Sean McVay’s crazy two-kicker gamble might actually be genius

Sean McVay has tried just about everything to fix the Los Angeles Rams’ disastrous special teams unit this season. He’s changed kickers, shuffled personnel, experimented with different kickoff strategies and watched opposing returners tear through his coverage team like it was TSA Precheck. 

Now, he’s considering something that sounds downright ridiculous: dressing two kickers for Sunday’s Battle for Los Angeles against the Chargers.

And here’s the crazy part. It might be genius. 

The Rams are considering activating Josh Karty exclusively for kickoffs while veteran Brandon McManus handles field goals and extra points. It’s an unconventional approach that would sacrifice a valuable game-day roster spot, but desperate times demand creative solutions.

And the Rams are certainly desperate.

Their kickoff coverage has been a catastrophe, with Ethan Evans, Harrison Mevis, Blake Grupe and McManus all taking turns trying to solve a problem that isn’t necessarily their fault.

Grupe’s story is particularly brutal. In his Rams debut against Arizona, he made a 44-yard field goal before his first kickoff ended with him attempting to tackle Devin Duvernay after a 40-yard return. Grupe tore his ACL on the play, ending his season almost as quickly as it began.

The kicker shouldn’t be the last line of defense because everyone else failed to do their job.

Even last Sunday against Las Vegas, McManus watched Raiders returners rip off gains of 42 and 39 yards. McVay eventually resorted to asking him to kick the ball through the end zone.

That’s not fixing the problem. That’s surrendering to it.

Enter Karty back through the door he first entered when he was drafted by the Rams in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. 

The former Rams kicker developed a knuckleball-style kickoff that resembles a soccer free kick, deliberately striking the football with minimal spin to create unpredictable movement.

“I’m just trying to pretend like it’s a free kick in soccer and try to knuckle that thing over the wall,” Karty said.

And unlike most of the Rams’ special teams experiments, this one actually has evidence supporting it.

In 2025, Karty’s kickoffs helped opponents start at an average of their own 25.5-yard line, the best mark in the NFL. Without him this season, that number has ballooned to 34.6, second-worst in the league.

That’s 9.1 yards of field position surrendered every kickoff. Over five kickoffs, that’s potentially 45.5 yards gifted to the opposition. That adds up over time. 

And McVay wouldn’t be inventing the strategy. The Dallas Cowboys used David Buehler primarily for kickoffs while Nick Folk handled field goals in 2009. They revisited the approach with Dan Bailey and Buehler in 2011 before Buehler’s injury ended the arrangement.

The difference is that Karty isn’t being brought back to rescue the field-goal operation. That’s McManus’ job.

Karty’s assignment would be to disrupt returners, manipulate field position and give the coverage unit a fighting chance.

Of course, this is still a bandage over a bullet wound. Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone must fix the missed assignments, poor leverage and breakdowns that have plagued the Rams all season.

But if McVay can turn one roster spot into 40 or 50 yards of improved field position every Sunday, the experiment isn’t necessarily crazy.

In fact, it might be a genius solution to a personnel problem that wasn’t going to be fixed anytime soon. 

And after seven weeks of special teams incompetence, it’s about time the Rams tried something that actually has a track record of working.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!