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Bucs kicking off a special-teams competition

After drafting Matt Gay, the Bucs’ placekicking job isn’t the only kicking component up for grabs.
 
Utah place kicker Matt Gay, pictured during a game against Arizona in September in Tucson, Ariz. [AP Photo/Rick Scuteri]
Utah place kicker Matt Gay, pictured during a game against Arizona in September in Tucson, Ariz. [AP Photo/Rick Scuteri]
Published May 2, 2019|Updated May 2, 2019

TAMPA — In drafting kicker Matt Gay in the fifth round, the Bucs not only wanted to create competition for incumbent kicker Cairo Santos, but also for that competition to extend to kickoff duties.

In the offseason, the Bucs signed punter Bradley Pinion as a free agent. And one of the reasons why is because Pinion has a strong resume on kickoffs. Over his four years with the 49ers, he owns a 72.5 touchback percentage.

Gay also handled kickoffs in college, logging a 70.7-percent touchback percentage last season at Utah. And now the two will compete for kickoff duties.

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“We’re trying to create competition, we’re trying to create toughness,” Bucs special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong said. “Now we’ve got a punter who has got to prove he wants to kick off. It’s not just his job anymore. We want competition. It’s going to make everybody better.”

Santos made 9 of 12 field-goal attempts and was perfect on 17 extra-point attempts, and, in mid-March, they re-signed him to a guaranteed $195,000 signing bonus. But kickoffs are not Santos’ strength. He recorded touchbacks on just 23.7 percent of his kickoffs over his five-year NFL career.

Still, given the Bucs’ dubious history with kickers — including the failures of 2016 second-round pick Roberto Aguayo — drafting Gay in the fifth round was a shock.

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"So we feel like if we have two kickers and obviously one that can kick off really well, and we have a punter that can kick off, then we have a competition," Armstrong said. "So how do you make people better? Competition. So we've got competition."

“The best way for us to get better is for us to create competition,” he added. “I can yell and scream until I’m blue in the face. Until I bring somebody who’s standing right next to him, then it’s, let’s go. Bam.”

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Asked whether the team considered bringing in former Bucs kicker Matt Bryant, Armstrong, who coached Bryant previously in Atlanta, said the team was looking for a younger placekicker to offer competition. The Falcons cut ties with the 43-year-old Bryant in February.

The Bucs also invited former UCF punter Mac Laudermilk to participate in next week’s rookie minicamp. Laudermilk averaged 43.7 yards per punt last season with the Knights.

Contact Eduardo A. Encina at eencina@tampabay.com. Follow @EddieInTheYard.