There may soon be another changing of the guard at kicker in Oakland.
According to reports out of Tuesday’s OTA sessions, rookie kicker Eddy Pineiro is getting every opportunity to take the kicking duties from Giorgio Tavecchio.
From NBC Sports Bay Area’s Scott Bair:
“Undrafted rookie Eddy Pineiro was featured exclusively during a field goal drill during Tuesday’s OTA where attempts started short and continually moved further back. The Florida alum was pretty accurate – he only missed two – during this session, where he flashed a strong leg. Pineiro put one attempt on the Raiders performance center roof, well behind goal posts he split.
Incumbent Giorgio Tavecchio watched while Pineiro took every rep, working with rookie punter, holder and fellow Florida alum Johnny Townsend. Tavecchio fared well last year, but it’s clear Pineiro will be given every chance to earn the kicker job in 2018.”
Tavecchio really managed to inherit a worst-case scenario when the Raiders signed Pineiro. Not only is Pineiro a right-footed kicker, but the Raiders had already happened to acquire his college holder (punter Johnny Townsend) in the fifth round of the draft.
Pineiro can kick the ball a mile (figuratively speaking) and was also very accurate in college, connecting on 29 of his final 30 field goal attempts at Florida dating back to 2016. In fact, it’s a bit of a mystery why he wasn’t drafted in the first place.
“All the signs point to Pineiro being given the job,” The Athletic’s Vic Tafur said Tuesday on his weekly podcast. “It sure seems like they’ve made their minds up about Eddy Pineiro already.”
twitter: @raidersbeat
