Arlington Renegades kicker #1 Taylor Russolino works out his leg while #0 Marquette King holds. (Twitter)
It wasn’t exactly a surprise that the Arlington Renegades chose to alter their roster after an 0-4 start, and a 17-9 loss to the previously winless Houston Roughnecks.
The surprise came with the player they jettisoned.
On Monday, the team waived kicker Taylor Russolino, who had missed Sunday’s game against Houston with a hip injury. Jonathan Garibay was signed last week to fill in for Russolino. Now, he’ll be the team’s kicker for the foreseeable future.
Russolino, who turns 35 next month, was in his second season with the Renegades. Last year, he made 16-of-19 field goals, an 84% clip. He got off to another strong start this year, connecting on 5-of-6 field goals over the first three games.
His one miss came at a critical juncture: With under 2:00 to go in a tie game against St. Louis in week two, Russolino came up empty on a 46-yard attempt. The Battlehawks marched down the field and Andre Szmyt made a chip-shot 22-yarder as time expired to win it.
During his media availability this week, I asked head coach Bob Stoops about the change. He expressed concern about the possibility of the injury to Russolino lingering, especially with the importance of the kickoff as it relates to field position. He also praised Garibay’s work in practice during the week, indicating his performance there helped solidify the decision.
Stoops also cited Garibay’s ability to get the ball further downfield on kickoffs. Though it’s a small sample size, Garibay averaged 70.7 yards per kickoff against Houston. In the first three games of the season, Russolino averaged 65.8 yards per kickoff.
In 2020, Russolino was a St. Louis Battlehawk during the pandemic-shortened XFL season. He went 9-for-10 on field goals before the league shut down. That performance earned him a shot in one NFL game later that season, with the Denver Broncos. It was the first, and thus far only, NFL regular season game in which he has played.
Garibay signed as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022. He played college ball at Texas Tech. He also had a stint in the CFL last year with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
