The Buccaneers are confident that kicker Robert Aguayo will thrive. It’s unknown whether he’ll thrive in adverse weather conditions.
Aguayo, a Florida native and second-round pick who never missed an attempt shorter than 40 yards at Florida State, appeared on Thursday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio. One question: What the coldest weather he ever has kicked in?
“The coldest I’ve ever kicked in I want to say is probably about 50 degrees,” Aguayo said. “I mean to tell you the truth I haven’t really kicked in cold weather games . . . . I think I’m up for the task. All the teams asked me that question, and I told them you know the coldest is probably 50 degrees and I’m willing to adapt. That’s all it takes is just adapting to the cold and just going out there and getting it done. You know, with all the conditions that I’ve been in and all the adversities that have come to me on the field in my life I think I’ve adapted well. You either adapt or you don’t so I think it’ll be a good, fun challenge and I’m ready for those stadiums and that weather.”
The confidence is admirable, but it will only add to the criticism of the team’s decision to trade back into round two in order to land Aguayo. So what does Aguayo think of the criticism?
“There’s going to be critics everywhere, you know?” Aguayo said. “I think the Buccaneers and the coaching staff here made the right decision. I think you’re just going have to wait until the season gets here. I mean kickers, I think, they score points so they’re an offensive weapon and as we can see with the extra point moving back to 33 yards you know it’s gonna change the game. I think in the future that there’s going to be a lot more draft picks used on good kickers, and I think the kickers are gonna change the game.”
Until then, we’ll all wait to see how Aguayo performs when the weather changes. In his rookie season, the coldest day likely will come on November 20 at Kansas City. If they make it to the postseason and play on the road, however, there’s a chance that Aguayo will be kicking in temperatures well below 50.