Colts Sign Kicker Taylor Pontius

The Indianapolis Colts had an open spot on their 90-man offseason roster after waiving wide receiver Josh Lenz yesterday, and today they signed someone to take that spot: kicker Taylor Pontius, an undrafted free agent out of North Alabama who was a tryout player at the Colts' rookie mini-camp.

Pontius, a 5-11, 180 pound kicker, made 11-of-14 field goals and 46-of-48 extra points while also setting a school record by hitting a 54-yard field goal.  He was named the first-team All-Gulf South Conference kicker in 2014 and also received two Gulf South Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors as well throughout the year.   He also recorded 38 touchbacks on kickoffs and punted 38 times, averaging 37.6 yards per punt.  He participated in the College Gridiron Showcase earlier this year.  In his two seasons as the kicker for North Alabama, Pontius hit 16-of-20 field goal attempts and 57-of-59 extra point attempts.

Obviously, with Adam Vinatieri firmly entrenched as the Colts' kicker, Pontius has a very slim chance of making the team's roster.  He's really nothing more than a camp leg to keep the 42-year old Vinatieri from overworking his leg, as Pontius will take a fair share of the kicks in training camp.  Of course, he did enough in the Colts' rookie mini-camp to catch their attention and earn a spot on the Colts' offseason roster, so while the Colts see him as their camp leg, Pontius will be trying to do the same thing that Cody Parkey did last year in catching the eye of another team that has question marks about their kicker.