Philadelphia Eagles: Jake Elliott is having a career year under our noses
While it may not be flashy, Jake Elliott is having his best professional season as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles right under our noses.
Typically speaking, if people are talking about an NFL kicker, something has gone very, very wrong.
Need proof? Just ask everyone’s favorite former Philadelphia Eagles punching bag Cody Parkey, who is somehow still the butt of an alarming number of jokes for his playoff losing ‘double doink’ almost one full year later.
For how unfunny Rob Riggle’s ‘Kicker‘ spoof was or wasn’t (it was), it serves as a cautionary tale for placekickers the world over: Nothing is off-limits when a kicker messes up.
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Fortunately for fans in Philly, that no longer appears to be a problem.
That’s right, after suffering through a revolving door of ball booters in the post-David Akers world, it looks like Jake Elliott may be the Birds next great franchise kicker.
That’s a thing, right? If not, it should be.
So far this season, Elliott is perfect on all 13 of his field goal attempts, including four attempts from 40-plus. While his current long of 53 isn’t all that impressive, as Elliott hit from 53 last season and 61 as a rookie, he doesn’t pick where the ball is placed, he just has to rack them up and knock them down.
Alright, alright, technically that isn’t true. Elliott has missed two extra points so far this season, one against the Bills in an exceptionally windy game, and another ironically enough against the Bears, but neither particularly mattered to the final score.
Elliott also failed to convert a fake field goal passing attempt against the Minnesota Vikings, but I’d attribute that to some truly bizarre play-calling, as opposed to any negatives on the 24-year-old’s part.
No, those three gaffs aside, Elliott has played about as well as anyone could have hoped in his third professional season and looks every bit like a player worthy of a long-term deal.
With everyone’s favorite web series actor Rick Lovato now signed through 2023 on a new four-year extension, Elliott looks primed to be the next Eagles specialist Howie Roseman signs either after the regular season or in the forthcoming week. If fellow soon-to-be free agent Cam Johnston also earns an extension, the Eagles could roll with the same special teams unit for three straight seasons for the first time since all the way back in the Akers-era, when he, Saverio Rocca, and the ‘Magic Man’ Jon Dorumbas played together from 2007-10.
And to think, it almost didn’t happen.
Next. Philadelphia Eagles look to erase pathetic home history versus Seahawks. dark
A fifth-round pick out of Memphis, Elliott came into the league with a lot of potential but somehow lost a kicking battle to Randy Bullock and was waived by the Cincinnati Bengals in their final trim down to 53. From there, Elliott waded his time on the practice squad before the Philadelphia Eagles stole him to replace an injured Caleb Sturgis before Week 3. And the rest, as they say, is history.