brncs_fan
02-27-2007, 12:12 PM
Crosby, Skills and Gnash
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
February 27, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS - It is, and always will be, a question of wants and needs.
"Hey, everybody in the league wants a kicker, you want one when you have about 42 yards between you and winning with 2 seconds left to do something," Kansas City Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "So, really, it's just a question of when you think you need one and just how fast you should take one."
And that is one of the NFL draft's great riddles. Few players can have as many game-deciding decisions tied to their actions as a place-kicker does.
The kick is up, it's high enough, it's long enough . . . and it's just not often a draft-day priority. Especially with so many positions to fill in a lineup, so many full-time jobs to do elsewhere on the field.
Just four kickers have been taken in the first round since Washington selected Charlie Gogolak with the No. 6 pick in the 1966 draft - and none since Sebastian Janikowski in 2000.
"Certainly, you always want a kicker you don't have to worry about . . . but, that said, you have to have a dire, dire need to go that high," Buffalo Bills general manager Marv Levy said. "I've never felt I was in a position to be after a kicker that high and, frankly, it would be pretty hard to convince me to go real high if I every felt I was."
The league, it seems, is pretty hard to convince to take a place- kicker in the draft's first round, or even on the draft's first day. Only three kickers have been selected in the first three rounds in the past seven drafts - Mike Nugent by the Jets (second) in 2005, Nate Kaeding by the Chargers (third) in 2004 and Janikowski by the Raiders (first) in 2000.
The Broncos have selected only one kicker on the draft's first day. That's Jason Elam, still stringing together 100-point seasons for the team since he was picked in the third round in 1993.
Still, former Colorado kicker Mason Crosby is hoping to be a part of that history. And, at the convergence of a draft that might not be as strong as some in recent years and with Devin Hester's touchdown return of the opening kickoff in the Super Bowl fresh in the minds of NFL teams, there are kickers.
"Look, I love kickers," Edwards said. "I liked them when I played, I like them as a coach. I think they're invaluable. I understand why some people don't want to jump too early because they want an every-down guy, but when I was with the Jets, we took Mike Nugent in the second round. That's who we wanted and that's who we needed."
For Crosby, or any other kicker, the difference between wait-and- see and being selected in early rounds is what he can do on kickoffs. With rosters limited to 53 players, most teams want to carry only two kickers - a punter and place-kicker. That means one of the two has to do kickoffs.
"And I know when people are looking at me or anybody else, that's probably what separates kickers from other kickers," Crosby said. "I've always been confident of my kickoffs.
"I've got a strong leg, and the only thing I can really control is how I show it between now and the draft. That's my goal, just to show the scouts and everybody else what I've been doing the last four years."
Some of the hesitation to spend a high draft pick is related to the kicker's on-again, off-again football life. Kickers are far more likely to be released after a game-deciding miss than position players are for their mistakes.
And often, some coaches believe, it takes a player two or more tries at an NFL roster to become a reliable, full-time NFL kicker.
Chicago's Robbie Gould, selected to the NFC's Pro Bowl team this season after going 32-for-36 on field-goal attempts, was released by both the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens before being signed by the Bears in October 2005.
"Some of the pressure young kickers feel may be self-induced," Seattle Seahawks special teams coach Bruce DeHaven said. "They just have to experience it. They just know that's the way it is. You don't get any second chances. You throw the ball and it's incomplete on first down, you can still get the first down. When you're a kicker, you get one shot, and then maybe you don't get another chance for a week or two."
Said Indianapolis Colts special teams coach Russ Purnell: "You've really got to be emotionally strong to survive that, so that trims the list of candidates right away. More than a position player, for those guys kicking, it's a constant tryout for them. They're going to go in and be evaluated every time they swing their leg. And if they don't do well, they're going to be replaced."
In the draft last year, no kicker was selected until the New England Patriots picked Stephen Gostkowski in the fourth round - 118th overall. All the Patriots wanted Gostkowski to do was replace Adam Vinatieri, who had kicked two winners in the closing seconds of Super Bowls for New England and then left in free agency.
On draft day, Gostkowski, who was the only place-kicker selected in the 2005 draft and was 6-for-6 in the Patriots' three postseason games, said, "If you can't handle the pressure, you shouldn't be in the business."
Broncos director of player personnel Jim Goodman has said, in general, when he evaluates kickers he looks for three components:
• How quickly the ball comes away from the kicker's foot and into the air.
• Distance and accuracy.
• And, "if a team takes two timeouts to ice the kicker, does he still go out there (and) make the kick?"
Crosby made 11 of his 15 field- goal attempts at the scouting combine last weekend, and scouts said he consistently drove his kickoffs between the 5-yard-line and the goal line.
While most of those same scouts said they expected Crosby to power his kickoffs into the end zone during the workout inside the climate-controlled RCA Dome, they said he still was the kicker with the best chance to be a first-day pick with his pro day in Boulder at the end of March still to go.
"Bottom line, you have to have one and you have to have one who can get it done or you're going to lose games you should win," Edwards said. "That's important. In some situations, it doesn't get any more important than that. So if you see the guy you think fits the job, you take him quick enough to get him."
Going deep
Former Colorado kicker Mason Crosby attempted several kicks last season that other kickers in the nation weren't asked to try.
Distance Made-Attempt
10-19 yards 0-0
20-29 yards 5-6
30-39 yards 7-8
40-49 yards 5-5
50-59 yards 2-6
60-plus yards 0-3
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5381327,00.html
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
February 27, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS - It is, and always will be, a question of wants and needs.
