I'm very dissapointed in the Aussies for not responding to my post about Ben Graham. I thought you guys supported him more than that. Maybe you just didn't read the post. I just wish people would calm down about Graham and be a little more realistic. The guy is not superman
I agree that Ben needs to work on his punts getting closer to the goal line, also the coverage team has to get there instead of letting it bounce when the ball is closer to the goal line but yes, he needs to land more closer to the 5. To his defence, 'placing' the ball like that is not a skill us aussies use in aussie rules so its something new that he has to adjust too, but mike westoff saw something in him so i reckon we should trust him in that he is working with ben to improve this. I will say tho that i am very happy having that part of ST's taken care of tho.
Amen, you are so right. They wont cut Nugent because they wasted such a high pick on him. There are many other kickers they could sign as FAs who could do just as good a job as Nugent and you wouldnt have wasted such a high pick. Tough to come back from any deficit when the offense gets 2-3 1st downs and they are in FG range.
Yeah, Although I don't have all the confidence in the world in Graham, I do in Westhoff. If Westhoff thinks he has a good punter in Graham then I definitly trust him. Its just been something I noticed but didn't bring up throughout the year.
All the posts ignored this guy. Hes right. The question is: what was the opponents average starting position this year after KO's? what ranking?
"many kickers that you could sign that would do as good of a job"??? nuge's 90% for the year will put him at about number 4 in the NFL. so assuming vinateri is not becoming available i don't see replacing his fg's as that easy. also, what happened to everyone claiming nugent had improved his kickoffs last week. you guys realize that every kickoff was a "kick right" (you can tell it by the way nugent takes his steps). thus, the goal is the five yard line about five yards from the sideline. his kickoffs were a touch short of that (most landing around the 8 or 10) but they were in the perfect spot. gastowski was getting "kick center" calls all day. which allow for a lower trajectory and a chance to drive it into the end zone. before you complain about his kickoffs you should a. realize what play was called and b. realize that the jets coaching staff is far more concerned with hang time than a driving kick like gastowski or mare that leads to the returns for TD's. also, graham is not even the back up kicker. dyson is...how is graham supposed to magically start kicking touchbacks if he can't kick the ball off the ground. why the technique is slightly different the general motion is the same.
If this thread wasn't started I was going to do it myself. The one thing I took away from this game is that Nugent needs to be off the field on kickoffs... plain and simple. As far as Graham kicking them believe me they would have done it by now if he could do it. We are either going to need to get a new kicker alltoghether that can do both or we are going to need to get a kick off specialist but either way this must be addressed.
No. Their is no "deal with it." Not at all! I love Nugent as a place-kicker, he has done extremely good and we're happy for him. But it's pathetic when a kick consistently is around the 10 yard line and the opposing team starting at around the 30. I thought he was supposed to be doing some sort of workout this past offseason to improve his leg-strength but obviously that didn't work out so well. I would hate to have to waste a roster position on a kickoff specialist, but with the way Nuge's KO's have been and the usually good field position for the offense, i'd be fine with a kickoff guy.
Did you not read the post a few above yours?? Graham is not even the back up kicker! He cannot do it. Dyson comes in if Nugent gets hurt.
Absolutely absurd. You are suggesting cutting a kicker that just went 90%. Name me a kicker we could get that can boot it in the endzone and kick 90% for the year. Vinateri is not leaving. I am absolutely disgusted that someone could possibly suggest getting a new kicker after the year Nugent had. Seriously makes me wonder about some people posting on this board.
I agree with all of that, but I go a step further. I hated the Nugent pick from day one. HATED it. Not because he couldn't be a good NFL kicker, but because you never ever ever ever EVER should waste a first day pick, much less a high second round pick, on a kicker. History bears this out. The best kickers in the league were undrafted free agents. I remember rolling my eyes at the talk about how we were guaranteed three points just by crossed the forty-five yard line. Having said all that, after a rough start, the kid had a nice year for himself. If he could just squeak out five more yards, I'd be much happier. But I like the kid.
110% agree. I was shocked when I heard the selection, a KICKER! Nugent is good, we like him and he has gained our confidence after his shaky performances, but Herm/Bradway made a horrible selection. This wasn't even a "value" pick, it was a moronic pick. KC spent a 3rd round pick on Dustin Colquitt two years ago, a PUNTER! We like Nugent for the most part, but the selection was a bad one in terms of value and depth, but hey...We're not blaming Nugent, he was selected, just the regime for making the pick.
To pile on, what made it worse was the fact that the FO acted like that was the missing piece to a SB run. Wow, just wow. How far from reality they could be. I think that is the beauty of the change started last January. Thankfully that heinous mistake will not be repeated by this FO. That being said, he is turning out to be one hell of a Field goal kicker.
And the examples just keep coming, and coming, and coming. . . Robbie Gould - Probowl kicker. Entered NFL as an undrafted free agent by New England (4/29/05)... Waived by New England (8/30/05)... Signed to Baltimore practice squad (9/7/05)... Waived by Baltimore (9/27/05)... Signed by Chicago (10/8/05). The point here being: Gould kicked in the same conference as Nugent, at the same time as Nugent, went undrafted, and now excels. I guess it's all about scouting. (as an aside, how badly would Belichick like to have had Gould back, when Vinatieri fled to Indy.)
90% sure but how many of them mattered? I will give you that Nugent has improved a lot from last year but he continuously sucks when he is kicking off. I checked kickers and many that got 10+ tb's did not get the fg% that Nugent did so you are right on that account. Still I really would rather have a slightly lower % fg kicker that can just make it when it counts. Nugent has never been tested really in terms of kicking it when it matters most. Not in a playoff situation at least. I don't think any team should have to use up two roster spots because the kicker can't boot it into the endzone but that's just me.
Agree with everything you said. I don't agree with drafting kickers in the 2nd round, but if you ever do, he better be a complete kicker and a great one. Nugent simply isn't.
