Why did the Buccaneers prioritize Roberto Aguayo?

Why did the Buccaneers use such a premiere draft pick on kicker Roberto Aguayo?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers prioritized drafting Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo this past year, but why?

Why draft a kicker in the second round when most teams get them after the draft? Why trade picks to get him? Pro Football Focus absolutely hated the pick, calling it the second worst move of the entire NFL offseason (behind Houston handing Brock Osweiler a truckload of money). Here’s what they had to say…

“For a kicker to go that high, a team has to be sure he is an NFL-level kind of special, and Aguayo wasn’t even special at the collegiate level. He finished his college career as the most-accurate kicker of all time, converting 96.73 percent of his attempts (narrowly topping Alex Henery’s 96.67 percent record), but much of that can come down to the attempts he was making. He was just 20-of-29 from 40+ yards, and at no point did he grade well as a kick-off man, ranking no higher than 29th in the nation in average kick distance over the past two seasons.”

Yuck.

Aguayo is certainly a good kicker, but his lack of accuracy on 40-plus yard kicks is disturbing. The Bucs must see a correctible flaw in Aguayo’s game that will fix his accuracy beyond that distance, which is certainly do-able.

I’m going to throw in a hot take here — this wasn’t a bad pick at all. In fact, it was a good pick. The Buccaneers probably had more weaknesses, but if you can get a kicker who is so good that you don’t have to think about the position for the next decade plus, that is a major win for your franchise.

People don’t realize how important having a great kicker is until you don’t have one. Ask the New Orleans Saints, who have had 10 different kickers in the last 10 years.

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The Bucs are banking on Aguayo completely removing any possible issue at the kicker position, and he certainly has the track record to prove he can be what they need. They will look at his mechanics, make some tweaks, and get him firing on all cylinders at all distances.

It might seem like a laughable pick, but if the Bucs have no issues at the kicker position for the foreseeable future, no one will care what pick he was drafted with.

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