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The San Francisco 49ers signed kicker Phil Dawson to a 2-year contract earlier this month, but that apparently will not stop them from checking out other kicking options. Matt Barrows is reporting the 49ers were at Old Dominion's Pro Day on Tuesday, where they worked out kicker Jarod Brown. Barrows posted some video of his kicking session, so give it a watch.
Brown attended the NFL Combine, where he measured in at 5'11, 235 pounds. That's just kinda big. Barrows described him as having a "Janikowskian physique." I tried to look for some information on him, but he is not showing up in any draft rankings. Even when you switch to ESPN's school-by-school player lists, Brown does not appear under Old Dominion.
Odds are pretty good Brown will not be hearing his name called in May. He has a strong leg, but his accuracy is not particularly good. In this past season, he completed 13 of 20 field goals. He was 10 of 12 in 2012, 14 of 21 in 2011, and 12 of 16 in 2010. It is worth noting his 2013 number were not helped by a 1 of 3 performance from 50+ against Pitt.
So why would the 49ers have interest in him? As Barrows pointed out, he would serve primarily as a camp body. He could potentially end up on the practice squad as a developmental prospect, but there's not much else. The 49ers already have Colton Schmidt on hand, having signed him to a reserve/future contract back in January. He spent training camp with the 49ers last year before being released in the first round of cuts. He was eventually brought back his reserve/future deal.
Dawson is only signed for two years, but for at least one more year he shouldn't be going anywhere. The 49ers seem fine just bouncing kicker to kicker at this point. There were some opportunities last year in the draft, but the 49ers decided to go with more of a sure thing. We'll see how long they continue with this strategy.