Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

People seem to have short memories.  How good was Scobee in his first season?

Quote:The ball consistently coming out much lower was well documented and plain to see.  It was the beginning of the end for Scobee and his performance in Pittsburgh proved it. 

It's unfortunate and he was a favorite of mine, but he was clearly declining. 

Regrettably true. Remember those blocked kicks? Scobee himself said that it was his fault for kicking too low. It happens to all kickers sooner or later. As it happens, Scobee was also up for a new contract deal that would've been expensive and we had Myers who (at least at the time) was showing promise... and was comparatively cheap. You don't have to be a genius to see the 'handwriting on the wall' about this situation. That's the way it is in professional sports; it's a production based industry... you either do the job or you're history. For the same reason, I don't know how long Myers is going to be here; his flubbed kicks has certainly sent his 'career diminution warning light' into overdrive. We'll see.

Quote:Just weird to me that we are saying he's in decline or finished when he's still young for a kicker and still has the strength.  He's a seasoned vet who isn't striking it correctly recently.  Seems almost like golf, you correct your stroke and you can rebound.  I don't think he's done.

I think golf is the best analogy.

 

In golf, there there has always been that segment that loses their ability regardless of their effort to correct their stroke. Physically there is nothing wrong but their precision goes away. I don't know if it is a focus thing or their nervous system no longer fires in a precise predictable way and their muscle memory becomes unreliable.

 

You can point to outside issues for someone like Woods, but there have been other guys like David Duval who was #1 in the world and suddenly his skills just vanished.

I'm not sure how I missed this one:

 

http://www.thescore.com/nfl/news/866367

 

Quote: 

The Jacksonville Jaguars worked out a pair of free-agent kickers on Wednesday, trying out Randy Bullock and Zach Hocker, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.


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<p style="font-family:'proxima-nova', sans-serif;">Jags' rookie Jason Myers has struggled this season, missing three field goals and three extra points to date. While the team has stuck by him, head coach Gus Bradley has been open to the possibility of replacing Myers with a better option.

<p style="font-family:'proxima-nova', sans-serif;">Bullock could fit that mold, as he spent two seasons competing in the AFC South with the Houston Texans. Known for his big leg, Bullock went 4-of-5 on kicks beyond 50 yards in 2014.

<p style="font-family:'proxima-nova', sans-serif;">Hocker, who is also a rookie, began the season with the New Orleans Saintsbut was waived after struggling during the first five weeks of the season.


</div>
 

I won't lie, the idea of Long Ding coming in and winning the starting job is hilarious to think about.

Quote:Bullock's career numbers: 61/76 for a FG percentage of 80.3, with a long of 55.  Hocker's short career: 9/13 for 69.2 percent with a long of 51.  Not even sure why Hocker was brought in. 

 

 

Yeah, I don't even get why they brought in Hocker either. He's really bad.


 

Bullock I'll admit made sense to take a look. Sure at this point in his career he's appears to be better than Myers, but I don't see him as a long-term answer and I truly believe Myers has a higher ceiling. Bullock had a horrible rookie season just like Myers so far, but the Texans stuck with him. Last year he did ok, but some of his misses including game-winning misses for the Texans were frustrating. Between last year and his first three games this year, he's missed five FGs or X-points that were under 40 yards including one under 30. I'd keep him on the radar in case Myers simply has to be replaced, but should that happen you'd probably still want to address the position in the offseason. While he wasn't signed, has there been any word on how his try-out went?

Quote:Long Ding ftw

 

 

He might be worth another look...


 

https://vimeo.com/109762250

Quote:Hopefully we draft a long term replacement in April. Coughlin played musical kickers in 2002 after Mike Hollis left. Hayden Epstein, Tim Seder, Richie Cunningham LOL. And then the immortal Seth Marler in 2003. The problem wasn't fixed until we got Scobee and didn't have to worry about the position for 10 years.

This year we either stick with Myers, or play scrap heap roulette like in 02. Either way I hope we are able to find another reliable kicker like Hollis or Scobee sooner rather than later.

 

 

Honestly this has much to do with why I'm not so ready to just replace Myers. I remember that year an just how tough it was to try and replace Epstein mid-season. That was a nightmare situation.

Quote:Several potential candidates on this list:

 

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/tracker#dt...pecialists

 

 

I took a look...

• Josh Lambo is the Chargers kicker. He replaced Nick Novak who is now the Texans kicker replacing Bullock.
  
