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Back when veteran Josh Brown was lingering on the free agent market, the New York Giants needed to have a placekicker on the roster. Thus, they signed former Concordia kicker Tom Obarski to a reserve/futures contract. Brown, the most accurate field-goal kicker in franchise history, eventually signed a two-year, $4 million contract to return. Obarski, though, is still part of the 90-man roster.
Does Obarski have a real chance to unseat Brown? Perhaps not, but let's get to know more about the young man as we continue our player-by-player profiles of the 90-man roster the Giants will bring to training camp in late July.
2015 Season in Review
Obarski was with the Cincinnati Bengals in training camp, where he made 5-of-7 field-goal attempts. He went 3-of-4 from 20-29 yards, 1-of-2 from 30-39 yards and 1-of-1 from 40-49 yards. He was cut at the end of the preseason. The Giants signed Obarski to a reserve/futures contract on Jan. 7.
2016 Season Outlook
It would be easy to dismiss the 23-year-old Obarski as a camp leg, hanging around just to ensure that the Giants don't overwork the 37-year-old Brown during the spring and summer. History tells us we shouldn't, however, be so hasty. Remember Brandon McManus and Chris Boswell?
McManus challenged Brown for the job in 2014, nearly beat him out, got traded to the Denver Broncos and earned a Super Bowl ring last year. McManus made 30-of-35 regular-season field goal attempts.
Boswell challenged Brown last season. He couldn't win the job with the Giants, but he did end up being picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he made 29-of-32 field-goal attempts in 12 games.
Obarski has the five longest field goals in Concordia history -- 51, 52, 56, 56 and 59 yards. He doesn't figure to be the Giants' kicker in 2016, but perhaps he can follow the road paved by McManus and Boswell, using the Giants to find a job elsewhere.
Here is a scouting report on Obarski from Dave-Te Thomas. Here is another from NFL.com. Obarski's primary impediment to an NFL job appears to be inconsistency on kickoffs.
Obarski at Concordia
| FG | M-Att | Pct | 01-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-99 | Lng | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9-12 | 75.0 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 1-1 | 4-5 | 1-3 | 56 | 0 |
| 2012 | 10-14 | 71.4 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 5-6 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 59 | 0 |
| 2013 | 7-16 | 43.8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 5-6 | 0-7 | 1-1 | 51 | 0 |
| 2014 | 18-21 | 85.7 | 0-0 | 4-4 | 5-7 | 8-9 | 1-1 | 56 | 0 |
| Totals | 44-63 | 69.8 | 0-0 | 11-12 | 16-20 | 12-23 | 5-8 | 59 | 0 |