Week 1 of the UFL season went well overall for the first-time league, but there’s no doubt the biggest play of the weekend was Jake Bates’ 64-yard game winner to put the Michigan Panthers over the St. Louis Battlehawks 18-16 with three seconds left on the clock.
As you know, 64-yard field goals aren’t something that come around too often, especially in any type of actual game setting. In the NFL, Matt Prater held the NFL record with a 64-yarder in 2013 in the thin air of Denver until Justin Tucker beat it in 2021 when he hit a 66 yarder to beat the Lions. So, there would be good reason for NFL teams to take a look at Bates and that is already in the works, per Tony Paul.
The Michigan Panthers already have heard from multiple NFL teams about kicker Jake Bates after his 64-yard FG.
— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) March 31, 2024
This includes the Detroit Lions, who are closest to Bates since he plays home games in Ford Field. The Lions kicker, Michael Badgley, only played four games for the Lions and did well enough, but didn’t attempt a 50+ yarder and for his career is 5-of-13 on 50+ attempts.
The Washington Commanders would also be a team in need of a kicker that can hit from deep. He was 5-of-13 from 50+ just last season and 45-of-82 in his career.
How good is Bates? That’s still an open question. In college Bates was a kickoff specialist, so we know he can get distance, but how will he do on average throughout the season? Impossible to know at this point, but he sure is off to a great start.