The Green Bay Packers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 30-7 in their final game of the 2024 NFL preseason. In two weeks, they will take on the Philadelphia Eagles down in Brazil for their first game of the regular season.
While the win was convincing, highlighted by four forced turnovers and a defensive touchdown, there were multiple key players that failed to put together a performance worthy of locking up a coveted spot on the 53-man roster.
Among these were both quarterbacks vying for the role of backing up Jordan Love during the regular season. Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt each had good moments, but also made poor decisions on multiple plays.
Similarly, both kickers competing for the job have failed to separate from the other.
Earlier this week, the Packers made an interesting decision at the kicker position. They released defensive end Kenneth Odumegwu, who was on the team as part of the International Player Program. Upon his release, they gave their IPP designation to kicker Alex Hale, who is from Australia but played college football at Oklahoma State.
Odumegwu never played football in his native Nigeria before coming to the United States as part of the IPP.
As an IPP designee, Hale will not count towards the 16 players allowed on the Packers’ practice squad. Therefore, Green Bay will take two kickers into the 2024 NFL season: one on the 53-man roster and Hale on the practice squad.
The problem is that neither Anders Carlson nor Greg Joseph have been able to convince anyone that they are deserving of the starting job.
Both kickers got opportunities to kick in Saturday’s win, with both hitting field goals from over 50-yards away. Carlson’s first attempt was barely good from 54 yards out and Joseph’s 55-yard attempt sailed right down the middle and perhaps would have been good from 60-yards.
Carlson, however, also missed an easy 32-yard attempt later in the game, similar to the kicks that frustrated the team and fans all of last year.
Joseph has fallen off in training camp, having made fewer than 80% of his kicks. He also missed a field goal during the Packers 27-2 loss to the Denver Broncos last week.
So who is going to be Green Bay’s kicker in 2024. It sounds like even Matt LaFleur does not know.
In his press conference after the game, LaFleur was asked about the kicker situation heading into Week One. He deflected the question, choosing to pass responsibility for its answer to general manager Brian Gutekunst.
He said, “That’s not even a question for me, to be honest with you. We’ve got a really good sample size and then we’ll see what happens just around the league. Certainly, there were some really good moments. Both those guys went in there, hit a 54-yarder and a 55-yarder, and then there’s a poor moment there where we missed a chip shot. Again, lotta good. Some we know we can be better at, and we’ll wait and see.
As one can see from LaFleur’s response, the team has not ruled out scanning the waiver wire for a new kicker after rosters are trimmed down to 53.
