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To no surprise, the Cincinnati Bengals are rolling with Randy Bullock at kicker to start the 2017 NFL season.
The veteran kicker was able to win the kicker job after a great display in training camp and most of the preseason. His lone preseason miss came in Thursday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts, which proved costly in a 7-6 showing, but it doesn’t overshadow how superior he was in this battle.
With Bullock in, the Bengals waived rookie kicker Jake Elliott. The fifth-round kicker out of Memphis looked lost far too often in camp and the preseason. He missed too many ‘easy’ kicks for an NFL kicker. There aren’t many, if any kicking battles with the other 31 teams that Elliott would have won with as bad as he played.
Jake Elliott: 1st rookie PK since John Markham to be drafted within the 1st 5 rounds & be released before the regular season began. #Bengals
— WBG84 (@WBG84) September 2, 2017
That could be good news for getting Elliott to the practice squad, something the Bengals are hoping occurrs. Elliott has a lot of potential, not to mention he was a fifth-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft, so there could be another team willing to take a shot at him.
There’s also a chance Elliott overcomes his preseason woes, gets it together, and goes on to have a good season with another team. Bullock is what he is, which is an inconsistent veteran who consistently misses big kicks in the clutch.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Bullock has a 50 percent accuracy rate in fourth quarter and overtime kicks in his NFL career. That’s a terrible statistic and something Bullock absolutely must improve upon. The average NFL make-rate in fourth quarter and overtime kicks since 2013 is 77%.
So, did the Bengals make the right call going with Bullock, or should they have shown more patience and kept Elliott?
Poll
Were the Bengals right to choose Bullock over Elliott?
This poll is closed
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61%
Yes.
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26%
No.
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6%
Neither was the right kicker.
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5%
Bring back Ochocinco!
If you can’t see the poll above, please view this story directly on Cincy Jungle here!