After saying goodbye to kicker Joshua Karty in the middle of the 2025 season, the Los Angeles Rams are bringing back Karty Parties. Karty signed to the Rams' practice squad on Wednesday
, reuniting with the team that drafted him in 2024. While we have yet to know the exact reason behind the move, if Karty were to be activated, his unique trait could be the key to solving a major issue with the special teams.The Rams' kick coverage unit has been simply horrific. It's gotten so bad that it would be better for the Rams to launch a kickoff through the end zone for a touchback, setting the opponent up at the 35-yard line instead of allowing a return. The reason the Rams removed Karty from their active roster last season was due to continual misses
on field goals and point-after attempts.
It's been theorized that Karty's implementation of the "dirty kickoff" impacted his ability to make field goals. If Karty fixed that issue, or if the Rams are willing to use two of their roster spots for kickers, Karty's knuckleballs should be the solution to the coverage issues.
From the first three weeks of 2025, Karty's knuckleball kicks were so effective at slowing down the operation of the return team that Rams opponents had the worst starting field position of any team.
The Rams' kickoff operation has been fantastic through 3 weeks. Their opponents' average field position after kickoffs is the lowest in the NFL by a wide margin.
— Wyatt Miller (@wymill07) September 22, 2025
Joshua Karty's squib kicks into the landing zone have given the Rams a major edge. pic.twitter.com/bZ0BOV1rPn
Coming off as a squib kick, its bounce forces a returner to hesitate to confirm the direction of the ball, instead of being able to anticipate its projected path. Along with being hard to field, that second of time the kick creates is the gap needed for the coverage team to get around their blockers and corral the ball carrier.
Nearly one year removed from Karty losing his job, he could be the player who saves the Rams' special teams unit.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Joshua Karty could be the key to solving the Rams' kickoff woes
