Should they consider drafting a kicker?

Reverend Conehead

Reverend Conehead

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I know it's unusual to draft a kicker, but it seems like drafting one would enable us to get a really good one. It's painfully obvious Zuerlein is done. The Raiders did great drafting Sebastian Janokowski.

I don't even think a high-round pick would be necessary. I believe it's possible to get a good kicker in the 4th, 5th, 6th, or even 7th round. If the scouting team does a good job, maybe we can draft the next Dan Bailey or the next Sebastain Janakowski, and that's without using an early round pick.

We had the best kicker in the league back when we had Dan Bailey, and also way back in '81 when we had Rafael Septien. It's so much nicer when the game is on the line to have confidence that your kicker will come through for you if you need a game-winning field goal. Zuerlein nearly gave me a nervous breakdown.

I miss having a high quality kicker.
 
There's Janikowski then there are guys, the Bucs and Browns spent picks on kickers in recent years, who don't cut it. The Rams drafted a kicked last year - he's not their kicker. They've got a guy who used to kick for Tampa (not the guy the Bucs drafted, either).

I don't think it's necessary to draft a kicker. Every college team, at every level, has one. That's over 250 teams. But you certainly need to bring some in and have them compete for the job. Thinking Greg Z is good enough is a bad plan - make him (or someone else) earn it.
 
CowboysRule said:
Yes! I've been saying this for years. You don't need to use a high pick. A 6th or 7th gives you a shot at probably some of the best kickers.
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I never understood why teams seem to value a ST player with maybe a shot to start in the future a better investment than a top of the line kicker.

What's odd is when a team spends a premium pick on the position it almost never works out....but those 5th and 6th are usually OK at that spot.

Jankowski wasn't great early on. He got better in time which is unusual. Wasn't worth a first though.

A priority UDFA is fine as well. Bailey was that.

Dallas just seemed to try to go cheap, then countered it with the opposite when it didn't work....

I dunno, just seems like whatever they do doesn't work. I'm starting to seriously buy into some sort of curse, or bad management....either one.
 
Jake said:
There's Janikowski then there are guys, the Bucs and Browns spent picks on kickers in recent years, who don't cut it. The Rams drafted a kicked last year - he's not their kicker. They've got a guy who used to kick for Tampa (not the guy the Bucs drafted, either).

I don't think it's necessary to draft a kicker. Every college team, at every level, has one. That's over 250 teams. But you certainly need to bring some in and have them compete for the job. Thinking Greg Z is good enough is a bad plan - make him (or someone else) earn it.
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Was Janikowski worth a #1 pick, though. Maybe a kicker picked in the last round would have been better than DiNucci? In the end, I agree that there is no need to draft a kicker.
 
Reverend Conehead said:
I know it's unusual to draft a kicker, but it seems like drafting one would enable us to get a really good one. It's painfully obvious Zuerlein is done. The Raiders did great drafting Sebastian Janokowski.

I don't even think a high-round pick would be necessary. I believe it's possible to get a good kicker in the 4th, 5th, 6th, or even 7th round. If the scouting team does a good job, maybe we can draft the next Dan Bailey or the next Sebastain Janakowski, and that's without using an early round pick.

We had the best kicker in the league back when we had Dan Bailey, and also way back in '81 when we had Rafael Septien. It's so much nicer when the game is on the line to have confidence that your kicker will come through for you if you need a game-winning field goal. Zuerlein nearly gave me a nervous breakdown.

I miss having a high quality kicker.
Click to expand...


No we must continue to make sure we miss all extra point kicks
 
Reverend Conehead said:
I know it's unusual to draft a kicker, but it seems like drafting one would enable us to get a really good one. It's painfully obvious Zuerlein is done. The Raiders did great drafting Sebastian Janokowski.

I don't even think a high-round pick would be necessary. I believe it's possible to get a good kicker in the 4th, 5th, 6th, or even 7th round. If the scouting team does a good job, maybe we can draft the next Dan Bailey or the next Sebastain Janakowski, and that's without using an early round pick.

We had the best kicker in the league back when we had Dan Bailey, and also way back in '81 when we had Rafael Septien. It's so much nicer when the game is on the line to have confidence that your kicker will come through for you if you need a game-winning field goal. Zuerlein nearly gave me a nervous breakdown.

I miss having a high quality kicker.
Click to expand...
no. we should go after one in FA......if any....I don't trust rookie college kickers and they are a 50/50 proposition....we need OL, LB and Saftey in this draft...we can't waste any picks on a kicker....ookkk maybe 6th or 7th round
 
I certainly wouldn't go after one like the Raiders did in the 1st. I don't know if I'd draft one to be honest.

With that said, we need to do something different because Greg was not good.
 
Anytime you can upgrade any position through the draft you absolutely should. Or bring them in as a super cheap player right after, yes all day. Gz is only 2.5 so it's not like you save much but if you can find a guy who is more consistent and cheaper, hell yes.
 
If they think there's one worth drafting, then yes. If not, then we need to look at free agents. We do not need to go into next season with Zuerlein guaranteed to be our kicker.
 
There’s so many kickers out there and they’re so streaky it’s almost like wasting a draft pick drafting one. We cut Nick Folk in 2009 and he’s become pretty consistent for NE.
 
I think the last one we drafted was Nick Folk in the 6th round in 2007. He is still in the league (NE) which is amazing considering we cut him due to yips.
 
Zman5 said:
I think the last one we drafted was Nick Folk in the 6th round in 2007. He is still in the league (NE) which is amazing considering we cut him due to yips.
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Yeah, Folk is a weird one. At first, he was great for us. He was reliable and clutch. And then it was like he hit the wall and his confidence was destroyed or something. He couldn't hit the broad side of barn with a big, red target painted on it. Whatever was wrong, he's fixed and has done great for other teams.
 
Reverend Conehead said:
Yeah, Folk is a weird one. At first, he was great for us. He was reliable and clutch. And then it was like he hit the wall and his confidence was destroyed or something. He couldn't hit the broad side of barn with a big, red target painted on it. Whatever was wrong, he's fixed and has done great for other teams.
Click to expand...

Kickers are much like golfers. They get the yips, and some get out of it and some never recover. To be still kicking after 15 seasons is impressive.
 
This is now the topic of the day. Bengals 5th Round Rookie kicker Mcpherson (Florida) just put his team in the AFC championship game with a walk off 54 yarder for the win and 3 other FGs for the day.
Draft a kicker. Why not?
 
Last edited:
You can't really take the chance of missing out on the next Isreal Mukuhamu by selecting a McPherson or Bass.
 
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