Chiefs counting on Succop to solve kicking woes

RIVER FALLS, Wis. (AP)—Ryan Succop(notes) has the leg and he probably has the Kansas City Chiefs’ kicking job.

What Succop needs is consistency, and he’d better find it fast. Succop was the last player taken in this year’s NFL draft, and the last time the Chiefs drafted a kicker, they cut him after the first game.

Succop, who has already hit field goals of 58 and 53 yards in training camp, is being counted on to solve a long and festering problem for the Chiefs. Their failure to find a good, consistent kicker is a major reason they haven’t won a postseason game since Joe Montana was their quarterback.

Field position, particularly the past two seasons, has been a huge problem for the Chiefs and Succop has shown a welcome ability to drive kickoffs deep. That was one reason Connor Barth(notes), the incumbent kicker, was released a few days before camp began.

“It’s an area that we are putting a lot of stress on, it’s an area we need to be better in and we obviously know it’s a big part of these games,” coach Todd Haley said. “Some of the last-minute, end-of-the-game situations are the difference between winning and losing.”

Succop was also impressive with both range and accuracy during an encouraging scrimmage last Saturday.

“Yeah, one was 58 and that is a big kick,” Haley said. “It was 58 with a little wind behind his back but it cleared easy, it made it over my dad (sitting in the end zone).”

In 10 games last year, Barth made 10 of 12 field goals, a much better percentage than the 66 percent that Succop managed his senior season at South Carolina. But Barth lacked the strong leg needed on kickoffs and the Chiefs are hopeful Succop will do better now that he’s no longer dealing with a the torn abdominal muscle that bothered him in college.

But he still has not kicked in the NFL. Consistency is a worry.

“So far during camp I feel like I’ve been really consistent. I’ve made 90 some percent of my field goals during team,” he said. “As a kicker you definitely have to be mentally strong. I mean you can’t let anything bother you, you just got to be tough mentally. You know whether it’s windy conditions or rainy, it doesn’t matter you just have to go out there and just know you’re going to make the kick.”

One of the biggest draft mistakes the Chiefs have made in recent years was taking Justin Medlock(notes), a kicker out of UCLA, in the fifth round in 2007. He lasted one game. Succop is determined to avoid the same fate.

“The one thing I have really started working on is just picking out a target and when I go out there to kick a field goal just going out there and focusing on a target,” he said. “I think God has really given me the ability to stay calm in pressure situations and just relax and go out there and get the job done.”

Haley insists the job does not necessarily belong to Succop just yet.

“Just because Connor’s not here doesn’t mean I’m not competing against him. So I’m not just competing against him but every guy in the league, every guy trying to be a kicker in the NFL,” Succop said.

Still, it’s nice being the only kicker in camp.

“I kind of look at it as it’s been a blessing for me because it’s really allowed me to take all the reps so I’ve really been able to get comfortable,” he said. “Just being able to be in that situation every day is good.”