Tennessee Titans place Ryan Succop on IR after signing Greg Joseph
Tennessee Titans kicker Ryan Succop will see his brutal 2019 season come to an end.
The Tennessee Titans have placed kicker Ryan Succop on Injured Reserve.
The move comes on the heels of the Titans signing kicker Greg Joseph off the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad to a three-year deal. He will replace Succop and handle all of the team’s kicking duties for the rest of the season.
#Titans signed K Greg Joseph from Carolina’s practice squad and promoted LB Nigel Harris from the Titans practice squad to the active roster. K Ryan Succop was placed on injured reserve and WR Trevion Thompson was added to the practice squad.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) December 18, 2019
Succop had offseason knee surgery, but was expected to be ready for the start of the season and even got some playing time during the preseason. However, prior to Week 1, Succop simply didn’t feel like his knee was strong enough and was placed on IR.
After he returned in Week 9, the normally reliable Succop just didn’t seem like himself, which was proven in his overall numbers. Not only was he struggling to achieve touchbacks on kickoffs, but he also missed five of the six field goals he attempted.
Succop’s struggles on kickoffs forced the team to carry two kickers and sign fellow kicker Ryan Santoso to take over kickoff duties, and even he had issues with getting touchbacks, leading to the team waiving him on Tuesday.
Succop missed yet another field goal in Week 15 after it was blocked thanks to a low trajectory, and the Titans ended up losing by three points to the Houston Texans. The writing has been on the wall for weeks that the Titans needed to do something about Succop, and finally they have.
Joseph will now be tasked with taking over a kicking unit that has made just 8-of-18 field goal attempts this season.
In 2018 with the Cleveland Browns, Joseph played in 14 games and made 17-of-20 field goals, and 68 percent of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. Joseph was signed to the Panthers’ practice squad in 2019 after he lost out on the starting job in Cleveland to fifth-round pick, Austin Seibert.
Succop’s future is very much cloudy at this point. He does have three years remaining on his current deal after this season, however the Titans just signed a kicker to a multi-year deal on Wednesday.
Could the Titans plan to part ways with Succop after 2019? Or is the multi-year deal for Joseph just an insurance policy in case Succop doesn’t recover for 2020?