Why the Lions are opting for patience with their young kicker

ALLEN PARK — Lions kicker Jake Bates isn’t a finished product. He’ll miss kicks this season. He’ll miss extra-point attempts. He’ll boot a kickoff out of bounds. Mistakes will happen.

He also happens to have a golden leg with generational power.

Patience is in short supply in this league, and especially at that position, and especially for contenders. It’s tempting to roster a more dependent player for a Super Bowl run, even if he might be less talented. But in the case of Jake Bates, the Lions are so enamored by the upside that they’re willing to remain patient through the inevitable growing pains ahead.

“I feel great about him,” special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said. “I’m really excited about him. He’s one of the most talented players I’ve been around at that position. I think all the guys on the other teams in the preseason watch him warm up and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s incredible.’ So he has a tremendous upside, which if you’re going to invest in a player and take a chance, you definitely want to do it with a guy that can turn out to be a really good player for ya. I think we got to be a patient with him.”

There is some precedent here too. Kickers often don’t stick until their second or third teams. One notable example is Daniel Carlson, who was a fifth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2018. Carlson made the team that year, but missed three of his first four attempts and was cut after just two games. Just like that, Minnesota had burned through a draft pick.

Carlson landed with the Raiders that year, and made 16 of 17 attempts the rest of the way. He was named second-team All-Pro in 2021, then first-team All-Pro the year after that while setting the NFL record for most 50-yard field goals.

“Minnesota maybe shouldn’t be given up on him so fast and just hung in there and been patient,” Fipp said.

With that, the Lions are being patient with Bates despite some turbulence in camp and the preseason. That includes missing a 30-yard field goal in the preseason final against Pittsburgh.

Then again, he also made three 60-yarders in a breakout season in the UFL, booted a 64-yarder in practice with Detroit, blasted a 53-yarder through the rain during an exhibition in New York, a 55-yarder that hit almost halfway up the net in Kansas City, and also nailed a game-winning buzzer-beater from 43 yards against the Chiefs.

“You always kind of memory bank those things,” head coach Dan Campbell said that day in Kansas City. “And then you see what he’s done over the last couple of weeks, it’s encouraging. Believe me, Fipp and I both know, look, he hasn’t arrived and there’s still going to be more growing pains that come with this. We’ve just got to be patient, and just let him continue to grow.”

The talent is immense, but for a guy who never attempted a field goal in college, the growth curve is inevitable. The Lions are choosing patience at the position, and feel good about playing 14 games indoors, which should help a young kicker. So will settle on one long snapper, after running with two in training camp.

“I feel great about Bates,” Fipp said.

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