Bass hasn’t been able to shake a leg at besting some nagging kicking woes
According to reports from Buffalo Bills mandatory minicamp, kicker Tyler Bass has seen his fare share of struggle in sending the football through the uprights. In a report shared by Alex Brasky, he noted that Wednesday was “(a)n ugly session” for Bass who, per Brasky, “missed his first 3 kicks from 45, 35, 35.”
Interestingly, Brasky’s report states that Bass made a pair 50-yard field goals that sandwiched another miss from 45 yards — adding that Bass followed that up with a “1-for-2 on kicks from 50.”
An ugly session for Tyler Bass at #Bills Wednesday minicamp, as he missed his first 3 kicks from 45, 35, 35. Then made from 50, missed from 45 and made from 50. Later on, he went 1-for-2 on kicks from 50. Bass finished with a disappointing 83% field goal percentage last season
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) June 12, 2024
Selected by the Bills during the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the roots of Tyler Bass’ professional career with the Bills started off well. As a rookie, he outperformed veteran kicker Stephen Hauschka and won the team’s starting kicker role, ultimately breaking longstanding points records held by Steve Christie and Scott Norwood.
There was a time when Bass earned the nickname “Bass-o-matic” by Bills Mafia, and his play as a points-producer well-reflected it. In three consecutive seasons, Bass has been named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month (October 2021, November 2022, and September 2023).
But the truth is that, at times, Tyler Bass has felt more like a streaky kicker than one solidified by consistency. Of late, Bass seems to excel at longer kicks, while sometimes making the more routine shorter kicks too much of an adventure.
Notably this offseason, the Bills have brought in rookie undrafted free-agent punter/kicker Jake Browning. It’s highly unlikely that Browning is here to unseat Bass, rather perhaps simply providing some kicking relief in the off months. Browning, admittedly, is known mainly as a punter, with a spotty track record kicking field goals.
It’s pretty obvious that Buffalo is looking for a hook from Bass that will propel him back toward the greatness that gave One Bills Drive reason to sign him to a handsome contract extension remains to be seen. That contract, signed in April of 2023 gave Tyler Bass a four-year, $21 million extension.
Brasky rightly points out Bass’ “disappointing” 83% field goal percent from last season, which nearly mirrors his career made percentage of 84.9%. Especially notable last season were late-game scenarios where Bass wound up either unable to convert a game-changing kick or the option wasn’t even made available to him. The one missed kick that remains top of mind is of course the last attempt of Bass’ 2023 season. Fair or not, it became the kick that ultimately wound up sending everyone home.
In total last season, Bass made 24-of-29 field goal attempts, and 49-of-50 extra-point attempts. There’s no game of horseshoes with NFL kickers, and their margin of error is among the slimmest in any sport. Quarterbacks and receivers who finish games connecting/catching 83% of their passes/targets are viewed as exceptional. For either to finish a season with percentages anywhere near that rate puts them in vaunted territory.
Over the course of four seasons with the Bills, Bass has made 107-of-126 field goals (84.9%) in the regular season to go along with 205-of-210 (97.6%) on extra points. Bass’ numbers take a healthy percentage dip in playoff games, converting just 12-of-17 field goals (70.6%) and 26-of-29 (89.7%) extra point attempts.
(Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference)
When a player’s main role is to finish off what an offense started, it’s expected they make it count where the drive stalled (or converted). In fairness to head coach Sean McDermott, he avoids playing head games with his kicker when Bass can’t clear his mind.
It’s clear Bass has the talent and ability, he just needs to rediscover the mojo. For a team dead-set on carving greatness into the grandest halls of their sport, it will require what can only be viewed as a surprisingly necessary redemptive season and career arc out of Bass.