The Los Angeles Rams will put in place a two-player plan at kicker. They signed veteran Mason Crosby earlier this week, and he has been elevated from practice squad for gameday to play against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

But that doesn't mean the team's leadership has given up on young kicker Lucas Havrisik. Crosby will be the short-term choice, but the Rams still see the first-year player as a potential future option.

“It’s kind of a unique opportunity," Rams head coach Sean McVay said after the decision to sign Crosby, "where you still end up having Lucas, feel like he’s a guy that we want to be able to continue to work with, but to have a veteran that has his experience, some of the success, some of the crunch time moments that he’s had."

It's a smart use of resources considering the NFL's landscape. A rule to allow practice squad elevations for gameday was implemented during the pandemic and kept as a regular option for teams.

Any player can be elevated by a team three times during a season. As Crosby has been elevated for the first time, he can still play twice more in 2023 as a member of the practice squad. He goes to the active roster on gameday, then reverts back to the PS.

"(It's a) Unique opportunity to be able to bring somebody in on the practice squad and potentially flex them up," McVay added. "Those are things that we felt like we wanted to be able to explore when you have 16 spots on the practice squad, and so that’s what we’re doing.”

Experience and youth

Mason Crobsy played for the Green Bay Packers between 2007 and 2022. Last offseason, the team decided not to re-sign him, drafting Anders Carlson in the sixth round. Crosby is the Packers' franchise scoring leader and won Super Bowl XLV with the team.

As McVay mentioned, the idea is to offer the Rams stability at the position. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is going through a renovation of the roster, so it makes sense to keep a young option on the 53-man roster to protect him from other teams while he develops.

Havrisik went undrafted last year and spent his rookie season on the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad. He was with the Colts during this year's training camp as well, but didn't make the roster.

The young player signed with the Cleveland Browns' practice squad immediately thereafter, but the Rams signed him off the Browns PS in October.

This has not been an easy season for the Rams kicker-wise. Earlier in the season, they tested veteran Brett Maher, but he ended up being released. However, Havrisik has missed three field goals and an extra point through five games.

With Crosby and Havrisik at the same time, the Rams will have an interesting approach trying to solve two problems. The veteran is on the practice squad and can be elevated to play three times, while the young option has more time to practice without pressure, and without the risk of being signed by another team.

After Crosby reaches the maximum number of elevations, the Rams will have more data points to make a definitive decision.

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