Rookie Andrew Franks kicking hard for Miami Dolphins position
By Brian Miller
A week ago it appeared that Miami Dolphins un-drafted rookie kicker Andrew Franks was on his way out the teams facility door. After last night’s game, the door might not swing open for one of their kickers until September 5th. Franks made a statement last night, a statement that said he wasn’t ready to simply walk out the door.
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Battling incumbent kicker Caleb Sturgis, Franks showed off his big leg last night. Sturgis’ only attempt on the field was an extra point, which he made. Franks entered the game on the next play to kick-0ff driving the ball to the Atlanta 5 yard line. The ball was muffed with no return.
Franks would handle all but one kick-off the rest the game including two field goal attempts. Both of his next two kick-offs were driven out of bounds for touchbacks and his field goals were on the money. Franks connected from 35 yards and 51 yards and more impressively both kicks came late in the game when the Dolphins were trying to win. On the leg of Franks they did.
Franks’ 35 yard field goal put the Dolphins back in the lead by one before his 51 yard field goal added three.
This entire pre-season has been mainly about Sturgis and that has led me to conclude that Sturgis had the lead in the competition for the job. After last night’s effort I’m no so sure anymore. Franks looked poised and was very calm as he made his two three point shots. The competition between the two should heat up this week as the Dolphins enter the final weekend of play. Last week I believed that Franks would be one of the initial cuts made on Tuesday but I believe now that he will have another week to prove he belongs over Sturgis.