The Los Angeles Rams needed only a few hours to turn Monday night’s kicking frustration into a roster change.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday that Los Angeles is signing Blake Grupe from the Jets’ practice squad. The move comes as the Rams replace Harrison Mevis following a 37-34 overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Grupe brings a promising recent chapter to a job that suddenly became available. He finished last season with the Indianapolis Colts by making every field goal and extra point he attempted, including a franchise-record 60-yarder.
His opening in Los Angeles follows a quieter stop with the New York Jets. As Garafolo noted, New York claimed Grupe after final roster cuts, but he never kicked for the team before moving to its practice squad.
Currently, he inherits a position under intense scrutiny.
Rams Change Kickers After Sean McVay’s Assessment
Monday’s loss supplied plenty of reasons for Sean McVay to be frustrated with the kicking operation.
Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal wide left in the first quarter. His potential game-winning 48-yard attempt in overtime was blocked, with Greg Rousseau getting a hand on the ball, via to the Rams’ game recap.
Buffalo subsequently won on a 45-yard field goal from Tyler Bass, leaving Los Angeles at 2-3.
McVay’s postgame assessment left slim room for interpretation.
“And then the kicking game, especially with our PAT, field goal, not even close to good enough. It cost us the game tonight,” McVay said.
The frustration was magnified by the production around those missed opportunities. Matthew Stafford threw for 383 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Puka Nacua caught a career-high 17 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown.
That offensive output gave the Rams a chance to overcome a back-and-forth game. Their final scoring opportunity instead became the moment that preceded a change at kicker.
Replacing Mevis addresses one part of that operation. Grupe still must establish timing with his new teammates and deliver when the next close game puts the kicking unit back in the spotlight.
Grupe Brings a Perfect Colts Finish and a 60-Yard Kick
Grupe’s most persuasive selling point comes from his finish to the 2025 season.
According to the Colts’ review of his late-season turnaround, he went 11-for-11 on field goals and 10-for-10 on extra points in five games. He also made all four attempts from 50 yards or longer, highlighted by that 60-yard kick in Week 15.
“To come here and all of a sudden everything’s right down the middle, it just makes you thankful for this team,” Grupe said in January.
His earlier struggles provide context for those results. The New Orleans Saints released him after he made 18 of 26 field goals during his portion of the 2025 season.
Across 50 career games entering this season, Grupe had converted 86 of 109 field goals, an 81.9% rate, per the Jets’ announcement of his waiver claim.
An undrafted signing in 2023, Grupe began his college career at Arkansas State before finishing at Notre Dame. His next stop gives him another chance to turn practice work into meaningful NFL kicks.
He will now work under special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone. Both have Indianapolis connections, although Garafolo emphasized their tenures did not overlap. Ventrone coordinated the Colts’ special teams from 2018 through 2022, well before Grupe arrived.
The appeal is obvious for Los Angeles. He’s a kicker who’s recently rebounded from being released and showed he can convert from distance.
The Rams need that version of Grupe to travel west.
Rams Sign Record-Setting Kicker After Devastating Bills Loss