March 16, 2018

Report: Chargers expected to sign former Eagles K Caleb Sturgis

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Former Philadelphia Eagles kicker Caleb "Power Struge" Sturgis is expected to sign with the Los Angeles Chargers, according to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Source: The #Chargers are expected to sign former #Eagles K Caleb Sturgis. They had a visit from long-time #Raiders K Sebastian Janikowski, but went with Sturgis instead.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2018

Sturgis was a good kicker during his tenure with the Eagles. He had a nice season in 2016 after soundly beating out Cody Parkey in training camp, and had very good numbers that season:

Caleb Sturgis	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
2016	11/11	11/11	7/10	4/6

Sturgis was perfect from inside of 40, going for 22/22, although he did miss one PAT (27/28). On the season as a whole, Sturgis was 33/38, or 86.8 percent, which was good for 10th in the NFL. He also improved every year:

Caleb Sturgis	FG percentage
2013	76.5%
2014	78.4%
2015	81.8%
2016	86.8%

He also did a great job on kickoffs in 2016, lofting kicks with good hang time, allowing the Eagles' coverage units to get down the field to almost always make tackles shy of the touchback mark at the 25-yard line. In fact, opposing teams averaged 19.1 yards per kick return, which was second-lowest in the NFL.

In 2017, Sturgis was placed on IR with a quad injury suffered Week 1 against the Redskins. He was replaced by Jake Elliott, who proceeded to take a stranglehold of Sturgis' job.

The Eagles kept Sturgis on their roster for the entirety of the 2017 season, and as a result, Sturgis could qualify toward the compensatory pick formula, as we noted earlier this morning, depending on the terms of his contract.

UPDATE: Chargers announced:

OFFICIAL: We've signed kicker Caleb Sturgis to a two-year contract.

READ: https://t.co/6fjw1LyDl1 pic.twitter.com/9QK1gQZnTR
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) March 16, 2018