Former Saints kicker Garrett Hartley isn’t the only player at the position working out for New Orleans on Wednesday. Rookie Zach Hocker is also being evaluated by the Saints three days after their kicker, Shayne Graham, missed a field goal in Sunday’s 41-10 loss at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to the Carolina Panthers.
Zach Hocker
Hocker was a seventh-round draft selection out of Arkansas for the Washington Redskins. He lasted all of training camp with Washington but was beat out by incumbent Kai Forbath at the end of the preseason.
Hocker made two of the three field goals he tried for Washington and all six of the extra points he attempted. He was 1-of-1 from between 20 and 29 yards out and 1-of-2 from between 30 and 39 yards.
Hocker worked out for Cleveland on Dec. 2 but wasn’t signed. He was 61-of-79 (77.2 percent) on field goals during his career at Arkansas.
Graham this season is 18-of-20 (90 percent) for the Saints, who are 5-8. He was the NFL’s special teams player of the month for October after going 9-for-9 in the three games the Saints played between Weeks 5 and 8 this year.
But Graham was wide left on a 42-yard field goal try in the defeat to Carolina. Saints coach Sean Payton met Graham on the sideline after the miss. From a distance, it appeared Payton spoke strongly to Graham.
Payton later said he would not rule out any changes to the roster despite the late stage of the season. The Saints waived wide receiver Joseph Morgan on Tuesday, and they told second-year safety Kenny Vaccaro he was being benched.
However, teams routinely work out players, including kickers, without making a switch.