Fresh off their bye the Washington Football Team started off the second half of their season making a kicking change. The Washington Football Team announced they signed former Virginia Tech Hokie Joey Slye and released Chris Blewitt.
Washington head coach Ron Rivera finally realized he blew it with his decision to release longtime kicker Dustin Hopkins for Chris Blewitt ahead of Week 7.
Blewitt had never kicked in an NFL game prior to his signing. He hadn’t attempted a field goal since 2016 while in college at the University Pittsburgh.
In his NFL debut against the Green Bay Packers in Week 7, Blewitt’s first-ever field goal attempt was blocked. The following week, he had two field goals blocked against the Denver Broncos. In total three of his five field goal attempts were blocked through two games.
Meanwhile, Hopkins was swooped up by the Los Angeles Chargers. He is 3-of-3 in two games on field goals, including a 29-yard game-winner Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rivera accepted responsibility for the change from Blewitt to Hopkins. Sure, Hopkins struggled the past two seasons. He missed seven field goals in 2020. This season he missed two field goals and two extra points in six games.
A change was necessary. But going from a reliable kicker who converted 84% of his field goal attempts throughout his career to a kicker who hadn’t kicked in an NFL game and not since 2016 was baffling.
As much as Rivera may have wanted to stick with Blewitt, it was inevitable another change was coming. Blewitt struggled to get the ball past his teammates’ helmets.
Slye comes in with experience as an NFL kicker. He has made 80.2% of his field goals and 88% of his extra points in three seasons in the league. Washington brought him in Monday for a tryout prior to Tuesday’s signing.
His career started with the Carolina Panthers in 2019 after four years at Virginia Tech. Yes, that means he played under Rivera one season in Carolina. It’s another former Panther that has ultimately followed “Riverboat” to Washington.
Slye was signed to the San Francisco 49ers when Washington released Hopkins in October. Slye made 7-of-8 field goals but missed two extra points in three games with the 49ers. He was released when Robbie Gould returned from injured reserve.
At this point being able to kick the ball beyond the line of scrimmage is an improvement over Blewitt.
