Heath Farwell's rave review of K Cam Little should get Jaguars fans hyped up

One of the biggest position battles the Jacksonville Jaguars are holding in training camp is at kicker. Rookie Cam Little and incumbent Riley Patterson are locked in a competition for the job in 2024. So far, the former has a slight edge, with special teams coordinator Heath Farwell pointing out that he's been everything the Jags bargained for and then some.

Farwell told the media on Day 4 of training camp that Little has been great. He also expects the rookie kicker to build off of his encouraging start.

"He's, been great. He's been really, really good," Farwell said of Little. "He's so consistent, he's locked in, he's competitive, and he is everything I thought when I went to work him out, when I met with him, all those great interactions I had pre-draft. He's exactly what I thought, if not better. He's talented. He's doing it, he's been consistent. You show him the leg strength, he's done all those things."

Farwell continued, "The more we can put him in these tougher situations, he's going to kick today in team period. But he's also potentially getting a kick or two in move-the-ball situations, kind of move the ball to win a game in the two-minute. Let's see how he reacts in those, but what I've seen so far, I don't see anything, we're not going to see anything different. Let's say that."

Before missing one kick on Day 4 of training camp, Little had nailed all his attempts. Moreover, he put his leg on full display, making a 62-yard field goal.

Little left Arkansas as the most accurate kicker in program history, nailing 82.2 percent of his attempts. He also went 7-of-11 in field goals of 50+ yards. Throughout training camp, the Moore, Oklahoma native has generally performed better than Patterson. Both have had the same number of attempts with the former being the most accurate of the two. Here are Farwell's comments before Day 4 of practice.

Cam Little has the edge over Riley Patterson in Jaguars training camp

Looking to bring stability at kicker, the Jaguars used a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. They had tried to sign Wil Lutz in free agency and even agreed to a three-year deal before backing down and returning to the Denver Broncos, where he spent the 2023 season. As a fallback, the team's brass inked Joey Slye but they moved on from him not long after drafting Little.

The expectation is that Little is going to put an end to the struggles the Jags have had at kicker since 2021. That year, Josh Lambo dealt with injuries and saw his confidence drop after missing five attempts in the first three games. Jacksonville eventually released him and brought in Matthew Wright, who turned out to be nothing more than a short-term fix at the position.

The Jags released Wright in 2022 but had a hard time finding a replacement. They tried out Ryan Santonso, Andrew Mevis, and Elliott Fry, they settled on Riley Patterson after claiming him off waivers.

Patterson fared relatively well in 2022 and even hit the game-winning field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs. However, he didn't have the leg strength for long-field goals and kickoffs, which is why the Jags brought in Brandon McManus to replace him. Unfortunately, signing him didn't turn out the way the front office envisioned, failing several crucial attempts late in 2023.

Following an underwhelming season, the Jaguars didn't make an effort to bring back McManus when he became a free agent. But in a surprising turn of events, they brought back Patterson in the offseason. Then again, if they thought he was the answer, they wouldn't have traded him to the Detroit Lions and pursued McManus. More than anything, signing him might've been insurance in case they didn't find an upgrade at kicker.

Still, the Jaguars are giving Riley Patterson a legitimate shot to compete and is giving his best to come out on top. However, Heath Farwell's comments may be a sign that the team thinks Cam Little will win the competition.

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