The last two times Dolphins special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Darren Rizzi went looking for a young kicker who would eventually make the team, he came back to the office with names that were afterthoughts to even some draft analysts who track such things.
Three years ago, it was obscure Andrew Franks, a biomedical engineering student at Division III Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. This year, it was Jason Sanders, who some analysts didn’t even rate among the top five kickers in this year’s draft.
One similarity between the two: Very strong legs, which Rizzi understandably values.