My hope for an ending to the musical chairs at kicker is waning

[jfra78]

I say run with the rookie and see what we got

[kungfoodude]

4 minutes ago, Carolina Cajun said:

My belief is he just doesnt have the leg.  Yea, hes accurate, but a lot of kickers could be accurate if never asked to kick 50+ yard field goals.  Because of that, it meant we had to move on.  If Wright and Fitzgerald struggle, I'd actually be ok bringing Zane Gonzalez back.  Hes not on a roster and when he was healthy, he was a pretty reliable kicker for us.

He is very accurate on 50+ kicks(11/14 career) but the limit of his range is literally probably 53-54 yards. 

We often chose to avoid kicking because of that.

Gonzalez is not the answer either. Better off attempting new guys over and over in the hopes one will eventually pan out.

15 minutes ago, NAS said:

Not having a reliable kicker is often the difference between wins and losses. Definitely a growing concern

"Luckily" we have been a very bad team, so it hasn't reared it's head much. 

I mean, I hope we even have the opportunity to trash a kicker for missing a GW FG of consequence in the next few seasons. That would be strangely refreshing.

[kungfoodude]

8 minutes ago, jfra78 said:

I say run with the rookie and see what we got

Why fail with a journeyman who has never really made it?

Even if it's rocky with the rookie, there is more of a chance of him figuring it out than there is for a borderline kicker to suddenly become great.

[BlazeCarolina]

Article I read said he was missing on the skinny posts, but they all would have made it on regular.  I wouldn't worry too much yet.

[BlazeCarolina]

1 hour ago, Khyber53 said:

So, um, why did we let Eddie go?

I'm sorry, but somehow I just missed what was the actual reason.

There are a few reasons in my opinion.

He had a bad attitude.  Thought he was better than he was.  Probably expected a big payday because of that.  Had a weak leg that caused us to go for it in positions we wouldn't normally.  When his accuracy was technically best in the NFL, his head blew up.  A lot easier to be the most accurate when we are terrified to attempt anything past 50.

[BlazeCarolina]

32 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Why fail with a journeyman who has never really made it?

Even if it's rocky with the rookie, there is more of a chance of him figuring it out than there is for a borderline kicker to suddenly become great.

Agreed.  Rookie should get the nod.

[lightsout]

Eddy was fine tbh. Historically good. Unless he doesn't have it in him anymore, need to kick those tires maybe 

[lightsout]

20 minutes ago, BlazeCarolina said:

There are a few reasons in my opinion.

He had a bad attitude.  Thought he was better than he was.  Probably expected a big payday because of that.  Had a weak leg that caused us to go for it in positions we wouldn't normally.  When his accuracy was technically best in the NFL, his head blew up.  A lot easier to be the most accurate when we are terrified to attempt anything past 50.

 

He only missed a couple from 50+. Truth is, we didn't get many chances to gamble those. Our offense was abysmal and the last thing you want to do is ask your kicker to attempt a 50+ yarder every offensive possession because it is just harder to do consistently. That's how you crush a kicker's confidence and break him if he starts routinely missing those. He was automatic up to 40, and very accurate up to 50. Eddy wasn't the best in the league but he definitely wasn't the worst. The only thing hurting him was his declining FG% year to year. If he has an up spike there in his last year, even just a bit, he's still here 

[Carolina Cajun]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

He is very accurate on 50+ kicks(11/14 career) but the limit of his range is literally probably 53-54 yards. 

We often chose to avoid kicking because of that.

Gonzalez is not the answer either. Better off attempting new guys over and over in the hopes one will eventually pan out.

"Luckily" we have been a very bad team, so it hasn't reared it's head much. 

I mean, I hope we even have the opportunity to trash a kicker for missing a GW FG of consequence in the next few seasons. That would be strangely refreshing.

I agree, lemme rephrase, I'd be ok with Zane if Wright looks like trash and we for some reason decide to not go with the rookie.  The rookie is the answer IMO, just roll with him and give him a chance to grow, but if FOR WHATEVER reason, Zane imo is about the same as Wright and atleast showed some promise when he did kick for us a few years back (He was Special Teams player of the week and didnt have a noodle leg).

[L-TownCat]

I’d give the rookie a little more time.  It’s a different ball he’s getting used to.  We’ve got rookies everywhere else might as well have one as a kicker.

[csx]

31 minutes ago, lightsout said:

Eddy was fine tbh. Historically good. Unless he doesn't have it in him anymore, need to kick those tires maybe 

He was 22nd in FG % and 26th in XP%

The season prior he was 18th and 37th

 

Historically good at what?

Edited August 3 by csx

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, csx said:

He was 22nd in FG % and 26th in XP%

The season prior he was 18th and 37th

 

Historically good at what?

You did stop before his near best in the NFL year.

He was significantly better than any kicker we have had since Gano. 

The biggest issues were leg strength and his declining performance over time.

[Khyber53]

2 hours ago, BlazeCarolina said:

There are a few reasons in my opinion.

He had a bad attitude.  Thought he was better than he was.  Probably expected a big payday because of that.  Had a weak leg that caused us to go for it in positions we wouldn't normally.  When his accuracy was technically best in the NFL, his head blew up.  A lot easier to be the most accurate when we are terrified to attempt anything past 50.

In his defense, and really, all kickers... if you're regularly needing to kick 50+ yarders, then there's a problem with the offense.

But yeah, he was bottom third of the league level. 

Still, it's hard to find someone who can be top 2/3 of the league level.

Kickers, man, they'll kill ya.

[csx]

6 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

You did stop before his near best in the NFL year.

He was significantly better than any kicker we have had since Gano. 

The biggest issues were leg strength and his declining performance over time.

The year before was like 6th or 8th on the season. The best ever was combining spot duty with the first half of 2022. Cherry picking at best. He's been nowhere near that since

You cant spin him in to a good kicker. He's unemployed 

Edited August 3 by csx