Blake Grupe has been one of the New Orleans Saints most disappointing players at the beginning of the season. He's missed two field goals in the first two games from distances that were considered easy kicks. Grupe's most recent miss came this week from 40 yards out against the San Francisco 49ers
The recent misses has fans frustrated. Saints Wire's John Sigler, on the other hand got curious. With a little bit of digging, he discovered Grupe is tied for the most missed field goals from 40 yards or less since joining the league in 2023. These recent misses aren't recent issues.
You won't believe who Grupe is tied with. Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey also has missed five field goals from that range. The difference between Grupe and Aubrey is Aubrey's coach is willing to walk him out there for a 70 yard kick. He's also been an All-Pro in his two years in the league. Grupe and Aubrey share this unfortunate stat, but that's about it.
Blake Grupe has evaporated any momentum he's built during Saints training camp
It's crazy how quickly things can turn around. Going into the season, Grupe was arguably the most polished player on the team. He was nearly perfect during training camp, and showed the same level of consistency in the preseason. Right before the season, the kicker was named one of the captains.
Fast forward two weeks, Kellen Moore is having to tell the media he still has confidence in the kicker. We're just two weeks into the season. Fielding questions like that is disappointing and not indicative of what the Saints saw in training camp.
That's Grupe's saving grace. Younghoe Koo got benched by the Falcons after a game. In Grupe's case, Moore said, "There's too much good in the sample size I've experienced with him to have concerns. He had an awesome camp, offseason & preseason."
The truth is that should count for something, but if camp, offseason and preseason don't translate to the regular season, it's going to be time to have some tough conversations about Grupe.
Moore still has trust in Grupe, but nothing feels like a sure bet when he steps on the field right now for fans. Grupe needs to turn things around otherwise Moore will begin to share the fans' sentiment.