From Rod Boone's Newsday blog: "Rex Ryan and special teams coach Mike Westhoff apparently aren't satisfied with what they were seeing out of punters Eric Wilbur and T.J. Conley so far in the offseason. So the Jets have welcomed back Reggie Hodges, who they waived on April 27. Wilbur, who played at Florida, was released to make room for Hodges "
Hodges had some booming punts last year. I don't think he really choked when we needed a big punt-- but correct me if I'm wrong.
Not surprised. Hodges won't make anyone forget Ray Guy (or Jeff Feagles) that's for sure, but he has at least seen "live NFL" action so that gave him a leg up on the other two (while noting that he gagged--as did the team--against the Dolphins in the finale). Eric Wilbur is simply not NFL grade consistency-wise and as for T.J. Conley, his ranking up at the top of the collegiate punters average last year was deceptive: he played in a dome, played in a sub-major conference (wasn't pressed to be as "quick" getting the ball off) and more to the point, his "gross average" was attained at the expense of hang time; I saw a number of his "50+" yarders in the form of a line-drive. That said, signing Hodges underscores the Jet's punting situation being on shaky ground imho.
can't we sign another aussie rules football player? graham could kick the shit out of the ball when he came over. he got old pretty fast though.
I do not understand how on earth the NFL isn't flooded by the rest of the soccer, aussie rules, rugby etc... world. This is just plain bizarre
a problem noticed early on and dealt with. im sure this position is still being evaluated and not finalized.
I don't get it. Was Hodges as bad as everyone's making him sound. I don't remember any glaring mishaps. Refresh my memory. Did he fuck up in the OT Pats win at Foxboro? I just can't remember.
Since 1997, Fresno State has more blocks than any team in the country. (...the Dogs play in the same conference as Conley's Idaho Vandals) Yea, Conley played half of his games inside, but don't knock his level of competition...he's a god damn punter.
he was just mediocre from what i remember. nothing really horrible, but nothing to write home about either. they should be able to find an upgrade over him though.
why is it so hard for us to find a decent punter. i thought they were supposed to be a dime a dozen. im starting to thing its time to take one in the first round next year. :lol::breakdance:
And we Jet fans wonder why we and the team get no respect. Is it really that hard to find a decent-to-good punter these days? How did the Chargers find Mike Scifres? Even the Raiders have a great punter in Lechler....
i don't remember ever saying 'oh that was an awesome punt' or 'what the hell was that?' i remember him being ... average
maybe these last 3 years of mediocre punting will be a message to tanny to not leave any hole or depth out of the question.
I'm going to need a reason to throw my remote at the TV at some point... The Steelers won the Super Bowl with Mitch Berger as their punter. As long as the defense shapes up I doubt this will be too much of a problem.
Scifres and Lechler, 2 of the best in the league, were both drafted in the 5th round. Goes to show you drafting punters not always a stupid move, especially if your defense better than offense.
