Is it safe to say he’s back? Maybe. Wil Lutz has been sensational at New Orleans Saints training camp, connecting on 49 of his 51 kicks since July. He closed out Wednesday’s practice session with two successful field goals in two-minute team drills, nailing both of his tries from 51 and 38 yards.
This follows last week’s preseason game, in which Lutz set a new career-long field goal of 59 yards — he’s missed from that distance before, but his previous personal-best in preseason, regular season, and playoff games was 58 yards. After missing 11 months with a core muscle injury, reparative surgery, and the subsequent rehab, he’s again looking like a Pro Bowler.
“I feel like I’ve had my best camp here in seven years,” Lutz told Nola.com’s Rod Walker.
Getting Lutz back to this level is huge. The Saints lost games last year due to missed kicks (for example, two botched extra-point tries sailed away from the uprights in a 23-21 road loss to the Tennessee Titans, and a missed field goal against the New York Giants set up a touchdown pass from midfield in that 27-21 upset). New Orleans’ kickers scored a combined 106 points in 2021. Lutz averaged 136 points a year from 2016 to 2020. That 30-point swing should make for a massive difference.
Still, we’ve got to see it to believe it. Encouraging as Lutz’s summer has gone so far, everyone can rest a little easier if he plays well in the season opener with Atlanta.
