Why the Lions are choosing to be patient with their young kicker

Why the Lions are choosing to be patient with their young kicker

ALLEN PARK — Lions kicker Jake Bates isn’t done yet. He’s going to miss kicks this season. He’s going to miss extra-point attempts. He’s going to kick a kickoff out of bounds. Fouls are going to happen.

He also has a golden leg and can last for generations.

Patience is scarce in this league, and especially in that position, and special for contenders. It’s tempting to throw in a more reliable player for a Super Bowl run, even if he’s perhaps less talented. But in the case of Jake Bates, the Lions are so enamored with the upside that they’re willing to be patient through the inevitable growing pains that come.

“I feel great about him,” special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said. “I’m really excited about him. He’s one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen at that position. I think all the guys on the other teams in preseason watch him warm up and think, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy is unbelievable.’ So he’s got tremendous potential, and when you’re going to invest in a player and take a chance, you definitely want to do it with a guy that can be a really good player for you. I think we’ve got to be patient with him.”

There’s precedent here, too. Kickers often don’t stick around until their second or third team. A notable example is Daniel Carlson, a fifth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2018. Carlson made the team that year, but missed three of his first four attempts and was cut after just two games. Just like that, Minnesota had wasted a draft pick.

Carlson joined the Raiders that year and made 16 of 17 attempts the rest of the way. He was named second-team All-Pro in 2021, and first-team All-Pro the following year, while setting the NFL record for most 50-yard field goals.

“Maybe Minnesota shouldn’t have given up on him so quickly and just stuck with it and been patient,” Fipp said.

That leaves the Lions patient with Bates, despite some turbulence in camp and the preseason, including missing a 30-yard field goal in the preseason finale against Pittsburgh.

Then again, he also made three 60-yarders in a successful season in the UFL, fired a 64-yarder during a practice with Detroit, hit a 53-yarder in the rain during a practice game in New York, a 55-yarder that nearly ended up halfway across the net in Kansas City and made a game-winning buzzer-beater from 43 yards out against the Chiefs.

“You always kind of store those things in your mind,” head coach Dan Campbell said that day in Kansas City. “And then you see what he’s done the last couple of weeks, it’s encouraging. Trust me, Fipp and I both know, look, he’s not there yet and there’s going to be more growing pains that come with this. We’ve just got to be patient and just let him grow.”

The talent is immense, but for a guy who never attempted a field goal in college, the growth curve is inevitable. The Lions are choosing to be patient at the position and feel good about playing 14 games indoors, which should help a young kicker. So they will settle for one long snapper after having two in training camp.

“I have a good feeling about Bates,” Fipp said.

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