Will Andrew Franks Unseat Caleb Sturgis?

The Miami Dolphins lost place kicker Caleb Sturgis to a quadricep muscle injury for the remainder of off-season workouts. That is bad news for Sturgis but could be good news for Andrew Franks. Franks has reportedly been making the most of his opportunity this week in OTA’s.

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A small, very small school prospect from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been much more consistent with his field goal attempts in the last week that the current starter. According to reports from those watching the OTA’s in the media, Franks has connected on several kicks from over the 50 yard mark including a 56 yard shot. While it’s still only OTA’s this is the time of year when someone like Franks can make a dent in the depth chart. Especially with Sturgis out. While he may be more consistent than Sturgis, he still needs work.

Sturgis has made less than 80% of his attempts in his two seasons with the Dolphins and the thought is the Dolphins are growing weary of his inconsistent attempts. Special teams coach Darren Rizzi has said that the team needs to improve in that area of the game and he also said that while Franks has a big leg, he too needs to work on his consistency.

Franks will not be the only body in camp regardless of whether Sturgis returns for training camp or not. The Dolphins need to upgrade the position if by adding competition to the field of kickers. For now, Franks will get his shot to show off what he can do but whether or not he ultimately wins the job is another story. Especially since we don’t know who he will actually be competing with come August.

For now, Franks has an opportunity and he can’t waste it. He needs to show that he can be the teams go to guy and he needs to prove he can kick clutch field goals…and with the extra points moving back to what essentially will be a 33 yard attempt, he needs to show he can make those as well.

"2014: Played all 11 games … Had 57 kickoffs for 3499 yards and 33 touchbacks … Averaged 61.4 yards per kickoff … Had 45 punts for 1738 yards … Averaged 38.6 yards per punt … Long was 60 yards … Had 12 punts inside the 20 yardline … Made 16 field goals on 25 attempts … Three 50+ yards field goals – according to his college’s team site."

The biggest concern is the 16 of 25 field goal attempts and he also had two field goals blocked. Can he be the guy in Miami? A lot of impressing needs to be done but there is no doubt this kid has the leg to make the coaches take notice. For the time being, all eyes will be on Franks as he attempts to make it to the 53 man roster.