Skip to main content

Bengals take 2021 draft's lone kicker with fifth-round pick of Evan McPherson

The Cincinnati Bengals were the only team to draft a kicker in 2021.

The Bengals selected Florida placekicker Evan McPherson with the 149th overall selection in the fifth round.

McPherson spent three years with the Gators, connecting on 85% of his field-goal attempts, going 51-of-60 overall. He also made 94.5% of his boots inside 40 yards during his career.

Handling both field goal and kickoff duties, McPherson has good drive with short-range accuracy. While he generates power, there is some question about his distance accuracy after the booter missed his last three field-goal tries of 50-plus yards. It's an issue the Bengals likely aren't concerned about and believe they can correct after using a draft pick on the kicker.

McPherson has a connection to Cincinnati already. Former Bengals kicker Shayne Graham is on the coaching staff at Florida.

McPherson joins Austin Seibert currently in the Cincy kicker room.

In the seventh round, the Pittsburgh Steelers made Pressley Harvin the lone punter to come off the board. The Georgia Tech product averaged 44.7 yards over 210 punts and claimed the Ray Guy award as the nation's top punter in 2020.