ZONERS: Identify yourself who liked the kicker we drafted!

[ENGCowboy]

If it works out like the Pats draft last year I will be very happy, wouldnt mind keeping 2 kickers on the team until midway through the season but I would be shocked if we kept 2 kickers all the way through Dec and into the preseason.

 

[silverbear]

Hey, if Nick can be a real weapon on kickoffs and long FGs, I can make a case for carrying both him and Grammatica... but I'm talking about ONLY if he can be a force on kickoffs... if he's just pretty good, save the roster spot...

 

[joseephuss]

Who would you keep instead of Folk? What player or position is so much more valuable than a kick off specialist? That may be better answered come training camp and pre-season. Maybe a player arises that won't be a starter, but will be worth keeping on the roster at position #53. Or a player that can contribute on game day as the #45 active player. Perhaps that can end up being an extra kicker.

I had no problem with using a 6th round pick on him. That is about right for drafting a kicker or punter. If he only ends up being a kick off specialist for a year, I am fine with that. It is not ideal, but workable. The kick off coverage team was good and has been good the last couple of years even with poor kick offs. Even Jose Cortez was not great at kick offs. He was just better than Cundiff, Sushi and Grammy. Folk can and hopefully will be even better. Ideally, he makes the roster as the only kicker. At least by 2008.

 

[Yeagermeister]

I don't have a problem with the pick.

 

[Alexander]

Hey, if Nick can be a real weapon on kickoffs and long FGs, I can make a case for carrying both him and Grammatica... but I'm talking about ONLY if he can be a force on kickoffs... if he's just pretty good, save the roster spot...

Folk is a career 64% FG kicker, he's been unreliable on even short range kicks (7-17 less than 40 yards) and he is only fifty percent from mid-range (8-16 from 40-49 yards).

Unless that is nothing but an anomaly, he'd better be utterly amazing on kickoffs to even be considered for a roster spot.

Gramatica's kickoffs were not that terrible by my recollection. I would hope it is his job to lose and Folk's draft status does not buy him anything he does not earn.

 

[JPM]

He was the best kicking prospect in the Draft. A 6th round pick is a roll of the dice. It was worth the risk.

He will pin teams deep on kickoffs. He has a chance to beat out Martin. He can be an emergency Punter if McBriar gets hurt.

No guts, no glory.

Hell's frozen over.
Now I can be bad.

 

[AtlCB]

If he consistantly booms kickoffs into the end zone, it would be worth the extra 10-15 yards in field position.

 

[AtlCB]

Folk is a career 64% FG kicker, he's been unreliable on even short range kicks (7-17 less than 40 yards) and he is only fifty percent from mid-range (8-16 from 40-49 yards).

Unless that is nothing but an anomaly, he'd better be utterly amazing on kickoffs to even be considered for a roster spot.

Gramatica's kickoffs were not that terrible by my recollection. I would hope it is his job to lose and Folk's draft status does not buy him anything he does not earn.

He seems to have corrected his short range problems. Folk was 9-10 in 2006 less than 40 yards. He still needs to work on his accuracy over 40 yards. He was 6-10 even though many of these kicks were over 45 yards.

 

[iceberg]

He was the best kicking prospect in the Draft. A 6th round pick is a roll of the dice. It was worth the risk.

He will pin teams deep on kickoffs. He has a chance to beat out Martin. He can be an emergency Punter if McBriar gets hurt.

No guts, no glory.

agreed.

the real point is - name someone else we shoulda taken in that spot who'd have a better shot at making a bigger difference.

we whine and complain like little school girls when our kicker misses but we whine and complain more when we try to fix the problem.

go figure.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

agreed.

the real point is - name someone else we shoulda taken in that spot who'd have a better shot at making a bigger difference.

we whine and complain like little school girls when our kicker misses but we whine and complain more when we try to fix the problem.

go figure.

Right! The guy was drafted in the 6th! That, to me, looks like a guy with potential who can work on his skills on the practice squad.

 

[Royal Laegotti]

I don't know much about Folk, so I can't really comment much on him. But I do bash Jerry all the time, but not for drafting a kicker. Jerry has always gone "cheap" on kickers and it's burned us in the past, as everyone knows. It has always occurred to me that Jerry would never draft a kicker, I think I've even heard him say that on Norm's show before, so I give him credit, for once, for thinking outside of his own little box or thought process and bucking his own philosopy and trying something different. Even thought it didn't happen this year, it gives me hope that Jerry will one day try something else new.....Draft offense in the first round for the first time in a decade.

 

[adamknite]

I wanted Crosby, but I hope for the best with the guy we took. I hope he can beat out Gramatica, it's not that I don't like Gramatica it's just that I don't want 2 kickers on the roster and if I had to choose which Kicker I wanted I'd pick the one we used a draft pick on. Folk has a heck of a leg from what I've been told, and if he keeps improving his accuracy then he'd be a solid 6th round pick for us.

 

[Hostile]

Folk is a career 64% FG kicker, he's been unreliable on even short range kicks (7-17 less than 40 yards) and he is only fifty percent from mid-range (8-16 from 40-49 yards).

Unless that is nothing but an anomaly, he'd better be utterly amazing on kickoffs to even be considered for a roster spot.