"Hey, everybody in the league wants a kicker, you want one when you have about 42 yards between you and winning with 2 seconds left to do something," Kansas City Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "So, really, it's just a question of when you think you need one and just how fast you should take one."
And that is one of the NFL draft's great riddles. Few players can have as many game-deciding decisions tied to their actions as a place-kicker does.
The kick is up, it's high enough, it's long enough . . . and it's just not often a draft-day priority. Especially with so many positions to fill in a lineup, so many full-time jobs to do elsewhere on the field.
Just four kickers have been taken in the first round since Washington selected Charlie Gogolak with the No. 6 pick in the 1966 draft - and none since Sebastian Janikowski in 2000.
"Certainly, you always want a kicker you don't have to worry about . . . but, that said, you have to have a dire, dire need to go that high," Buffalo Bills general manager Marv Levy said. "I've never felt I was in a position to be after a kicker that high and, frankly, it would be pretty hard to convince me to go real high if I every felt I was."
The league, it seems, is pretty hard to convince to take a place- kicker in the draft's first round, or even on the draft's first day. Only three kickers have been selected in the first three rounds in the past seven drafts - Mike Nugent by the Jets (second) in 2005, Nate Kaeding by the Chargers (third) in 2004 and Janikowski by the Raiders (first) in 2000.
The Broncos have selected only one kicker on the draft's first day. That's Jason Elam, still stringing together 100-point seasons for the team since he was picked in the third round in 1993.
Still, former Colorado kicker Mason Crosby is hoping to be a part of that history. And, at the convergence of a draft that might not be as strong as some in recent years and with Devin Hester's touchdown return of the opening kickoff in the Super Bowl fresh in the minds of NFL teams, there are kickers.
"Look, I love kickers," Edwards said. "I liked them when I played, I like them as a coach. I think they're invaluable. I understand why some people don't want to jump too early because they want an every-down guy, but when I was with the Jets, we took Mike Nugent in the second round. That's who we wanted and that's who we needed."
For Crosby, or any other kicker, the difference between wait-and- see and being selected in early rounds is what he can do on kickoffs. With rosters limited to 53 players, most teams want to carry only two kickers - a punter and place-kicker. That means one of the two has to do kickoffs.
"And I know when people are looking at me or anybody else, that's probably what separates kickers from other kickers," Crosby said. "I've always been confident of my kickoffs.
"I've got a strong leg, and the only thing I can really control is how I show it between now and the draft. That's my goal, just to show the scouts and everybody else what I've been doing the last four years."
Some of the hesitation to spend a high draft pick is related to the kicker's on-again, off-again football life. Kickers are far more likely to be released after a game-deciding miss than position players are for their mistakes.
And often, some coaches believe, it takes a player two or more tries at an NFL roster to become a reliable, full-time NFL kicker.
Chicago's Robbie Gould, selected to the NFC's Pro Bowl team this season after going 32-for-36 on field-goal attempts, was released by both the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens before being signed by the Bears in October 2005.
"Some of the pressure young kickers feel may be self-induced," Seattle Seahawks special teams coach Bruce DeHaven said. "They just have to experience it. They just know that's the way it is. You don't get any second chances. You throw the ball and it's incomplete on first down, you can still get the first down. When you're a kicker, you get one shot, and then maybe you don't get another chance for a week or two."
Said Indianapolis Colts special teams coach Russ Purnell: "You've really got to be emotionally strong to survive that, so that trims the list of candidates right away. More than a position player, for those guys kicking, it's a constant tryout for them. They're going to go in and be evaluated every time they swing their leg. And if they don't do well, they're going to be replaced."
In the draft last year, no kicker was selected until the New England Patriots picked Stephen Gostkowski in the fourth round - 118th overall. All the Patriots wanted Gostkowski to do was replace Adam Vinatieri, who had kicked two winners in the closing seconds of Super Bowls for New England and then left in free agency.
On draft day, Gostkowski, who was the only place-kicker selected in the 2005 draft and was 6-for-6 in the Patriots' three postseason games, said, "If you can't handle the pressure, you shouldn't be in the business."
Broncos director of player personnel Jim Goodman has said, in general, when he evaluates kickers he looks for three components:
• How quickly the ball comes away from the kicker's foot and into the air.
• Distance and accuracy.
• And, "if a team takes two timeouts to ice the kicker, does he still go out there (and) make the kick?"
Crosby made 11 of his 15 field- goal attempts at the scouting combine last weekend, and scouts said he consistently drove his kickoffs between the 5-yard-line and the goal line.
While most of those same scouts said they expected Crosby to power his kickoffs into the end zone during the workout inside the climate-controlled RCA Dome, they said he still was the kicker with the best chance to be a first-day pick with his pro day in Boulder at the end of March still to go.
"Bottom line, you have to have one and you have to have one who can get it done or you're going to lose games you should win," Edwards said. "That's important. In some situations, it doesn't get any more important than that. So if you see the guy you think fits the job, you take him quick enough to get him."
Going deep
Former Colorado kicker Mason Crosby attempted several kicks last season that other kickers in the nation weren't asked to try.
Distance Made-Attempt
10-19 yards 0-0
20-29 yards 5-6
30-39 yards 7-8
40-49 yards 5-5
50-59 yards 2-6
60-plus yards 0-3
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5381327,00.html