One of the early headaches in Packers camp has come at kicker, where rookie Trey Smack has been too uneven through the first two weeks. That kind of inconsistency is hard to ignore even in August, and it’s enough to make a case for Green Bay to bring in free agent Younghoe Koo.
Koo is coming off a rough season and has already bounced around after a strong run with the Atlanta Falcons, but he still brings a track record that stands out. Before last year’s struggles, he sat inside the top five in all-time field goal percentage. With the free-agent market already thinned out after a long offseason, Green Bay doesn’t have many appealing alternatives.
There’s no downside to at least finding out whether Koo has something left. Smack should still have a chance to keep the job, but he also needs to show he can handle real competition from a veteran with experience. If that battle goes poorly, the Packers would already have enough evidence that a change was necessary after the rookie showed concerning signs.
The bigger issue is that a kicker shouldn’t be this inconsistent this early. That has been the defining theme for Smack so far, and it’s why Koo looks like the clearest bargain option to push him.
Koo’s recent numbers still suggest there’s something to work with. In 2022 and 2023, he made 86% of his field goal attempts, and he had been above 90% in the two seasons before that. That gave him four straight years of stability before the downturn, which the source says seemed tied to injury issues.
Green Bay’s own offseason choices helped create the problem. The team waited too long to move on from Brandon McManus and never added a more established kicker to compete with the rookie. At this point, Koo stands out as the most sensible addition and a useful wildcard if the Packers want another option behind Smack.
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Packers Add Receiver As Injuries Suddenly Test Their Depth
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Packers Camp Injuries Are Suddenly Hitting Two Key Position Battles
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The receiver room, though, is starting to feel the strain of camp injuries. The Packers responded by bringing back Kisean Johnson while waiving cornerback Marlon Jones with an injury designation, a roster shuffle that underscores how quickly one position can get stretched thin when bodies start to go down. Several other players are still either on the PUP list or sitting out practice, so the next few days will matter for anyone trying to carve out a role before the reps tighten. [Read more 🡒]