The Arizona Cardinals brought back a familiar face to the practice squad on Friday
Phil Dawson hasn’t had to do much kicking this season, but the Arizona Cardinals kicker might not be kicking this weekend either. He currently has a hip injury that could sideline him for the near future.
So, to combat this problem, the Cardinals added kicker Matt McCrane to the practice squad on Friday. He is a rookie out of Kansas State and also challenged Dawson in training camp for the kicking job.
When McCrane was cut, many felt he should have been the choice to win the job over Dawson. McCrane had done everything asked of him during the preseason. It was a little bit of a let down for Cardinals fans to see him go.
For his part, Dawson has hit just 3-5 field goals so far this season. He has hit all 11 of his extra points, something kickers seem to be missing with more regularity lately.
It was smart of the Cardinals to be prepared in case Dawson isn’t able to go come Sunday. The Cardinals should have just put him on the practice squad to begin with.
Nevertheless, McCrane is now here after a brief stint earlier in the season with the Oakland Raiders, where McCrane went 5-9 in field goals and 5-5 in extra points in three games No indication how close Dawson is coming to not being able to go but he is on the injury report.
If for some reason Dawson can’t go and McCrane kicks well this Sunday, could it spell the end of Dawson’s career? He is 43-years old, in his 20th season in the NFL.
McCrane is young and could be around for awhile if things go his way. First thing is first, this could be all for naught if Dawson is in fact ready to kick on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
If McCrane kicks well but then Dawson gets healthy, which direction should the Cardinals go then? They do have a lot of young talent on the roster, why not add youth to the kicking position as well? We’ll see.