Sam

Ficken

With Michael Badgley coming off a 4-for-4 game in Week 5 also on the practice squad, the Lions will engage in a protracted kicker battle over their bye week. If only Hard Knocks were able to capture this as well.

Ficken was a late addition to the injury report, getting in a limited practice Friday. He’ll be out at least the first three weeks. In his absence, the Titans promoted K Michael Badgley to the active roster and replaced him on the practice squad with fellow K Randy Bullock.

The so-called Money Badger lost out on the Chargers’ kicker competition in August and landed on waivers. Badgley struggled mightily for much of the 2020 season, missing nine of his 33 field goal tries along with three extra points. The unreliable Sam Ficken will start the season for Tennessee while Badgley sits on the practice squad. The Titans’ kicking struggles will likely continue into 2021.

The Titans waived kicker Blake Haubeil to make room for Ficken. Tucker McCann and Haubeil both reportedly started off training camp rocky, leading the Titans to claim Ficken from the Jets. Ficken connected 12-of-15 field goal tries in 2020 but struggled on PATs. He went 12-of-15 on extra points. No matter who wins the starting gig in Tennessee, the Titans are likely to be a below-average team when kicking this year.

The Jets are moving on from Ficken, a 76 percent kicker the last two seasons, after a rough start to training camp. Matt Ammendola replaces Ficken on the 90-man roster and will compete with UDFA Chris Naggar for the Week 1 job.

The team’s kicker competition will be between the incumbent Ficken and the newcomer Naggar after New York released K Chase McLaughlin on Friday. The Jets signed Naggar as an undrafted free agent. At SMU in 2020, Naggar made 17 of 21 field goals and 43 of 46 extra points, earning the American Athletic Conference’s Special Teams Player of the year award. The shaky Ficken over the past two seasons with the Jets has made 32 of his 42 field goal tries while missing six extra points. The rejuvenated Jets offense could hold sneaky fantasy upside for whoever gets the Week 1 starting gig. Naggar should be considered the favorite.

Ficken has been out since Week 11. He’s 9-of-10 on field goals and 8-of-10 on extra points this season. The Jets recently cut replacement K Sergio Castillo.

Castillo was part of “Shank Sunday” around the league, missing three field goals in the Jets’ 40-3 loss to the Seahawks. Sam Ficken (groin), who is eligible to return from injured reserve, will presumably be activated to start against the Rams. He will find himself in the K30-32 range for the fantasy semis.

Sidelined several weeks, Ficken returned in Week 11 before immediately getting hurt again. Sergio Castillo, who will handle kicking duties during Ficken’s absence, has appeared to be the better player this season.

Sergio Castillo had been filling in and doing an excellent job. He might be a better kicker than Ficken. Inactive for the Jets are QB Sam Darnold, QB James Morgan, PK Sergio Castillo, LB Blake Cashman and OL Cam Clark.