The ace kicker of the Dallas Renegades, Austin MacGinnis may have an opportunity to start next week when his Los Angeles Rams take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady under the lights on Monday Night Football.
The Rams current kicker Kai Forbath suffered an injury to his ankle yesterday in the miraculous triumph over the Seattle Seahawks, a 23-17 final. Forbath was signed after head coach Sean McVay gave up on their seventh-round draft pick, Samuel Sloman for no real reason, other than McVay showing bias to veterans.
Sloman had a long field goal of 42 yards and went 18 for 21 on extra points. Forbath already shanked an extra point in his second game and shanked a field goal in his first game, not a good impression. Enter XFL alumni Austin MacGinnis.
MacGinnis the Monster
Luckily, the Rams have been stashing Austin MacGinnis on the practice squad. He could be the change they need for the kicker carousel. MacGinnis was with the Rams in the preseason with CFL veteran Lirim Hajrullahu and Samuel Sloman.
That being said, MacGinnis is a very viable option. He was a perfect 10 for 10 on his field goals which led the entire league. His long field goal as a Renegade was 46-yard long boot.
The former Renegade kicker had a league-leading six kickoffs landing inside the 20-yard line in the XFL as well as a league-leading four touchbacks. MacGinnis certainly has a huge leg which he displayed in the XFL but also his talents can be traced all the way back to his college days as a Kentucky Wildcat.
Kicking it in Kentucky
Why just stop with his XFL success? Let’s go back to his college days in the SEC to show why he can lead an NFL team as a kicker.
Senior year, MacGinnis etched his name into Wildcat with his history-making 11 straight field goals. He also had two field goals over 50 yards one of which was a 53-yard bomb against Missouri. MacGinnis never shanked an extra point either, a perfect 36 for 36. Sure, NFL moved the extra point back but college extra points still get missed left and right by some kickers.
As a junior, he finished third in the entire conference making 16 field goals. The 257 points MacGinnis he has scored in his Wildcat career are the most points ever for a Wildcat prior to his senior season. He had a long field goal of 51 yards twice.
Showing Strength as a Sophomore
In the sophomore year, he battled an injury but still played 10 games. MacGinnis went 13-for-17 in field goal attempts, including a long of 48. He would extend his magnificent school-record streak of consecutive field goals made to 11 in a row. Kicked off in 10 games, good for a 61.5-yard average, a career-high for MacGinnis.
He did have an injury but he played through it and played through it very well, it would have been hard to tell he had an injury looking at the stat sheet.
Fantastic Freshman
Coming into his first year as a redshirt freshman he came onto the scene with authority. He made 21 of 27 field goals and every single of his 41 extra-point tries.
MacGinnis would set school records for most points in a season with 104, most field goals in a season with 21, most extra points in a season with a blemish-free 41 of 41, most kickoff touchbacks in a season 25, longest field goal made in school history a monster shot of 54 yards and consecutive field goals made with nine, that was prior to setting the record with 11 later in his career.
That is very impressive, do remember he is just a freshman with those states. MacGinnis was named first-team All-SEC and first-team Freshman All-America . He also would garner the honors of being named National Placekicker of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards when he made four of four field goals, and four of four extra points.
Are you sold yet?
There is no reason why anyone should not be sold on Austin MacGinnis coming in and taking the city of Los Angeles and the entire NFL by storm. We have seen greatness in XFL kickers already this year with Houston Roughneck kicker Sergio Castillo with the New York Jets making six of seven field goals and a monster field goal made from 55 yards out.
A massive opportunity is in front of MacGinnis, look for him to run with it.
