Discussion: Carolina Panthers Select K Harrison "The Butt Kicker" Butker.

[TheRed]

1 minute ago, Woodie said:

Every year he has been with us he's been over 80%, which is not bad.  Is he great or irreplaceable? Certainly not.  But saying he sucks is actually rewriting history.

I don't think he "sucks", I defended him a good bit through his time here. But last year was unacceptable considering our investment in him. I think we need to upgrade as soon as possible before he costs us another crucial game with an errant kick.

[Woodie]

Just now, TheRed said:

I don't think he "sucks", I defended him a good bit through his time here. But last year was unacceptable considering our investment in him. I think we need to upgrade as soon as possible before he costs us another crucial game with an errant kick.

I'm not disagreeing with you, and actually wanted Gonzalez, but I'm not sold this is the guy to beat him out.  Hopefully last season was a sign that it clicked for him, and he'll come in and kill it (after all, he's relatively new to kicking).  But I do believe he needs to prove that last year was not just an anomaly.  

[panthertime]

Gano should GoGo, like now.

[Hogmolliesmaht]

13 minutes ago, Woodie said:

I'm not disagreeing with you, and actually wanted Gonzalez, but I'm not sold this is the guy to beat him out.  Hopefully last season was a sign that it clicked for him, and he'll come in and kill it (after all, he's relatively new to kicking).  But I do believe he needs to prove that last year was not just an anomaly.  

Let's just wait and see what happens. This Butker kid was playing soccer not that long ago, so there is no reason to believe he can't keep improving  but Gano is a finished product already. 

[darrybear]

Not sure how you have a kicker competition in camp. Gano doesnt have a lack of talent and i bet he rarely misses in practice, his problem is he's a choker that only seems to miss when we cant afford it and the game is in the line, kinda hard to  simulate those pressure situations in practice

Just tell him to make a 52 yard or he's fired I bet you he misses. He does not do well under pressure when it's just a random ass kid he's golden but any other time you can almost guarantee he's going to miss but he did have a broken bone so he was playing hurt like everybody else


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[Proudiddy]

I wanted Gonzalez as well, but after reading about the combine showing, seeing Butker hit clutch kicks in-game, and knowing he has the leg to kick and make a 58-yarder, unaided, I'm happy with the pick.

Gano is a good guy, but last year, as a professional, his performance was unacceptable.  So, he needs competition at the very least, and to be replaced at best.  

Also for those criticizing butker's college stats, i'm just gonna leave the college stats of a top 10 all-time NFL scorer, who was also a Georgia native.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/john-kasay-1.html

[Khyber53]

Competition makes the most of everyone. Gano had an off year and might be spurred on by the challenge. This guy seems like a good kid, but only one or two new kickers make it into the league each year... it's a hard gig to land.

[Woodie]

2 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

I wanted Gonzalez as well, but after reading about the combine showing, seeing Butker hit clutch kicks in-game, and knowing he has the leg to kick and make a 58-yarder, unaided, I'm happy with the pick.

Gano is a good guy, but last year, as a professional, his performance was unacceptable.  So, he needs competition at the very least, and to be replaced at best.  

Also for those criticizing butker's college stats, i'm just gonna leave the college stats of a top 10 all-time NFL scorer, who was also a Georgia native.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/john-kasay-1.html

The combine showing of Gonzalez was concerning.  Not to mention that until last year, he wasn't as accurate from long range either.  So maybe he was a little overhyped.

But the 58 yarder is really not a big deal.  Most NFL kickers can easily make a 58 yarder with no rush coming up the middle.  Heck, Gano hit like a 75 yarder in practice once.  Doesn't mean I want to see him try it in a game.  It's nice that he can kick it that far, I just hope that he can do it with a rush in his face and the game on the line...without it being blocked because the trajectory is low.

And right now, all we have are college stats.  The truth is that the vast majority of kickers that have mediocre career college numbers fail in the NFL.  Sure, you can always find that rare exception, but you cannot count on it.  Hopefully this guy is one of the exceptions.  But until he proves it, he's nothing more than completion and notice to Gano that we need better out of him than we got last year.