Could Connor Barth be a solution for Miami Dolphins?

The Denver Broncos decided that two kickers were enough and Connor Barth was the odd man out. The veteran kicker was kicking well this pre-season but the Broncos went with the younger Brandon McManus and that has many believing that the Miami Dolphins should take a long hard look at improving their kicking game.

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Over his career in the NFL, Barth is 85.3% on his field goal attempts with a long of 57. He is 13 of 20 from 50 plus yards over his seven seasons. From the ranges of 40-49 Barth is 40 of 49 attempts and improves to 31-35 from 30-39.

Compared to Sturgis, Barth’s numbers are better.

Sturgis has been in the league for two seasons and has a FGM % of 77.5. In his two seasons with the Dolphins Sturgis is three of seven from 50 plus and eight of 10 from 40-49. From 30-39 yards Sturgis has made 10 of 12. Overall Sturgis has made 55 of his 71 attempts. Barth has made 116 of 136.

The numbers don’t equate to a stellar difference between the two but Barth has been more consistent and if he joined the Dolphins would give the team a much better competition than the one currently playing out between Sturgis and un-drafted rookie Andrew Franks.

In addition to the stats above, Sturgis is just over 75% outdoors while Barth is at 84%.

Barth may not be the complete answer to the Dolphins kicking problems but he is the best of what is available today. The Dolphins could opt and probably should opt to wait and see who comes available in the coming weeks. Although getting real competition for Sturgis now isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

One area that unfortunately Sturgis has a “leg” up on Barth is in the touchback department. While inconsistent, he has still performed better than Barth. In 2014 Sturgis kicked 37 of his 85 kick-offs out of the end zone or for a touchback. Through the five games Barth played last season, he had eight kick-offs and all of them returned.

The NFL doesn’t keep exact stats on touchbacks readily available, you have to dig for them so we have to look at unofficial sites to gauge a kickers ability to put the ball out of play legally.

The situation with Sturgis is such that he needs real competition and that is literally the bottom line. How well Barth would do in camp competing for a job is unknown. What is known is that his NFL experience would give the Dolphins a boost and it’s likely he would be more reliable but until he is actually kicking in practice and in games, we simply won’t know for certain.

At this point, should the Dolphins give Barth a look? Maybe but in the end, it’s likely that Barth will still be looking for work in about two weeks and the Dolphins may find better options at that time. However again, having some competition now for Sturgis may not be a bad thing at all.