Here’s a good sign for Blake Grupe moving forward. The New Orleans Saints released backup kicker Austin Seibert from the practice squad this week, giving Grupe the green light to continue kicking in black and gold.
Seibert was signed after a group tryout last week in the wake of Grupe’s groin injury. He’s been limited in practice but made all of his kicks (four extra point attempts and five kickoffs, two of which were touchbacks) last Sunday against the Detroit Lions. He’ll be up again for this week’s game with the Carolina Panthers.
Hopefully Grupe’s injury issues are behind him. The rookie has had an up-and-down NFL debut — he’s connected on 24 of 30 field goal tries for a success rate of 80%, which ranks 23rd among 34 qualifying kickers. On the upside, he’s hit all 23 point-after attempts. Grupe is one of 10 kickers who have scored 100% of their extra points this season. And 53 of his 62 kickoffs have been touchbacks (85.5%, which ranks 9th-best).
He just needs to be show more consistency on field goals. Some of Grupe’s misses have been due to a poor setup by his holder, rookie punter Lou Hedley, but he’s missed from a variety of distances. If he can bounce back from this injury and nail that down, the Saints decision-makers who have stuck by him — Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis — will be feeling vindicated.
