Joshua Karty has had eight field goals or extra points blocked or miss the mark this season, more than any other kicker in the NFL.
While the Los Angeles Rams haven’t released Karty, they’re making a big change at the position for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Head coach Sean McVay announced Friday that they’re turning to the 245-pound Harrison Mevis, who’s affectionally known in the football world as “The Thiccer Kicker.”
“I still do have a lot of confidence in Josh Karty, McVay said, via The Associated Press. Hes not going anywhere … but its [about] who do I think gives us the best chance to have successful outcomes, particularly in that operation with the given factors on Sunday against the Niners?
That’s where Mevis comes in, and the same goes for Jake McQuaide, who will return to his role as the team’s long snapper. McQuaide held that title from 2011 to 2020. Now he’s replacing Alex Ward.
The Rams signed both Mevis and McQuaide to their practice squad earlier this week. McVay said the kicking competition will be re-evaluated on Monday, according to the AP.
Until then, Mevis is in the spotlight. He earned his nickname during his illustrious career at Missouri, where he made a pair of All-SEC teams and most notably became a first-team All-American in 2021.
Mevis went undrafted in 2024. He initially signed on with the Carolina Panthers before getting waived in early August last year. Then he played for the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions, making 21-of-23 field goal attempts with a long of 56 yards.
Mevis has a booming boot. His right foot delivered 13 makes from 50-plus yards out in college. He drilled a 61-yard, walk-off field goal to defeat then-No. 15 Kansas State during Missouri’s 11-win 2023 season.
He also forced overtime with a 56-yarder as time expired against Boston College amid his accolade-adorned 2021 campaign, which he clocked out of with a 92% success rate on his 25 field goal attempts.
Karty had a pair of fourth-quarter field goals blocked in the Rams’ stunning loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3. The 2024 sixth-round pick from Stanford also missed a 53-yard field goal attempt and had a fourth-quarter extra point blocked during a Week 5 overtime defeat to the 49ers.
Misses on an extra point and a 39-yard field goal attempt last week against the New Orleans Saints did Karty in.
And Mevis, who spent training camp with the New York Jets this summer, is finally getting his shot.
“Hes kicked in a lot of big games when you go back to his career at Missouri, McVay said when explaining his choice to go with Mevis Sunday in the Bay Area, per the AP.
There are always those factors that come into it, but I think at the end of the day you have to have the clarity and the courage to be able to make the decisions that you think are best.”