The Falcoholic
Younghoe Koo has been sidelined… for now. According to NFL reporter Tom Pelissero, Atlanta plans to elevate kicker Parker Romo to the active roster.
Romo first made his NFL debut in 2024 while playing for Minnesota. During his debut, he went four for four on field goals against Jacksonville, and provided all of the points offensively for the team in the 12-7 win. He would go on to play the rest of November for the team, converting 11 out of 12 field goals, and making all but one of his eight extra points. He also nailed a 55 yarder against Arizona in a 23-22 win; before this kick his longest was 45 yards.
Unfortunately for Romo, he was waived by Minnesota on December 7, just one day before Atlanta’s away game against the Vikings. Romo went undrafted in 2022, and his other practice squad stints include the Saints that same year, the Lions and Bears in 2023, and the Patriots after he was waived by Minnesota. He also played a full season in the XFL in 2023 with the San Antonio Brahmas making the All-XFL team, and breaking the record for the longest field goal made in the league.
Amid Koo’s struggles, Romo was one of the kickers brought in by Atlanta to try out as part of a broader kicking game evaluation moving forward. Romo was signed to the practice squad on September 9th with a vow from Raheem Morris that he would compete for the job, and now will make his Atlanta debut on Sunday night against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, on Sunday night.
As for Koo, he’s been ruled out of Sunday night’s game, as he did not travel with the team to Minnesota. According to Falcons Senior Reporter Tori McElhaney, Atlanta’s reason for downgrading him was not due to injury, further confirming this move to be performance-related.
Koo’s missed game tying 44-yard field goal is the latest of the former Pro Bowler’s struggles. Last year, Koo had his lowest conversion rate as a kicker on field goals with only 73.5%. Earlier this week head coach Raheem Morris was asked several Koo related questions regarding his struggles and the future of the kicker position in Atlanta.
Morris said, “that’s a cut-and-dry position right? You either make it or you don’t, and we’ve got to have guys in a position to make them.”
After Koo has been struggling consistently for over a year now, this is the first real effort to address his performance. We’ll see how Romo performs in primetime at 8:20 on Sunday, and we’ll see what happens with Koo and the Falcons after that.