  
• Justin Manton's bio out of Louisiana-Monroe fails to sell me. His negatives mention a slow approach to the ball that could lead to blocked kicks, his power is listed as "marginal", and his hang-time on kickoffs is pathetic. Overall he was 36 of 56 (64.3%) on field goals and 148 of 152 (97.4%) extra points in college, but he had a breakout senior season going 20 of 24 (83.3%) on field goals and 23 of 23 (100%) on extra points with a long of 51 yards. The Ravens signed him as an undrafted rookie, but he was waived in the cut-downs and is currently available. He can also punt in case of emergency. There's a chance he might be more accurate than Myers under 50 yards, but he's worthless over 50 yards and would represent a substantial loss of leg power on kickoffs.
  
  
• Tom Obarski (Concordia-St. Paul) has shown the ability to kick long FGs nailing 5 of 8 in college over 50 yards including two from 56 and a long of 59. As a senior he hit 9 of 10 over 40 yards, but what's scary is that as a junior he went 0 of 7 in the 40-49 yard range. In the Senior Bowl he nailed one from 49 but then missed from 44 and 43. He was 44 of 63 overall in college (69.8%) on FGs and 118 of 122 on XPs (96.7%), As a senior he was 18 of 21 (85.7%) on FGs. Despite a strong leg, he's said to lack depth on kickoffs. Obarski signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent, but was waived in the final cut-down to 53 and is available.
  
  
• Kyle Brindza (Notre Dame) made only 58.3 percent of his field goals as a senior and is not considered a legitimate prospect as a place kicker. He might be a good kickoff specialist. The grades keep going down from here.
  
  
• Sam Ficken (Penn State) had a long of 54 yards in 2013, but otherwise is not a legitimate prospect with a leg strength well below NFL standards, a low trajectory, and a pathetic hangtime on kickoffs. Ficken was 1 of 2 as a rookie on FGs plus made his lone XP. In the three years since he was 53 of 73 (72.6%) on FGs and 108 of 111 on XPs (97.3%). This includes a breakout senior season where he went 24 of 29 (82.8%) on FGs and 28 of 28 (100%) on XPs.  Aside from a tryout at the Chiefs minicamp, he hasn't had a whiff from NFL teams, although he did tweet the Steelers that he's available after Scobee was waived.
  
  
• Jared Roberts (Colorado State) fell off the grid after a disastrous senior season where he connected on 12 of 20 FGs (60%) including a mere 3 of 7 (42.9%) from 40 to 49 yards with a more impressive 3 of 4 (75%) over 50 yards. His kickoff strength improved to marginal as a senior and that was largely due to high altitude. On his Pro Day he showed up ready to kick for NFL scouts after the other position drills concluded, but not a single scout stuck around to watch.
  
  

Why not try out some of the Canadian Football League kickers if this still an issue come Nov 8th?

Scobee first season : 24/31 = 77,4%               21/21 XP

Quote:Scobee first season : 24/31 = 77,4%               21/21 XP

 

 

Over 50 he was 1 for 3 with a long of 53 yards.

Still hoping that we snag Bullock.  

 

Cundiff is my 2nd choice as a seasoned vet, but he would be very short-term for us.  Bullock has the stronger leg and plenty of years left on his career.

Quote:Still hoping that we snag Bullock.  

Seeing that no one else in the NFL has expressed much interest in him, "snag" may not be the right term. Still, I will be annoyed if a kicker goes down with an injury next week and he gets the call, then goes 17-of-20 over the balance of the year while Myers ends up hitting 70% of his FGs and 85% of his PATs.

I'm thinking we ride Myers a little longer to see if he can pull it together. If he simply can't, we know Bulluck is available.


 

I'm still wondering if anybody has heard about, or if we can somehow find out about, how well he did in his try out.

Quote:I'm thinking we ride Myers a little longer to see if he can pull it together. If he simply can't, we know Bulluck is available.


 
I'm still wondering if anybody has heard about, or if we can somehow find out about, how well he did in his try out.

Yea. Ride it out until he misses another game winner and costs us the game?

Quote:I'm thinking we ride Myers a little longer to see if he can pull it together. If he simply can't, we know Bulluck is available.


 

I'm still wondering if anybody has heard about, or if we can somehow find out about, how well he did in his try out.

Not well enough to convince Caldwell and Bradley to put their mule out to pasture, apparently.

I guess we are sticking with Meyers. Smh

Quote:I guess we are sticking with Meyers. Smh

What makes you say that?

The Saints picked up Kai Forbath off the scrap heap and he rewarded them with a game winning 51 yarder. Myers of course would have shanked that kick but let's keep him around, maybe he will learn how to kick one day.