Evan

McPherson

He was limited on Wednesday with an injury on his kicking side, but this full practice put him on track to face the Ravens. He will be an elite option in a game that should be a shootout.

It’s on McPherson’s right side, his kicking leg. The sophomore kicker is 9-of-11 on field goals through four weeks and 6-of-7 on his extra points.

Apparently the team was less than thrilled with their all-world kicker not joining his teammates in the locker room during halftime of the Super Bowl. TV cameras showed McPherson, 22, staying on the Bengals benched taking in a show by legendary hip-hop artists. “Though the stunt still isn’t sitting well with Simmons, it eventually will fade into the background of McPherson’s overall body of work, which stands as one of the greatest seasons by a kicker in Bengals history, and one of the best by a rookie in league annals,” The Athletic’s Jay Morrison said. Simmons added that McPherson would need to improve his kickoffs this offseason. McPherson finished his rookie year with the ninth most field goals (29) and the ninth most attempts (34), drilling five walk-off kicks. No one recorded more field goals of more than 50 yards in 2021. His clutch postseason kicks and cockiness made McPherson something of a household name. He’ll likely be the first kicker off draft boards in 2022.

McPherson, the 149th pick in the 2021 draft, drilled a 50-yarder against Washington in Friday’s preseason game -- a kick that would have been good from at least 60 yards. McPherson is the favorite in the team’s kicker competition with veteran Austin Seibert, who has also impressed coaches and beat writers this month. The Bengals offense is among the league’s most kicker friendly. Last season, Randy Bullock was fantasy’s third highest scoring kicker when Joe Burrow went down with a season-ending knee injury. Fantasy managers should consider McPherson if the game’s top kickers are off the draft board.

McPherson is the first kicker off the board, early in the fifth round. A former blue-chip kicking recruit from the 2018 prep class, McPherson (5’11/185) set state records with a 60-yard field goal and 84-yard punt in high school. As a freshman he produced immediately, converting 90 percent of his kicks with a long of 48 yards. He remained remarkably consistent in 2019, making the same amount of kicks (17-of-19) as he did the year prior while 51 of his 80 kickoffs ended up in the end zone. In 2020, his conversion rate dipped to 77.3 percent, but he did make four attempts of 50 or more yards while his kickoff touchback rate dropped to 50 percent. Though his production wasn’t up to his usual standards in 2020, McPherson’s talent is evident in his career 85 percent conversion rate. McPherson should be viewed as the favorite to win the Bengals’ kicker gig over Austin Seibert.