Kicking Game?

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MsTechAnalysis

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How important is this part of the game? Obviously, in the last 5-6 years - very important to GT. Our special teams have been a positive part of our successes during this time. Manget, Dyke, Morehouse gave us many opportunities to be in positive field position and points to win.

We lost all these players in one fell swoop - who is going to pick up the slack? I'm imaging situations during the year with what I believe will be tough sledding, when this part of the game could have a big impact in garnering a one or two wins here and there!

I know how important this part of the game has been in our recent past successes. Is there going to be a big learning curve here too? Don't we have a redshirt freshmen for field goals and kickoffs. What about punts and kicks - anybody with a good leg that can get us some decent field position? WE need everything we can get in all phases of the game.

Does anyone know who coaching special teams? And who's picking up the slack for these positions?
 
Well, it is believed that Hal Higgins will hold and handle the punting duties. Dan Burnett should handle the field goals/kickoffs. I remember situatons lat year in the UNC game where Burnett missed to field goals and that could have been huge. He also missed 2 field goals against Virginia in the 35-0 victory in 2000.

This is a crucial part of the game and it should figure into deciding W's and L's.
 
Also, we get back long snapper Andrew Economos.

Trust me, I've done it. This is an intrical part of the game and long snapping looks automatic but is not and Andrew has done a good job.
 
To add what others have said.. Look for Jordan to handle kickoffs. Don't count him out with field goals. Burnett and others in the running.

Compitition is good.

David Wilson is our special teams coach.

The fight for punting isn't over either. We'll see how it turns out. Hal Higgins amoung others including a guy who wasn't there this spring while on the track team will be in the running.

Go Jackets!
 
Good thread, MsTA..
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Anyone know why Morehouse or Dyke weren't staggered so they wouldn't graduate the same year?
 
Originally posted by BeeBad:
Good thread, MsTA..
wink.gif


Anyone know why Morehouse or Dyke weren't staggered so they wouldn't graduate the same year?
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">BB: I know Morehouse was a tranfer from a Div. II school in Conn. Dyke was already here, Chris sat a year because of the transfer and when eligible to play - they ended up in the same class. This is A BIG part of the game and we definitely need some good bodies making field goals and putting us in good field position.
 
From what I saw in the spring game, our walk-on punters looked just like what they are - walk-ons. I think the longest punt went about 35 yds, so obviously they need to work on that in the fall.

As for kicking, I thought Christian Schroeder looked like the best choice. The guy looks like a mini-Sebastian Janikowski and has the leg to boot (no pun intended). He tried field goals from 57 and 59 yards in the game and had the distance on both, but missed wide left. I think they should give him time to work on his accuracy and see if he may be our best PK choice.
 
OK my bad, I believe Schroeder has an excellent shot competing with Burnett for the job. Kid has a leg.
 
How about some specifics on the Jordan kid out of Columbus who was redshirted last year. Thought he was one of the top kickers in the country. What happened.
 
Well one big flaw with recruiting services is that no one can every tell how good a kid is going to be. Everything is an assumption based on how well they faired against the competition their JR and SR years of high school. David has a good chance at developing into a wonderful kicker. But as of the end of spring practice he was a little bit behind the others. He has all the talent, he just has to learn how to harness it first.
 
I certainly want a punter who can kick it more than 35 yards, but I think I'd rather have one who kicked it 40 and high consistently than one who kicks it 35 one time and 50 the next. Too many times when a punter booms one it seems to me the coverage isn't there and the runback negates the long punt.
 
I have heard from several different NFL scouts that the best punters are those who can consistentally punt it 40-45 yards with a hangtime of 4.4-4.5 or higher. A line drive 60 yard punt is worthless. All it does is give the return man more time and more room to bring it back. Return men love low hang times cause it pretty much takes gunners out of the mix, boost their return numbers, and improves the chances of taking one to the house.
 
Originally posted by Clito Jacket:
I certainly want a punter who can kick it more than 35 yards, but I think I'd rather have one who kicked it 40 and high consistently than one who kicks it 35 one time and 50 the next. Too many times when a punter booms one it seems to me the coverage isn't there and the runback negates the long punt.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Clito: Definitely agree here, consistency and hang time! Hope we work on this part of our game as much as the others - this is going to be very important!
 
This will NOT be a strength.We can only hope that it will not be a severe detriment.
Ironically last yr was suppose to be a dominant ST year and it was not.The only real improvement I saw was the increased kick-offs to the endzone.
To show how recruiting is so inexact is the Jordan situation.It was thought that he might come in and even compete last year for play after a heralded hi school career.Well,now he can't even beat out a guy who as a FG sub has been only marginally fair so far.
The STs are just another BIG ? in a team full of them.
 
yeah, I didnt really want to say anything about this situation (I always try to stay positive). Special teams this year could prove to be a very weak part of our game. We cant expect much after losing Luke. We wont be near that range for a while. Punting will really be down this year. The only thing is that we have put a new drive towards blocking punts, FG, this year. I dont want to say it, but this could cause us some points this year. sorry.
 
Interesting side note. If Burnett wins the job, it will be the first time he has been a 1st string kicker. I believe he was the 2nd if not 3rd String kicker at Parkview behind Seth Marler, a Groza award winner. I do believe he punted for Parkview though.
 
Burnett will likely be our kicker, but the punt situation is up in the air. Im still not sure why we didnt go after some of the top kickers in high school this last year.
 
Originally posted by GTFish:
OK my bad, I believe Schroeder has an excellent shot competing with Burnett for the job. Kid has a leg.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Who is this Schroeder fella? What year is he in?
 
I believe this will be his second year (RS FR), but maybe actually his third. He is a walk on kicker from Rome GA, who reminds everyone of a little Janakowski (minus all the problems). Im not sure how he did in high school, but he looks good on the practice field and works pretty hard at it. Good kid.
 
Originally posted by GTFish:
I believe this will be his second year (RS FR), but maybe actually his third. He is a walk on kicker from Rome GA, who reminds everyone of a little Janakowski (minus all the problems). Im not sure how he did in high school, but he looks good on the practice field and works pretty hard at it. Good kid.
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<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Thanks Fish! Hope he's one of our saviors in this area.
 
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