Gramatica's kickoffs were not that terrible by my recollection. I would hope it is his job to lose and Folk's draft status does not buy him anything he does not earn.

Wrong. You are adding in all 4 years he was at Arizona to come up with 64%. Players do get better as they mature in college.

He did very little kicking as a freshman. He got better as a sophomore. He got better as a Junior. Last year as a Senior he got better again. He has grown each year as a kicker. The same as every position player typically does. Last year he was a 75% kicker and he was 60% from 40 yards and beyond.

PATs Attempts...22
PATs Made...22
1/19 yards 0/0
20/29 yards 5/5
30/39 yards 4/5
40/49 yards 5/9
50+ 1/1

15 of 20 = 75%

I repeat what I said in my last post, he performed at this level for a horrible team. Go look at the links I provided and see how bad they were. It would have been monumentally worse if this kid by his kickoffs and punting didn't keep teams pinned deep.

 

[AtlCB]

I don't know much about Folk, so I can't really comment much on him. But I do bash Jerry all the time, but not for drafting a kicker. Jerry has always gone "cheap" on kickers and it's burned us in the past, as everyone knows. It has always occurred to me that Jerry would never draft a kicker, I think I've even heard him say that on Norm's show before, so I give him credit, for once, for thinking outside of his own little box or thought process and bucking his own philosopy and trying something different. Even thought it didn't happen this year, it gives me hope that Jerry will one day try something else new.....Draft offense in the first round for the first time in a decade.

I think we're cursed with kickers. We went expensive with Vanderjagt and got burned!

 

[YosemiteSam]

ZONERS:

I cut this out of Micky Spags answer about our punter.....he spoke of our Kicker and his chances to make the team.

WHO or WHY did you Zoners get me excited about the rookie kicker we drafted who could consistantly BOOM them out of the dang ENDZONE!

Talk to me!

DID WE WASTE A PICK?

I'm not against drafting kickers as much as some, but that doesn't mean I would just draft a kicker, because I needed one! If you end up drafting a Morton Anderson, Adam Vinatieri, or David Akers. Well, you've it paydirt. Depending on my teams status and needs, I wouldn't be opposed to drafting these guys (kickers listed above) in the first round providing I knew what I was getting a head of time. Of course hindsight is a beautiful thing, to bad in comes after the fact!

 

[Alexander]

Wrong.

No, it is not "wrong".

What I posted is entirely accurate.

If you choose to ignore it or massage it to fit your perception, that is your perogative.

You are just using one solid year to justify your impressions and are trying to draw conclusions off that season.

It is no different from noting that another player has improved in a year and then trying to just assume that is what to expect for their future career.

With kickers, you never know what to expect and I lean towards looking at their history. They are completely unpredictable, yet his career tendencies can't be completely ignored. If I were to bet, I'll go with the career trend.

We will see what he does. I'd rather be proven wrong, but it all depends on his opportunities in preseason. And unless he's near perfect or Gramatica completely unravels, I go with the veteran to kick field goals.

 

[Hostile]

No, it is not "wrong".

What I posted is entirely accurate.

If you choose to ignore it or massage it to fit your perception, that is your perogative.

You are just using one solid year to justify your impressions and are trying to draw conclusions off that season.

It is no different from noting that another player has improved in a year and then trying to just assume that is what to expect for their future career.

With kickers, you never know what to expect and I lean towards looking at their history. They are completely unpredictable, yet his career tendencies can't be completely ignored. If I were to bet, I'll go with the career trend.

We will see what he does. I'd rather be proven wrong, but it all depends on his opportunities in preseason. And unless he's near perfect or Gramatica completely unravels, I go with the veteran to kick field goals.

You mean the same way as is done for all other players? The way they can have a breakout year and rise up scouting reports.

Yeah I did that. Silly me.

 

[Vintage]

No, it is not "wrong".

What I posted is entirely accurate.

If you choose to ignore it or massage it to fit your perception, that is your perogative.

You are just using one solid year to justify your impressions and are trying to draw conclusions off that season.

It is no different from noting that another player has improved in a year and then trying to just assume that is what to expect for their future career.

With kickers, you never know what to expect and I lean towards looking at their history. They are completely unpredictable, yet his career tendencies can't be completely ignored. If I were to bet, I'll go with the career trend.

We will see what he does. I'd rather be proven wrong, but it all depends on his opportunities in preseason. And unless he's near perfect or Gramatica completely unravels, I go with the veteran to kick field goals.

Anthony Spencer?

He got better as his college career progressed. In fact, we drafted him in round one based on his senior year and what we think he will become....

 

[Chuck 54]

I think too many fans bought into Parcells BS about the roster. "We're going to need #53 so badly that it's a bad idea to keep a guy just to kick off"????

Get real....there are guys on the roster who don't dress for the game all year long. The guy may beat out Grammatica straight up, but even if he only kicks off, if he's that much better at kickoffs, meaning it changes field position, then hell yes, he's worth more than whomever would have been #53.

We're not going to need #53 to help us win games this year.

 

[Hostile]

Anthony Spencer?

He got better as his college career progressed. In fact, we drafted him in round one based on his senior year and what we think he will become....

It is laughable to rate how players did as Freshmen into how they will perform once out of college.