Sophomore slumps are very common in professional sports, particularly football. Rookies drafted into the league put together very promising debut campaigns, before taking a step back the following year, due to a variety of factors.
But in some cases, those players end up bouncing back and proving that they have what it takes to be a superstar in the league. And for former Stanford star and current Los Angeles Rams kicker, Joshua Karty, a major sophomore slump has eclipsed an otherwise promising start to his NFL career.
Playing for Stanford from 2020-23, Karty emerged as one of the best kickers in the nation and was one of the few bright spots for a Stanford program that went 3-9 in 2021, 2022 and ’23.
Earning First-team All-American honors in 2022 and ’23, as well as First-team All-Pac-12 honors in both of those seasons as well, Karty became a highly touted NFL draft prospect, ultimately resulting in the Rams selecting him in the sixth round of the 2024 draft.
But after a strong rookie season, where he started all 17 games and finished 85.3% on field goals and 88.9% on extra points, Karty has regressed majorly this season, to the point where the Rams benched him ahead of week 10.
In eight games this season, Karty is 10-of-15 on field goals and 23 of 26 on PATs, showing many inconsistencies throughout the season. Replaced by second year veteran Harrison Mevis, who has never kicked in an NFL game, Rams head coach Sean McVay explained his decision to bench a player like Karty who they invested so much to get.
“There are a lot of layers to it,” McVay said. “I still do have a lot of confidence in Josh Karty. He’s not going anywhere but based on some of the things that we tried to evaluate throughout the course of the week – those guys both did a really good job. I was really pleased and really impressed and proud of how Josh handled himself this week.
“I think he’s got a really bright future. I think he’s done a lot of really good things for us. All the things that went into it in terms of just ultimately in its simplest form, who do I think gives us the best chance to have successful outcomes particularly in that operation with the given factors on Sunday against the Niners?”
The Rams drafted Karty because they had experienced major issues at kicker the previous couple of seasons prior to his arrival. And for a while, Karty looked like he was the long term answer and would solve all those kicker problems in Los Angeles.
But now that he is benched, major questions about his future with the Rams are arising and while McVay made it sound like he would remain with the team, all options are on the table at this point. McVay did not commit to Mevis being the permanent kicker and did not rule out a return for Karty, but if Mevis ends up being more consistent, it’s possible they will go with him moving forward.
“When we sat down and talked to Josh, there are really three possible scenarios,” McVay said. “We’ll sit down on Monday and we’ll say, ‘We’re going to continue to go with Mevis,’ and he’ll work and continue to get better on his own, we’ll go back to him, or we’ll continuously have this competition. What I can’t predict is the future, but I do think that this is going to be the best thing for this game. We feel like we’ve got two good kickers on our team.”
Currently at 7-2, the Rams are in a good position to make a run at an NFC West title, which they hope leads to a deep playoff run and a potential appearance in the Super Bowl. For Karty, he hopes that he can get back on the field and continue to play a pivotal role in the Rams’ success in 2025.
