woodbuck27
08-18-2006, 11:23 PM
Posted August 18, 2006
It's Rayner's job to lose
Packers release Cundiff, hand job  for now  to untested second-year kicker
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
The Green Bay Packers are giving Dave Rayner at least two weeks to convince them he should be their kicker in 2006.
General Manager Ted Thompson cut short the Packers' head-to-head training-camp battle at kicker by releasing five-year pro Billy Cundiff late Thursday afternoon, which makes Rayner the lone kicker in camp.
The two appeared to be about even after almost three weeks of camp, and neither has performed well enough to win over the team's coaching and scouting staffs. But the Packers like the 23-year-old Rayner's potential because he has the stronger kicking leg.
If Rayner doesn't perform well enough over the next two or three weeks, the Packers will sign a veteran such as Cundiff, the unemployed Paul Edinger or a kicker cut by another team.
"We think both of them probably missed a little more in practice than we're comfortable with," Thompson said Thursday. "So, we're kind of putting it in (Rayner's) ballpark. We'll see how he does."
On Thursday night, his first practice as the only kicker, Rayner made 8 of 10 field-goal attempts in a live drill. His misses came on back-to-back attempts from 47 and 49 yards. Punter B.J. Sander was the holder on both misses. Rayner's longest makes were from 52 yards, which cleared the crossbar at the top of the goalpost, and 47 yards.
"He missed the two longer ones, but I think that's even more reason to give him the reps," coach Mike McCarthy said after Thursday's night practice.
"It's about opportunities. He is young. He's strong legged. I think he has a winner's substance to him. I like his personality. I like his approach.a"
Rayner will handle all the Packers' kicking in Saturday's preseason game against Atlanta and the following week at Cincinnati, and perhaps in the preseason finale against Tennessee. It will mark the first time in his short career he's handled all of a team's kicking duties.
Last season, as a sixth-round draft pick with Indianapolis, he was a kickoff specialist while veteran Mike Vanderjagt kicked field goals. The Colts were grooming Rayner to take over for Vanderjagt this season, but they changed course in March and made a bold move by signing the league's best kicker, Adam Vinatieri, as a free agent.
The Packers picked up Rayner a couple of days after the Colts released him.
Thompson said that when he was Seattle's vice president of player personnel, the Seahawks did something similar with Josh Brown in 2003. They selected Brown in the seventh round of that draft, and instead of bringing in a veteran fallback to compete with him, they had Brown work as the lone kicker in camp. Brown won the job, and is entering his fourth season with the team.
"(Brown) knew the whole time he's kicking against every conceivable, possible kicker that might become available," Thompson said.
"It's the same thing with Rayner."
Though neither Rayner nor Cundiff won over the team with his performance, Cundiff has a track record, and the Packers appear to think he'll probably perform to the standards he did in his first four years in the NFL. Cundiff has made 73.2 percent of his field-goal attempts in his career, which is mediocre by NFL standards and well below the 81.6 percent career mark of the kicker the Packers are replacing, Ryan Longwell.
Rayner hasn't been as accurate as Cundiff in practice but showed a much stronger leg on long field goals. At the end of a two-minute drill Thursday, Rayner made a 46-yard kick with plenty of room to spare.
"They had a good kicker here for so many years. They're really looking to not take a step back in that," Rayner said this week. "They're concerned, which they should be. It's a big part of the game."
Comment: Two very important weeks in his life.
GO PACKERS ! FAITH PACKER FANS !!
It's Rayner's job to lose
Packers release Cundiff, hand job  for now  to untested second-year kicker
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
The Green Bay Packers are giving Dave Rayner at least two weeks to convince them he should be their kicker in 2006.
General Manager Ted Thompson cut short the Packers' head-to-head training-camp battle at kicker by releasing five-year pro Billy Cundiff late Thursday afternoon, which makes Rayner the lone kicker in camp.
The two appeared to be about even after almost three weeks of camp, and neither has performed well enough to win over the team's coaching and scouting staffs. But the Packers like the 23-year-old Rayner's potential because he has the stronger kicking leg.
If Rayner doesn't perform well enough over the next two or three weeks, the Packers will sign a veteran such as Cundiff, the unemployed Paul Edinger or a kicker cut by another team.
"We think both of them probably missed a little more in practice than we're comfortable with," Thompson said Thursday. "So, we're kind of putting it in (Rayner's) ballpark. We'll see how he does."
On Thursday night, his first practice as the only kicker, Rayner made 8 of 10 field-goal attempts in a live drill. His misses came on back-to-back attempts from 47 and 49 yards. Punter B.J. Sander was the holder on both misses. Rayner's longest makes were from 52 yards, which cleared the crossbar at the top of the goalpost, and 47 yards.
"He missed the two longer ones, but I think that's even more reason to give him the reps," coach Mike McCarthy said after Thursday's night practice.
"It's about opportunities. He is young. He's strong legged. I think he has a winner's substance to him. I like his personality. I like his approach.a"
Rayner will handle all the Packers' kicking in Saturday's preseason game against Atlanta and the following week at Cincinnati, and perhaps in the preseason finale against Tennessee. It will mark the first time in his short career he's handled all of a team's kicking duties.
Last season, as a sixth-round draft pick with Indianapolis, he was a kickoff specialist while veteran Mike Vanderjagt kicked field goals. The Colts were grooming Rayner to take over for Vanderjagt this season, but they changed course in March and made a bold move by signing the league's best kicker, Adam Vinatieri, as a free agent.
The Packers picked up Rayner a couple of days after the Colts released him.
Thompson said that when he was Seattle's vice president of player personnel, the Seahawks did something similar with Josh Brown in 2003. They selected Brown in the seventh round of that draft, and instead of bringing in a veteran fallback to compete with him, they had Brown work as the lone kicker in camp. Brown won the job, and is entering his fourth season with the team.
"(Brown) knew the whole time he's kicking against every conceivable, possible kicker that might become available," Thompson said.
"It's the same thing with Rayner."
Though neither Rayner nor Cundiff won over the team with his performance, Cundiff has a track record, and the Packers appear to think he'll probably perform to the standards he did in his first four years in the NFL. Cundiff has made 73.2 percent of his field-goal attempts in his career, which is mediocre by NFL standards and well below the 81.6 percent career mark of the kicker the Packers are replacing, Ryan Longwell.
Rayner hasn't been as accurate as Cundiff in practice but showed a much stronger leg on long field goals. At the end of a two-minute drill Thursday, Rayner made a 46-yard kick with plenty of room to spare.
"They had a good kicker here for so many years. They're really looking to not take a step back in that," Rayner said this week. "They're concerned, which they should be. It's a big part of the game."
Comment: Two very important weeks in his life.
GO PACKERS ! FAITH PACKER FANS !!