The Los Angeles Rams have not moved on from Joshua Karty, they’ve just decided to see other people. The Rams have used kicker Harrison Mevis over the past two games and he hasn’t even had a single field goal try yet but is 9-of-9 on extra points. Karty is hitting just 88.7% of his extra points since his debut last year. Typically teams do not keep the kicker who they just demoted, but Sean McVay and Les Snead don’t like to do typical things.
In many instances of football operations this has worked to the Rams benefit, from “f them picks” to sitting everybody who is even mildly important during preseason. Will keeping Karty be the right move long-term?
It just might be.
Among the most accurate kickers in 2025 are:
- Eddy Pineiro (100%)
- Nick Folk (100%)
- Brandon Aubrey (94.7%)
- Spencer Shrader (92.9%)
- Cameron Dicker (92.6%)
- Tyler Loop (90.5%)
- Will Reichard (90.5%)
How many of these kickers were released by teams too soon?
Pineiro originally signed with the Raiders, only to be traded to the Bears before his first career game. He suffered a groin injury in 2020 and was let go by Chicago, to later sign with the Colts and Commanders in 2021 but never play those teams, until eventually getting five games with the Jets that season. Then the Jets release Pineiro in 2022 and he spent three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, the first real home of his career. Pineiro again had no team until finally the 49ers signed him to replace Jake Moody after the season already started.
Pineiro has missed four extra points this season but is 22-of-22 on field goals, including 6-of-6 from 50+.
Folk is a veteran who has had a career like many other kickers. Drafted by the Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2007 draft (Karty was also a sixth round pick), Folk spent three years in Dallas. The Cowboys lost faith in Folk in his third season and benched/released him. He popped up with the Jets in 2010 and spent eight seasons there as one of the top kickers in the NFL.
Here he is now in his 18th season, 15 years after the Cowboys gave up on him, and back with the Jets as a 19-for-19 kicker (5-of-5 from deep) and perfect 14-of-14 on extra points. Folk is on a crazy streak of making 69 of his last 71 field goal tries and leading the NFL in FG% for three straight years.
Maybe the Rams are looking at Folk and looking at Karty and telling themselves that it’s too soon to just release kickers when they struggle in the beginning of their careers. Would you do that with any other position?
Spencer Shrader signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2024, was waived, signed to the practice squad, then released. He also found himself on the Jets. Then he went to the Chiefs and ended up kicking for three different teams in his rookie season. Shrader is back on the Colts and was on a roll this year until tearing his ACL.
Cameron Dicker is known for being the Chargers kicker, but that’s not the L.A. team that he started his career with. The Rams signed Dicker in 2022 and released him during training camp. He picked up with the Ravens and was waived at final roster cuts. He was then signed to the Eagles practice squad and he played one game for Philadelphia, going 2-of-2 on field goals. But then the Eagles released him when Jake Elliott was ready and Dicker signed with the Chargers in 2022, going 19-of-20 on field goals and 22-of-22 on extra points.
Dicker is now one of the best kickers in the NFL and the Rams literally had every right to keep him. His 93.5% accuracy percentage is the highest in NFL history.
Does this weigh on McVay and Snead when deciding what to do with Karty?
And what about Chase McLaughlin? The veteran kicker is an NFL-best 8-of-8 from 50+ this season with the Buccaneers. He struggled early in his career but has been reliable for the last several years.
Tampa Bay is his 11th different NFL team (including two teams twice).
The Rams are holding onto two kickers and maybe that sounds crazy when you can only keep 53, but with a shot to hold the number one seed in the NFC in spite of making Karty a healthy scratch every week maybe it is what’s best for the long-term. McVay has had a hard time choosing and believing in special teamers and now he seems to believe in Karty…just not right now.
That decision isn’t ordinary, but nothing with the Rams ever is and that’s often a good thing.
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