The Bears Undrafted Signing Getting Tons Of Buzz Isn't Who You Think

When discussing the latest crop of Chicago Bears undrafted free agents, a few names drew interest. Micah Baskerville was an instinctive linebacker for LSU. Gabe Houy was a nasty blocker at Pitt who was destined to get drafted before injuries struck last year. Tyson Bagent was a highly-productive quarterback for Shepherd with good size and athleticism. However, none of those names have generated the most buzz. Believe it or not, that honor belongs to a kicker of all things.

One of the more unexpected additions to the Bears' 16-man undrafted class was Andre Szmyt. He was a kicker for Syracuse over the past five seasons. That involved lots of success, including the coveted Lou Groza Award in 2018. Jeff Risdon of The Draft Wire called him Chicago's best undrafted signing.

"Szmyt consistently performed for Syracuse after being the best kicker in the nation as a freshman in 2018. He can get a little streaky, but when he’s hot Szmyt is a good NFL kicker."

It isn't hard to see the appeal. Szmyt went 85-of-105 on field goal attempts in his college career. That is a respectable 81% accuracy rate. For context, Robbie Gould finished at 63.9% for Penn State. He turned out pretty well. Justin Tucker, the best kicker of this generation, had an 83.3% at Texas. Szmyt can kick.

The Chicago Bears have a clear agenda with Szmyt.

They want to make Cairo Santos uncomfortable. While the 31-year-old kicker was very good on field goals last season (21-of-23), he faltered way too often on extra points (27-of-32). He was also a non-factor on longer field goals. The longest he managed was 51 yards. That inability to give the Bears a chance at points cost them in some of those tight games during the middle of the season. If you're going to kick in Chicago, you need a strong leg to deal with the unpredictable elements of Soldier Field.

That is where Szmyt comes in. He has more than enough leg to be accurate from the mid-50s range. That no doubt increased his appeal to the Chicago Bears. While the start job remains in Santos' grip, the team has no intention of letting him keep it without working for it. Szmyt will be given every opportunity to steal the job this summer. It wouldn't be a surprise if he did. He has that much talent.