While he’s unsure if he will kick in the preseason or not (the team also has John Parker Romo on the roster), Lutz said it’s extremely important that he’s able to work with Gillikin and long snapper Zach Wood.
“The most important thing for a kicker is to see kicks go through the uprights,” Lutz said. “You can’t get a year back of your career, so I missed out on a lot of time seeing kicks go through the uprights, and I think that’s super important over the next six, eight weeks.”
Entering year six together, Lutz said this is the best camp Wood has had. The duo had worked together for four seasons before Lutz missed 2021, which the kicker said is extremely important — having consistency among long snapper, holder and kicker can’t be taken for granted.
“Blake’s a great holder with any snapper, but with Zach it’s pretty flawless,” Lutz said. “It makes my job easy.”
Lutz also pointed out how meticulous snapping is, saying a centimeter rotation could have the laces turn out a completely different way. Getting into a rhythm with the snapper and holder is crucial for success, which Lutz said hurt the rotation of kickers who played for New Orleans last season.
“I think every kicker we had in here had a good resume, they’re talented guys,” Lutz said.
The Saints went through four kickers besides Lutz last year: Brett Maher, Aldrick Rojas, Cody Parkey and Brian Johnson. That amount of turnover and inconsistency showed in the results, as New Orleans finished 20th in the league in field-goal percentage (83.3 percent) and tied for 23rd in field goals made (25). The return of Lutz, whose 86.6 percent field-goal percentage ranks seventh all time among kickers with at least 25 attempts, should steady the ship. Lutz said the best kicking operations around the league have been together for multiple years.
“You’re talking about a snap, hold, kick in 1.28 seconds,” Lutz said. “So much can go wrong in 1.28 seconds.”
As training camp continues and the team rolls on into the preseason, Lutz…
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