Friday open thread: Will Austin Seibert make it through the year?

The Detroit Lions were not satisfied with either Randy Bullock or Zane Gonzalez after shaky preseasons and camps, so they hit the waivers on Wednesday to find their kicker. The team ended up with Austin Seibert, a former fifth-round pick by the Browns in 2019. He spent most of last season with the Bengals before being waived.

As the only kicker on the roster, Seibert will have the starting job to begin the year. While the Lions offense is not expected to score a ton, it might find itself in field goal range more often than in the end zone, so this is not exactly a passive role. Detroit fans have been spoiled by reliable kickers, which means the bar is set pretty high.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Will Austin Seibert make it through the year?

My answer: Everyone remembers the Nate Freese-Alex Henery struggles that eventually led to Matt Prater. While Seibert seems fairly reliable for the most part (25-for-29 in 2019, 6-for-9 in 2020), there is likely a reason he was available. For one, he is only 1-for-3 from over 50 yards in his career, which shows he has not really been trusted from long range, and he also is only a 86.4 percent extra point kicker in his career (though he was perfect with the Bengals last season).

I think Seibert probably survives, just because of his age and the state of the team. The Lions are unlikely to have many games decided by just three points, and they may be willing to give Seibert a bit of a leash in hopes of him growing into a reliable part of the team. He was a good kicker in college (34-for-40 his final two years) and came from a big school, Oklahoma. It could be worth having some patience, even if he hits a few rough patches.

Your turn.