For all the positions now abundant with talent and depth for the Texas Longhorns, place kicker isn’t one of them. The departure of Nick Rose left the ‘Horns with some not-so-quality options and Charlie Strong has openly expressed the need to fill this critical void. The answer may be found in the leg of walk on Chris Naggar, who continues to flash his offseason kicking regimen, this time, drilling all 10 of his attempts from 50 yards.
In hopes of handling the kicking duties September 4 when Notre Dame comes to Austin, Naggar will be required to outperform Mitchell Becker, Evan Moore and Jon Coppens. After recording a 30 percent touchback rate, sending 61 percent of kickoffs into the end zone and landing 93 percent within the five-yard-line, as well as connecting on seven of 10 field goal attempts en route to All-State honors, earning game-time reps is a quite feasible task.
If the lifetime Longhorn fan can make a habit out of connecting on attempts like the one above, Strong’s appetite for a reliable kicker may be satisfied through the Arlington product in time for Texas’ season opener and what could be the ‘Horns most challenging game of the season.