WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – As the Rams search for special teams solutions, their latest attempt involved having two kickers active on gameday.
Last Sunday against the Chargers, Brandon McManus handled field goals and extra points just like against the Raiders the week before. However, kickoff duties went to Joshua Karty, a 2024 Rams draft pick back for his second stint with the team.
53-man roster mechanics – really, 48-man gameday roster mechanics to be exact – don't always allow for that. Especially when those final spots are heavily predicated on who can contributed across all four phases on special teams, it's rare to have two kickers active on gameday.
But that's how much of a difference-maker the Rams thought Karty could be. Reflecting on that approach entering Week 9 with Karty handling kickoffs, head coach Sean McVay felt good about it.
"I thought when we kept the ball in play, it was positive," McVay said earlier this week.
On Monday, whether the Rams would carry over that approach into Sunday's road game against the Commanders was still to be determined, primarily due to roster mechanics – "because of the uncertainty with some of the things with our tight ends, corners," according to McVay, as well the potential for Myles Garrett and Terrance Ferguson to be activated off of Injured Reserve, with Garrett and Ferguson returning to practice and in their 21-day windows.
Three days later, it was enough of a positive that the Rams found enough roster maneuverability to put Karty on the 53-man roster, though McVay indicated Karty being on the 53-man roster did not necessarily guarantee him being active on Sunday against the Commanders like he was last Sunday against the Chargers.
If Karty had remained on the practice squad, he would've had one more elevation left. By putting him on the active roster, it gives the Rams "unlimited" elevations, so to speak, and greater flexibility if and when they decide to use that dual-kicker approach.
"If we have the ability to have him as one of our 48, that's a luxury," McVay said. "But there's been a lot of unique – there's been more moving parts. But it doesn't necessarily change his role putting him up on the active roster. It just gives us kind of unlimited flexes if we can have two kickers up on game day."
While two of Karty's kickoffs last Sunday were short of the landing zone – and consequently gave the Chargers starting field position at their own 40 in each instance – his three that successfully reached it were not returned farther than the 28-yard line.
"I take it very seriously, just having an opportunity to help out the team in any way I can," Karty told therams.com. "It was really cool to be out there. A lot of fun. Yeah, being back in the stadium, playing on the field in front of the fan base with the teammates and the coaches, it was very familiar, and it was really unexpected and just a super-amazing experience."
For context: In Week 7 against the Raiders, their first two kickoff return went for 36 and 42 yards, respectively – detrimental enough to force the Rams to adopt of strategy of putting the ball in the end zone for touchbacks. But that still spotted the ball at the 35 – likely a big reason why McVay said such a strategy was not sustainable.
"The thought process behind it was we had been not having any success covering kicks," McVay said postgame Sunday. "I didn't want to take the approach that we did after two kicks last week in Vegas where you're putting the ball in the 35-yard line."
That brings us to the return of Karty for a second stint with the team, as a member of the practice squad and a kickoff specialist who could help compensate that poor kickoff coverage.
While Rams fans wanted to forget the team's Week 3 game against the Eagles in Philadelphia, there was one positive special teams moment: Karty's "dirty" kickoffs. The Eagles' returners had such difficulty fielding it, they muffed the catch four times. The second time it happened, running back Tank Bigsby recovered his own muff, but only managed an 8-yard return from the Philadelphia 6 to the Philadelphia 14.
When Karty spoke Wednesday, he had yet to be signed to the active roster, but he said he would be ready if his number was called again.
"Oh, it would be great," Karty said. "Especially outdoors, I think it helps a little bit with just a little bit of wind or something. Well, not necessarily makes it easy. Doesn't make it easier for me, but will make it harder for the returners. So yeah, no, it'd be an honor to get my name called up again and to try and help the team and improve upon last week and pin them deep."
