Alabama Football: Tide seem to finally have a quality kicker

Alabama football will rely on Will Reichard as their kicker.

The story of Alabama football always revolves around special teams. No matter how successful the Crimson Tide have been in recent years, kicking has always been a weakness. However, happy days seem to be ahead on that front.

Will Reichard will be the team’s starting kicker for the 2020 season. He began last season in a kicking battle, but a hip flexor injury shortened his freshman year. Now that he is fully healthy, fans should be optimistic.

Reichard made four of his seven field-goal attempts last year before going down with an injury, but fans would certainly prefer for that number to be higher. You can mark his percentage to a couple of deep field goal attempts and the fact that he was a freshman kicker. If he had played for the entire season, he would have almost certainly improved his field goal percentage.

Reichard was the top kicker in his recruiting class, so he has received hype since his time in high school. What makes me think that this is the year he puts it all together for Alabama football? For starters, he has shown promise in scrimmages. In Alabama’s Saturday scrimmage, he made four of his five attempts, only missing a 55-yarder. If he can convert at that volume and rate in the regular season, the Tide might finally have an answer for their kicking woes.

Even with all of this good news, I’ll only believe it when he consistently converts field goals in games that matter. Tide fans have been burned too many times to believe a kicker. Even if he made a 50-yarder in every game, I would still close my eyes for every kick.

There is a chance that near-empty stadiums might help Reichard this season. The crowd level at scrimmages will be very comparable to what he should expect on a Saturday, and he seems to be doing well there. All in all, Tide fans have reasons to be hopeful. If Reichard can convert early in the season, fans may finally breathe a sigh of relief.