The Lions’ kicker situation is starting to raise concerns. Who will be their starter in 2024? Will it be Bates, or someone not currently on the team?
There aren’t many glaring holes on the Detroit Lions ’ roster right now, but after the first week and a half of training camp, the team’s kicker situation is looking fairly dire, and I’d expect we’re going to see some extra legs brought in pretty soon. On just the third day of camp, the Lions announced Michael Badgley suffered a significant hamstring injury and placed him on injured reserve, which ended his season.
Following the Badgley injury, Jake Bates has been given the full load of kicking opportunities and has struggled to find his rhythm. Friday’s practice was perhaps his roughest yet , where he went 8-of-15 on his kicks and 5-of-6 on extra points.
Today’s Question of the Day is…
Who will be the Lions’ starting kicker in 2024?
We’ve probably posed this question once or twice already, but as we get closer to the start of the season, the landscape of the Lions’ kicker room continues to change. It’s possible that the team’s starting kicker heading into this season isn’t even on the team yet, since Bates is the lone kicker on the roster. We should be seeing the Lions bringing in some competition for him soon, however.
Another avenue the Lions could explore is trading for a kicker. I’m not the biggest advocate for trading assets to acquire a kicker, but it should come at a cheap price, especially if the Lions were to target a kicker that is likely to be cut from another team.
Let’s hear from you. Who do you think will win the starting kicker job for the Lions, and is that player even on the team yet? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.