This week, the Detroit Lions made a change to their kicker competition, and it’s one fans were hoping for over the past two months. The Lions officially signed former Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates and waived undrafted rookie James Turner. That means when the Lions take the field in late July for training camp, it will be a two-kicker race: Bates vs. Michael Badgley.
Bates is the wild card of the competition. Having not kicked any field goals in college and only a single missed kick in high school, the sample size on the All-UFL kicker is incredibly small.