| Eagles' second-year kicker Alex Henery is putting up Pro Bowl numbers but still needs a last-second, game-winning kick on his resume. (US Presswire) |
It's been a rough season for most of the Eagles, but one of them has had not just a good season but a great one -- kicker Alex Henery.
The second-year player has flown under the radar all year, mainly because his team is so bad and there have been so many controversies. Few seem to have noticed the quiet kicker from Nebraska, except his coaches and teammates, especially the two Eagles who work with him every day: holder Mat McBriar and long-snapper Jon Dorenbos.
“I’ve just been hitting the ball well,’’ Henery said. “I feel like we’ve been in a real good rhythm with Mat and Jon. I’ve been happy with the way I’ve been hitting it, and it’s been going through.”
In fact, all of them have gone through except one; Henery has made 20 of 21 field goal attempts, a success rate of 95.2 percent. That’s even better than last year, when he set a team and NFL rookie record by hitting 88.9 percent.
“He has really good mechanics,’’ special teams coach Bobby April said. “He came in with batteries included on that one. He was already assembled and ready to roll.”
Henery the best field-goal percentage in the NFC among kickers with at least 20 attempts, and those are Pro Bowl numbers. But Henery probably won’t make the Pro Bowl simply because he hasn’t gotten enough opportunities -- he’s just eighth among all NFC kickers in scoring, with 76 points.
Fate is also working against him in another way. He doesn’t have any last-second, game-winning kicks on his resume, the kind of heroics that get shown on SportsCenter and impress Pro Bowl voters.
“It would be really cool, but I think I’m still young, maybe, for that,’’ Henery said of the Pro Bowl. “I don’t know. It’s one of those things -- until it happens, I won’t believe it.”
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Philadelphia Eagles from blogger Kevin Noonan, follow @CBSEagles.