Mosley Blog - McBriar Struggling With Holds

[DandyDon1722]

Interesting...

NFC East Watch - Mosley


Cowboys punter/holder Mat McBriar and place-kicker Nick Folk are close friends. Folk made the trip to McBriar's wedding in Hawaii two summers ago and the two of them are inseparable on and off the practice field.

But as ESPNDallas.com's Calvin Watkins points out, Folk and McBriar don't appear to be on the same page right now when it comes to preparing to kick a field goal. Folk has been highly frustrated with the holds that McBriar has been giving him as he's gone 4-of-9 this season, but Sunday was the first time the kicker showed outward frustration.

McBriar's never felt comfortable holding, but that's the direction special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis wanted to go.

"I've always worked with [Folk] even when Brad [Johnson] was here in practice," McBriar said. "Some reason, we get in the games and I get a little bit ahead of myself and I lunge out to catch the ball, which I shouldn't. Every time I should catch the ball over the spot, and I move forward. It's something in my brain, I don't know."

That's not what you want to hear from your holder. So why don't the Cowboys let Jon Kitna have a try? I can't answer that. I also think wide receiver Patrick Crayton, a former quarterback, would do a nice job.

 

[AbeBeta]

as bad as the problem is, this is really not a move you can make mid-season.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

as bad as the problem is, this is really not a move you can make mid-season.

I disagree.

When you have a kicker hitting 50% (I'll ignore the 57 yarder)... then a change has to be made.

What, do you think a change would result in worse production?

 

[casmith07]

let Beuhler hold. He's on the team to be that jack of all trades plus kickoffs.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

But if McBriar is removed, who can Folk blame then?

 

[CF74]

1) Crayton - "Best Hands" and gives u the option to fake.
2) Buehler - unkonwn.
3) Stay - with McBriar despite the issues.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

But if McBriar is removed, who can Folk blame then?

Yes, but holding is vital to FG success.

As I've posted here many times, there's much much more to placeholding than just keeping the laces out. Folk had zero problem when Johnson was doing the placeholds. Before Folk we constantly struggled with kicking in large part to placeholding. Vinatieri stated the main reason why he chose to go to Indy over Dallas was he didn't feel comfortable with the Dallas placeholding situation.

Placeholding has been a major concern of mine to start the season since Johnson left. I guess I don't understand their unwillingness to get Kitna some practice time placeholding or maybe Beuhler.




YAKUZA

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

We could also do like I used to do on Madden... go for it every fourth down.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Placeholding has been a major concern of mine to start the season since Johnson left. I guess I don't understand their unwillingness to get Kitna some practice time placeholding or maybe Beuhler.

Wade said yesterday they tried Kitna at it in training camp and he just couldn't do it -- wasn't any good at it.

The three they'd worked were Crayton, Hurd, and Buehler. I still think Hurd is a good candidate because he has good hands and he's an extremely hard worker who would probably stay at it until he became good at it. Plus he doesn't play a lot on offense so maybe there would be less chance of his hands getting banged up.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

If that's the case then they need to replace him as holder. I'm sorry but if the guy is saying things like that its in his head then for sure. Which in turn puts things in the head of the kicker. We can't have that this time of year.

Time to make the move. Past time it sounds like.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

I still think Hurd is a good candidate because he has good hands and he's an extremely hard worker who would probably stay at it until he became good at it. Plus he doesn't play a lot on offense so maybe there would be less chance of his hands getting banged up.

True.

But then we'd be in the same boat next year after we cut Hurd.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

We need to just do whatever it takes to restore Folks confidence.

You take away a kickers confidence, and he might never get it back.

 

[Faerluna]

I don't think it has anything to do with Folk's confidence in his kicking ability. I think it's mostly his confidence in his holder.

 

[vlad]

I don't understand why you wouldn't use your backup QB or a guy like Crayton to do this...i mean its only 3 freaking points at a time.

Folk used to be money in the bank, maybe there is something to it.

 

[WoodysGirl]

I've seen Romo's name thrown out as a dark horse to return to that role.

 

[Future]

We need to just do whatever it takes to restore Folks confidence.

You take away a kickers confidence, and he might never get it back.

I don't think he's lost that confidence. Maybe he's lost it in McBriar, but not in himself as a kicker.

 

[Primetime42]

as bad as the problem is, this is really not a move you can make mid-season.

The Jets replaced Steve Weatherford with Kellen Clemens and Jay Feely hasn't missed a beat since.

Your argument is invalid.

 

[DandyDon1722]

I like the Crayton or Hurd options the best, simply because of the potential for a fake play.

One thing that we don't know about Joe D...is he a gambler?

 

[Zman5]

Now it make sense why Folk has been hooking his kicks. If the ball is placed little forward of where it should be, it will go left. Anybody who plays golf will know what I mean.

 

[BulletBob]

You cannot just switch to a rookie holder mid-season, someone who has never handled the job.

The only switch that makes sense at this point is back to Romo. Yes, he fumbled in the Seattle game, but that was his only mistake.

Otherwise, just have McBriar practice this week until his hands fall off.