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John Lunsford finished his four-year career at Liberty University as the FCS career leader in field goals made over 50-yards with 12. Lunsford was named first-team All-American in 2014 and is a kickoff specialist who forced touchbacks on about 60 percent of his collegiate kickoffs. If the Bengals are considering looking for a replacement for Mike Nugent, who only has one year left on his contract, could Lunsford be someone Cincinnati looks to?
John Lunsford
Ht: 6’1"
Wt: 214 lbs
Class: Senior
College Stats:
|
FGM |
FGA |
FG% |
FGM 0 ~ 40 |
FGA |
FG% 0 ~ 40 |
FGM 40+ |
FGA 40+ |
FG% 40+ |
XPM |
XPA |
XP% |
|||
|
2012 |
8 |
12 |
66.7% |
4 |
5 |
80.0% |
4 |
7 |
57.1% |
22 |
25 |
88.0% |
||
|
2013 |
8 |
19 |
42.1% |
5 |
8 |
62.5% |
3 |
11 |
27.3% |
53 |
53 |
100.0% |
||
|
2014 |
19 |
24 |
79.2% |
12 |
14 |
85.7% |
7 |
10 |
70.0% |
43 |
44 |
97.7% |
||
|
2015 |
13 |
24 |
54.2% |
7 |
10 |
70.0% |
6 |
14 |
42.9% |
32 |
32 |
100.0% |
||
|
CAREER |
48 |
79 |
60.8% |
28 |
37 |
75.7% |
20 |
42 |
47.6% |
150 |
154 |
97.4% |
Important Notes:
- Attended FCS Liberty University, which surprisingly has had at least one player on an NFL roster every year since 1985, and produced three Pro Bowl players.
- Holds the unique distinction of attempting more career field goals over 40 yards (42) than under 40 yards (37)
Scouting Report Consensus - What to like:
- Made four field goals of over 56 yards in 2015, including a game tying 60 yarder with 1.8 seconds left against Richmond.
- Strong leg consistently forces touchbacks on kickoffs.
- Set FCS record of 12 career field goals of 50+ yards.
- Made an impressive 9 of 12 field goals from 50+ yards over the last two seasons, and made 12 of 19 for his career.
Scouting Report Consensus - What to not like:
- Has had eight kicks blocked in his career.
- Struggled mightily in the 40-49 range, making only 8 of 23 for his career.
- Only made 75.7% of his field goals from inside 40 yards.
Projected Round:
UDFA
Conclusion:
A true wild card at the position, Lunsford has a very bad career field goal percentage of only 60.8%, but that has been driven down by many long field goal attempts and multiple blocked kicks. He’s done a great job of making 50+ yard field goals, hitting 12 of 19 for his career, but has been horrible in the 40~49 range, and well below average on the kicks under 40.
He would be worth a flyer as an undrafted free agent pickup due to the strong kicking leg, but would have to vastly improve his accuracy to stick. His accuracy failed to improve during his four years at Liberty, so his best fit would be on a team with a practice squad spot for a kicker with the hopes that his accuracy would improve with NFL level coaching.