The Raiders didn’t draft a kicker over the weekend, but they did add a good one as an undrafted free agent.
Florida kicker Eddy Pineiro declared for the NFL draft in January (after his junior year) but ended up going undrafted.
Happy to sign with the Okland raiders! Thank god for this opportunity can’t wait to get to work 🏈
— Eddy Piñeiro (@EddyPineiro) April 28, 2018
Pineiro will join his college teammate, punter Johnny Townsend, whom the Raiders drafted in the fifth round.
Pineiro’s resume at Florida was impressive. Via SECCountry.com, he was one of the best kickers to ever play for Florida – maybe the best:
“The most successful kicker in Gators history, Pineiro finished his two seasons in Gainesville, Fla., with a program-record 88.4-percent conversion rate on his field goals. For that matter, he connected on 29 of his final 30 attempts dating back to 2016 and led the country with a 94.4-percent success rate in 2017 (17 of 18).”
“He was not only consistent, but he has prolific range, Pineiro finished 5 of 5 on attempts of 50 yards or more for his college career…”
Pineiro can also kick the ball a mile. It looks a little breezy in the video below, but 81 yards is still 81 yards.
81 yarder with pads on. No excuses! Ready for the season to start🐊🏈@GatorsFB @FloridaGators pic.twitter.com/5IeZ0tXyhn
— Eddy Piñeiro (@EddyPineiro) May 2, 2017
For what it’s worth, the rookie is also pretty good at kicking the ball through the end zone.
Former #Gators kicker Eddie Pineiro, a #Raiders UDFA signing, led all draft-eligible kickers in 2017 in average kickoff distance (70.4), and only 18.0% of his kickoffs were returned. He also led that same group of kickers in FG % (94.4)
PFF Draft Guide:https://t.co/bmE4MfaJkq
— PFF OAK Raiders (@PFF_Raiders) April 29, 2018
Better watch out, Tavecchio.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Wow. We might have two new kickers in 2018.
Another UDFA gem…watch out for Psu LB too and te Marcus baugh may take pharo browns spot