Rams are losing faith in Josh Karty and destroying his confidence at the same time
The best coaches help players reach their maximum potential.
Sean McVay has reached that pinnacle at times for the Los Angeles Rams. He helped Matthew Stafford play the best football of his career en route to winning Super Bowl LVI. The Rams continually find players like Kyren Williams, Jaylen McCollough, and Beaux Limmer that were unheralded out of college but carve out meaningful NFL careers.
But there have been times where McVay has been too harsh on his players and risked destroying their confidence.
Sean McVay admitted he didn’t “feel great” about Joshua Karty late in the game when he chose to punt instead of trying a 52-yard FG for a 9-point lead
He sounds like a coach who’s lost trust in his kicker https://t.co/7JDRPizJDV
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) November 17, 2024
We saw the toll McVay’s criticism took on Jared Goff over the 2020 season. In fairness, Goff was playing at a level on par with the worst of his career outside of a feckless rookie season. Still, instead of going back to the basics and getting the most out of his quarterback, McVay publicly chastised Goff, told reporters he needed to be better, and then benched his quarterback for John Wolford ahead of a playoff game.
We know that Goff was capable of returning to his high level play. It wasn’t McVay that was able to help him return to his normal self but instead was Dan Campbell with the Detroit Lions. Goff is now playing the best football of his career and could find himself in the MVP consideration at the end of the season.
Sean McVay is giving Josh Karty the Jared Goff treatment
Amongst the top of the list of individuals who battle confidence issues in the NFL would be rookie kickers. This is probably overstated to a degree, but kicking seems to be as much mental as it is physical. It’s rare to see placekickers dominate with the same team for a decade these days. Instead, all it takes is a three to five game stretch where thing get out of whack for a team to bring in competition.
That’s exactly what the Rams are discussing behind the scenes right now, at least based on McVay’s public comments.
In Greg Zuerlein’s rookie season w/the Rams, he went 17-for-20 in his first 20 kicks. In Weeks 6-17, he went 10-for-18.
Josh Karty is 16-for-20. Has kicked 5+ FGs in two games. HE. IS. GOING. TO. BE. FINE.
The jumping down his throat every time he misses is getting old.
— Blaine Grisak (@bgrisakTST) November 18, 2024
The Rams could throw their support behind Karty and say that his best football is ahead of him, that the team find their long-term answer at kicker through the draft and they believe in him.
But McVay is hinting towards bringing in competition, throwing Karty’s job security into jeopardy.
Maybe that will light a fire under the rookie and cause him to step up. Probably more likely is that it causes a mental meltdown that ends in a downward spiral. That’s just what we see from kickers most often.
Sean McVay is giving Josh Karty the Jared Goff treatment, and as a result his days with the Rams are likely numbered.
