The Landry Hat
Fansided

Dallas Cowboys: 3 players whose stock is in free fall

By Steven Mullenax

ARLINGTON, TX - AUGUST 18: Mike White #3 of the Dallas Cowboys is sacked by Jordan Willis #75 of the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium on August 18, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - AUGUST 18: Mike White #3 of the Dallas Cowboys is sacked by Jordan Willis #75 of the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium on August 18, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images /

Stock Falling – Brett Maher, K

Why is Maher on this list? The second-year kicker made three of his four field-goal attempts in the Cowboys’ preseason opener against the Niners Saturday night. Maher hit from 25-yards out, 40-yards out, and 21-yards out. His lone miss was from 35-yards, wide right.

Yet, there is an overwhelming sense of dread that Maher is a critical missed field goal just waiting to happen. That feeling is only reinforced by the reports of his misses in training camp. Yet, the Cowboys have done little to provide competition at the position, only bringing in hybrid kicker/punter Kasey Redfern, who has yet to establish himself as any sort of threat.

It might be a case of the team not wanting to damage the second-year kicker’s confidence, as Maher has certainly proven to have one of the strongest legs in the NFL holding the team record with a 62-yarder last year. And his career field goal percentage of 80.6 after a single season is currently the fourth highest in franchise history behind Dan Bailey (88.2), Chris Boniol (87.1), and Eddie Murray (83.3). Of course, it was only the 25th best field goal percentage in the NFL last season too.

In his first season in Dallas, the 28-year-old rookie hit on 29 of his 36 field goal attempts. Maher was a perfect 10 for 10 from 20-29 yards out. He was 6 of 8 from 30-39 yards. And Maher was 6 of 7 from 50+ yards away. Yet, he was only 7 of 11 from 40-49 yards out.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Maher might have a right hash problem. An unnamed source warned special contributor Kristi Scales to hold her breath if the kicker is forced to line up along the right hash, subsequently where his only miss of Saturday night came from. Scales also confirmed that the Cowboys’ personnel department is closely monitoring their kicking situation.

On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens traded Norwegian kicker Kaare Vedvik to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2020 fifth-round pick after he hit all four of his field-goal attempts, including a 55-yarder, in the Ravens’ preseason opener versus the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Vedvik, who is both a kicker and a punter, could put former Cowboys’ kicker Dan Bailey, who is currently with the Vikings, on the open market. If so, could a reunion be possible? On second thought, Bailey’s field goal percentage (75.0) was worse than Maher’s last year. Perhaps the Vedvik trade was a missed opportunity for the Cowboys.

Home/Cowboys News