Saints head into camp with kicker competition focus around Charlie Smyth

The New Orleans Saints are approaching training camp with a familiar NFL question: how stable is the kicking game, and can the team settle on a single kicker with confidence? The focus is centered on Charlie Smyth, a second-year option who is entering his follow-up year after a rookie campaign that offered some reason for optimism, even if it did not remove all doubt from the position.

According to Yahoo Sports, Smyth’s rookie season ended with 12 makes on 16 field goal attempts. That is a respectable conversion rate, but the bigger takeaway for how the Saints will evaluate him is range. Yahoo Sports reported that Smyth connected on 4 of 6 field goals from 50 yards or farther, a split that matters because long-distance accuracy often decides tight games and changes how a coaching staff builds late-game play-calling.

What makes the situation feel like a competition, rather than a simple handoff, is the way NFL teams use training camp to compare consistency across practice conditions. Even when a young kicker performs well, teams typically stress reliability on routine attempts as well as longer attempts, then look for steadiness under pressure. Smyth’s 50-plus output gives New Orleans a foundation to work from, but the competition storyline suggests the Saints are not treating the spot as fully settled.

A kicking job also carries an evaluative element that goes beyond make or miss. Teams typically track timing, snap-to-kick rhythm, and how well the operation holds up across different practice periods and weather. While Yahoo Sports did not provide detailed operational metrics for Smyth, the article’s framing indicates New Orleans is preparing to test the kicking group broadly, with Smyth as the named focal point.

For the Saints, the practical impact is straightforward. If Smyth’s accuracy holds, New Orleans can lean more comfortably on field goals as a scoring path without having to alter the game plan as aggressively to avoid uncertain kicks. If the competition produces a clear alternative, Smyth still has an avenue to contribute, but the coaching staff’s decisions would shape who gets the highest-leverage reps during the season and who becomes the clear long-term answer.

Because this is a camp preview driven by available season results rather than a confirmed roster overhaul, it is important to read the story as an evaluation setup, not a definitive depth-chart announcement. The Saints have multiple ways to manage the kicking position, and camp itself is where the separation usually appears. New Orleans will watch not only whether Smyth can repeat the conversion rates reported, but also whether his long-range accuracy remains consistent when pressure, volume, and field conditions increase.

What to watch next is the Saints’ day-to-day camp approach: how often Smyth is used for both routine distances and 50-plus attempts, whether the coaching staff repeatedly returns to him late in practices, and whether the competition narrows quickly or continues into the preseason. Smyth’s rookie numbers provide a starting point, but the training-camp period will determine whether those numbers translate into a job that feels stable once games begin.