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PK Rob Bironas, Tennessee Titans
HT: 6-0, WT: 198, Born: 1-29-1978, College: Auburn, Drafted: ---
2008 Projections
Best Case
Before landing a starting job with the Titans in 2005, Bironas had plenty of experience traveling. He went to college at both Auburn and Georgia Southern. He played for Carolina, Charleston, and New York in the AFL. He'd been in NFL camps with the Packers, Buccaneers, and Steelers over the years. During his second year in 2006, there were hints of better things to come. Bironas' long field goal that year was a 60 yard game winner against division rival Indianapolis. He also averaged only 4.3 ppg during the first half of the year, but jumped to 8.0 ppg in the second half. The momentum carried over into 2007. Bironas made 35 of 39 (89.7%) field goals and added 28 PATs. After missing two PATs his first year, he has been perfect since then. Last year he reaffirmed that he has the range to hit long field goals, going 9 of 10 from 40-49 yards and 4 of 5 from 50+ yards. His leg strength also shows up on his kickoffs. He averaged 67.6 yards and had 16 touchbacks last year. If all that wasn't enough, Bironas broke the single game NFL record by hitting 8 of 8 field goals in the game at Houston. The Titans gave Bironas a $1.47 million tender for this year, but are still hoping to negotiate a long term deal. The best case is that last year was the real deal and not a fluke.
Worst Case
Hidden within the success of Bironas' big 2007 were two missed chipshots (27WL, 29WL). That harkens back to his inconsistent first two years.
In 2005 he was 23 of 29 (79.3%) on field goals, and in 2006 he hit 22 of 28 (78.6%) field goals He missed six field goals each of those years, including one from under 40 yards each year. Last year, 26 of his points came in just one game. He averaged 7.1 points per game in the other 15 games. It is very unlikely that Bironas (or anyone for that matter) will make eight field goals in one game again anytime soon (or perhaps ever). Odds are that Bironas will see reduced field goal attempts this year and that he will not be able to duplicate last years high field goal percentage. Both of these would of course reduce his total scoring, unless the Titans score significantly more touchdowns this year.
Outlook
After two years of being bailed out by Gary Anderson, the second highest scorer in NFL history with 2434 points, the Titans were determined to find a placekicker who can also kickoff, and settled on a kicker with zero NFL points going into 2005. After his first three years, Bironas is now up to 330 career NFL points. Back in 2003, the Titans ranked 3rd in kicker scoring. They dropped off the following three years; ranking 26th, 21st, and 21st. Last year they jumped back up to 3rd in kicker scoring as Bironas tallied 133 points. Looking at Bironas' monster game one last time, what if he hadn't scored eight field goals in one game? What if his big day was more in line with a typical big day by a kicker? The most common number of field goals made by kickers in their "best" game of the year is four. Had that been the case for Bironas, he would have scored 121 points and ranked 9th. For 2008, the offense will be working under a new offensive coordinator, Mike Heimerdinger. How quickly he succeeds (or doesn't) will impact the number of scoring opportunities for Bironas. Finally and completely unrelated to 2008, Bironas entered the trivia books in 2005 as Jeff Fisher finally got to sneak a rare free kick attempt into a game. His strong leg failed him on that one, as came up short from 58 yards.
