Dallas Cowboys: Sign Kai Forbath as second kicker for playoffs

I told myself I wasn’t going to do this. I told myself that pleading with the Dallas Cowboys to bring in a new kicker for the postseason was delusional for multiple reasons: 1) Anyone unemployed this time of year is unemployed for a reason 2) The Dallas Cowboys special teams coach, John Fassel, loves Greg Zuerlein and will be hard to convince one of “his guys” needs replacing at this stage of the season.

But one more missed extra point later – here I am possibly doing just that.

The Dallas Cowboys should seriously consider bringing in Kai Forbat to help with kicking duties down the stretch.

As a way of satisfying the concerns raised above in the opening paragraph, I’m proposing something a bit untraditional – carry two kickers. I know, I know, the way to solve a sub-par kicker issue is not by adding another sub-par kicker, but hear me out…

Greg Zuerlein has made well over 90% of his field goals between 19-49 yards this season. His issues are with chip shots and long balls.

Something’s wrong with Greg Zuerlein. I don’t mean that in a Captain Obvious kinda way either. I mean mentally, something has gotten in his head where easy kicks have become hard and harder kicks have become easy.

As I wrote about last week, Greg Zuerlein is actually an OK kicker within a certain range. He’s over 90% on field goals under 50 yards this season. That’s a success rate we can all deal with. It’s his extra points and +50 yarders that are a disaster this season.

Speaking of 50+ yarders – over the course of the last two seasons Greg Zuerlein has clearly lost his range, making just 36% of long attempts since 2020. Yet, with an 80% touchback percentage this season (a career high for him) it seems he still has the power in his leg, just not that deep accuracy.

The point is, he’s still somewhat useful in certain roles: kicks between 29-49 yards and kickoffs.

This is where Kai Forbath comes into play. Kai Forbath moonlighted as a Dallas Cowboys kicker in 2019 when Dallas had a temporary opening. All he did was go a perfect 10 for 10. The issue with Forbath is his strength. The longer the kick, the less effective Kai becomes.

Brining in Kai Forbath to handle extra points and chip-shots but letting Greg Zuerlein handle kickoffs and field goals between 29-49 yards would play to both of their strengths. It would cost a valuable roster spot but on an uncharacteristically healthy playoff team like Dallas, the Cowboys can actually afford it right now.

Will the Dallas Cowboys entertain this idea of mine?

Kai Forbath has three seasons on his resume where he was actually worse than Greg Zuerlein’s current 87.5% extra point hit rate.

Probably not. Carrying two kickers is hard to justify and frankly, Kai Forbath, the most notable name in the unemployment line these days, isn’t as automatic as we want him to be. Kai Forbath has three seasons on his resume where he was actually worse than Greg Zuerlein’s current 87.5% extra point hit rate.

I think brining in a short distance specialist would be worth the roster spot (as long as the roster stays healthy) but it’s a tough argument to make right now without a clear upgrade available in free agency.

We should all agree the Dallas Cowboys need to play more aggressive and avoid putting anything in the kickers hand (feet?) if they can at all help it. That means no FG attempts over 49-yards and trying to convert majority of short-yardage conversions in the postseason.

• Published on 01/10/2022 at 17:01 PM
• Last updated at 01/10/2022 at 18:24 PM