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Florida State Kicker Roberto Aguayo Declares Early for 2016 NFL Draft
January 6, 2016
It's rare for a kicker to declare early for the NFL draft.
But in his last three seasons, Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo has proved he's much more than the ordinary specialist; he's the most accurate kicker to ever come out of the college ranks.
On Wednesday, Aguayo announced he would forgo his senior season with the Seminoles and enter this year's NFL draft. Aguayo released a statement through Florida State and tweeted about his decision:
After giving this decision careful thought and meeting with my family and Coach [Jimbo] Fisher, I have decided to enter the NFL Draft. These last four years have been nothing short of incredible on and off the field. I have made memories that I will always treasure. One goal when I got here was to graduate, and I’m thankful I was able to earn my degree in Criminology this fall.
Ever since I was a kid, I have bled Garnet and Gold. When I received a scholarship to play football at FSU from Coach Fisher it was a dream come true and a blessing.
In three years as Florida State's kicker, Aguayo hit 69 of his 78 field-goal attempts and all 198 of his extra-point attempts. According to Florida State, Aguayo's combined conversion percentage of 96.73 is the best in college football history, passing former Nebraska kicker Alex Henery.
Aguayo hit 94 extra-point attempts as a redshirt freshman in 2013, when he won the Groza Award for the national champion Seminoles and broke the all-time national record for kicking points in a season.
Although he numbers slightly slipped during the 2015 season, Aguayo will still leave Florida State ranked second all-time in scoring and third in field goals and PATs. His 88.46 career conversion rate on field-goal attempts is the third-best among college kickers since 2000, per Sports-Reference.com.
| Roberto Aguayo's Career Stats at Florida State | |||
| Year | FGM-FGA | XPM-XPA | Points |
| 2013 | 21-22 (95.5%) | 94-94 (100.0%) | 157 |
| 2014 | 27-30 (90.0%) | 55-55 (100.0%) | 136 |
| 2015 | 21-26 (80.8%) | 49-49 (100.0%) | 112 |
| TOTAL | 69-78 (88.5%) | 198-198 (100.0%) | 405 |
| CFBStats.com | |||
"I'm very happy for Roberto and his family," Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said in a statement. "He was phenomenal for us here at Florida State. He's arguably one of the best kickers not only in Florida State history, but in NCAA history."
While kickers are normally picked in the later rounds of the NFL draft, Aguayo's talent may make him an earlier selection.
Last month, Bleacher Report NFL draft lead writer Matt Miller asked several scouts where they would pick Aguayo. Three measured him as a top-100 pick, and one was more specific in his evaluation.
"I'd give him an Rd3 grade," the scout told Miller. "Kickers like that don't come around often."
Miller has Aguayo as the No. 82 overall prospect in his most recent big board. For comparison's sake, there are no other kickers listed in Miller's top 300 prospects.
While Florida State will definitely miss the talents of college football's most accurate kicker, the Seminoles will still have an Aguayo at kicker on next season's roster.
Aguayo's younger brother, Ricky Aguayo, a 3-star prospect from IMG Academy in Florida, enrolled early at Florida State this week.
According to Bob Ferrante of 247Sports, the younger Aguayo is projected to be the front-runner for the starting kicker job at Florida State in 2016.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics courtesy of CFBstats.com. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.