am
I tend to prefer kickers who make game winners over kickers that miss them. I know, radical stuff.
August 14th, 2022 at 1:30 am
Unpopular opinion, I know. But that kind of a bad hit on the ball is normally on the holder.
August 14th, 2022 at 1:59 am
Practice you talking practice.
August 14th, 2022 at 4:49 am
He got iced ? Idk the kick like joe said had a weird trajectory Mis hit ball need to see film of the hold.
August 14th, 2022 at 6:52 am
I feel bad for whoever had to clean up Jose’s shat stain on the field! Good news from last night, we don’t have to waste two PS spots for Jose, or Griffen.
August 14th, 2022 at 7:47 am
I also prefer kickers who don’t smile like a kid from the short bus when they lose a game by missing a kick. I’ve seen enough. Succup it is.
August 14th, 2022 at 8:31 am
How does round 1 go to Succup? Succup would have missed both of those fields goals, they were both over 40 yards.
August 14th, 2022 at 9:28 am
The guy jaked the 49 yarder, make it and he probably has the job over Succop given the coin situation. Does anyone on this website want to see that when it counts next month? Cut him and send a message that failure is not tolerated!
August 14th, 2022 at 10:09 am
Guy chokes on a bunny during preseason what’s he going to do in L.A., or G.B. in the championship game? Answer, choke. Kicking is like putting, all in the head. The kid already has the yips. I wouldn’t count on him just to save on Succups contract.
August 14th, 2022 at 11:46 am
^Little early for such conclusions. He also hit the 55er that Succop doesn’t have the range for.
August 14th, 2022 at 6:09 pm
Kicking is like putting. That’s flat out untrue!! And the guy who loves Gramatica; he hid an injury at the behest of his agent so he could sign a lucrative extension in 2003. Then he trashed our return to the playoffs by having the worst season of his career and eventually going on IR. Don’t believe it. Go watch him miss the extra point against the panthers and other chip shots early that year and his kick offs? Couldn’t make the 20
August 15th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
and i remeber a field goal miss by succup in the rams game that would have meant they needed a touchdown to win rather than a field goal.
let’s not be so quick to dismiss. 49 and 55 are both out os succups “make it consistently” range.
let the dual continue.
August 15th, 2022 at 4:15 pm
Succup would have been short on both kicks. Bucs will watch the film, analyze what went wrong, and work on it in camp. It could have been the rookie holder, for all we know. Neither kicker gets cut yet.