In 2020, Bucs incumbent kicker Ryan Succop offered stability to a position that has been a revolving door for years in Tampa Bay. Succop has been excellent through two seasons, but a challenger has arisen. On Tuesday at the Combine, GM Jason Licht said he expects second-year kicker Jose Borregales to compete with Succop this offseason.
“I think he will compete,” Licht said. “We love what [Ryan] Succop has done for us the last couple years. But Jose has a strong leg and has been consistent for us all year in practice. Now, practice and games are two separate things. But I am excited to see what he does this year in camp.”
The Bucs signed Borregales as an undrafted free agent in 2021. The rookie spent the entire year on the team’s practice squad. Under league rules, teams were allowed to protect four players on the practice squad each week. Interestingly, Borregales was protected all but one week during the season.
Bucs K Ryan Succop – Photo by: USA Today
While Succop has performed well in his role, he is limited. Over the season, Bucs head coach Bruce Arians voiced his displeasure with the kicking game several times. Succop lacks a powerful leg, which decreases his range. Last season he went 25-30 on field goal attempts, but four of those misses came from beyond 40 yards. He also had a costly missed field goal in the divisional round game against the Rams.
Borregales is a former Lou Groza winner as the best kicker in college football. He went 20-22 in college with the Miami Hurricanes, making all 37 extra points. His 57-yarder against Louisville was the longest kick in school history. During training camp, Borregales showed off a big leg, connecting routinely from 40 and beyond. In addition, Succop’s $2.5 million cap hit will make him easier to cut if he struggles in camp.
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About the Author: J.C. Allen
We often have given up on kickers too soon. Seeing Steve Christie, Matt Bryant, and now Matt Gay, become Pro Bowl kickers after we showed them the exit is a bit disheartening.
No question, but I don’t view Succop similarly to those guys. The guy is 35 years old, and outside of his awesome 2020 here, he’s mostly been pretty meh throughout his long career. I don’t worry about him going on for a long career of success after Tampa.
I don’t either. I was more referring to the unknown Borregales.
You need a FG kicker for kickoffs too, not a punter like Pinion. Pinion, the guy who kicked off O.B. twice in a row against the Rams. Helped cost us that game. Go get a young, cheap punter, and roll with Borregales. Cut Succup, and Pinion, save some money. Why not? We’re not in S.B. mode anymore, and even if we were, neither seems worth their salary.
Agree. Not I’m Super Bowl mode and time to save some money where guys aren’t performing higher than league average. Yeah Pinion picked a great game to do that right? Twice in a row OB is unheard of and retarded. I’m not a Succup fan either. Weak leg and hits ok on short ones until he misses in big games. Borregalez is an undrafted free agent. That’s where you get kickers Licht not in second round! Love Light but drafting kickers high is stupid.
Every year is Super Bowl mode.
I disagree with the idea that you NEED your kicker to handle kickoffs, and with the idea that Pinion is bad at kickoffs. I mean, the Rams game was awful, but that was a weird aberration for him. Throughout his career, he’s been an elite kickoff guy. Unfortunately, he’s also a thoroughly unimpressive actual punter, lol. I’m mostly with you – cutting Pinion and Succop and going with guys on rookie deals at those spots would save us $5.4M. That’s a decent chunk of change and could be the difference between us being able to resign a guy like Jordan… Read more »
I’d say it’s quite a stretch to say that Succop has been “excellent” through two seasons here. He was great in 2020, and perfectly mediocre last season. Not bad, but just…fine. Unfun fact – we were one of only 3 teams not to make a single kick of 50+ yards last season. We have made the fewest such kicks across the league over the last two years combined (just one, an exactly 50 yard kick from 2020). It’s okay to not be a team who converts long field goals, but if our guy isn’t even going to threaten from deep,… Read more »
we gave up on Gay too soon