Mason Crosby - let's look at details.

[Fritz]

I am all for the Packers drafting a punter if a good one is available. Like, fifth round good. Maybe fourth, even.

But not third, no.

[Bretsky]

I am all for the Packers drafting a punter if a good one is available. Like, fifth round good. Maybe fourth, even.

But not third, no.

A Legit NFL Punter and a Legit NFL return man would do wonders for a start
Dang D Jackson would look nice on this team

[Waldo]

I'm not sold that Crosby is our guy for the future. I admit, much of that is based on him not being able to convert from last year (two game winning attempts and failed). I realize most of his misses this year have been from 50+ yards, but some aren't even close. Then against Detroit his misses from 43 and just barely made that 20 yarder after that. This is in a dome, people!

My stance.... I think competition should be brought in for him next training camp.

What position are you willing to sacrifice competition at (or healthy bodies) in order to do this competition.

Give and take. OL? DL? DBs?

You can only bring 80 to camp. If you want an extra kicker, take one away somewhere else.

[Waldo]

I am all for the Packers drafting a punter if a good one is available. Like, fifth round good. Maybe fourth, even.

But not third, no.

Take a look at drafted punters and how they are doing. The last few drafts of punters have not been pretty.

There is no point in wasting a draft pick on a punter. I agree with Ted's methods, but it is going to take time. If there is a good one available as a UFA, by all means, otherwise, bring in a few for tryouts, keep the best one or two (plus the existing punter) through minicamps, settle on the best two for TC, cut the worst after the first week. And live with it. That was a huge blunder to replace Ryan the way he did. The way we challenged Kaps this year is the right way to do it. It might take a few years, but eventually you will get a good one this way.

[TennesseePackerBacker]

I am all for the Packers drafting a punter if a good one is available. Like, fifth round good. Maybe fourth, even.

But not third, no.

Take a look at drafted punters and how they are doing. The last few drafts of punters have not been pretty.

There is no point in wasting a draft pick on a punter. I agree with Ted's methods, but it is going to take time. If there is a good one available as a UFA, by all means, otherwise, bring in a few for tryouts, keep the best one or two (plus the existing punter) through minicamps, settle on the best two for TC, cut the worst after the first week. And live with it. That was a huge blunder to replace Ryan the way he did. The way we challenged Kaps this year is the right way to do it. It might take a few years, but eventually you will get a good one this way.

I'd trade a future first round pick for Shane Lechler. I'm sure Oakland would oblige. God...I can't believe I just said that about a punter, but that guy is a weapon. Anyone who can flip field position completely with one kick would be a godsend for any team with a relatively average defense. Much less a team like the Packers with a good young defense.

[Bretsky]

I am all for the Packers drafting a punter if a good one is available. Like, fifth round good. Maybe fourth, even.

But not third, no.

Take a look at drafted punters and how they are doing. The last few drafts of punters have not been pretty.

There is no point in wasting a draft pick on a punter. I agree with Ted's methods, but it is going to take time. If there is a good one available as a UFA, by all means, otherwise, bring in a few for tryouts, keep the best one or two (plus the existing punter) through minicamps, settle on the best two for TC, cut the worst after the first week. And live with it. That was a huge blunder to replace Ryan the way he did. The way we challenged Kaps this year is the right way to do it. It might take a few years, but eventually you will get a good one this way.

What about the guy from U Cincy ? Kevin Huber .....I think was his name. Strong leg/lefty. I thought he was doing pretty well and tabbed him as a great pick for TTT well before the draft.

I think if we end up employing that same strategy in all probability we'll be stuck with a sub par one for a while. I'm all for the free agency but we might have to overpay to get one in Green Bay. Of course, as I've stated over and over again...with the cap as it is it's alright to overpay in free agency. You fail when you choose the wrong guy...not overpay.

[gbgary]

i've no real problem with crosby. we've been lucky in the past 20 years to have some great kickers. he's nearly there.

[retailguy]

i've no real problem with crosby. we've been lucky in the past 20 years by have some great kickers. he's nearly there.

agree. Crosby isn't the problem. Bit of a confidence problem, that's for sure, but McCrappy hasn't helped with that, by trotting him out at anything resembling a field goal. Guy is only in his 3rd year, still very young, you put those guys in a position to be successful, 69 yarders don't build confidence, even if you get "close". McCrappy should be shot for that. preseason? fine. regular season game? NO WAY.

With a new OL, this is a completely different team. If you have transmission troubles, you don't replace the car, nor rebuild the rear end. You replace the transmission, and see if that fixes the problem.

we already "blew up the team", if we need to do that again, we need a new architect. He's already rebuilt the damn house, and needs to fix the issues, NOT start over.

Right now, we just need 3 things, guys that can block consistently, guys that can play well together, and guys that can coach them. I'm not convinced we have any of those today. We've got a couple of guys we can salvage, but that's about it.

[Smidgeon]

i've no real problem with crosby. we've been lucky in the past 20 years by have some great kickers. he's nearly there.

agree. Crosby isn't the problem. Bit of a confidence problem, that's for sure, but McCrappy hasn't helped with that, by trotting him out at anything resembling a field goal. Guy is only in his 3rd year, still very young, you put those guys in a position to be successful, 69 yarders don't build confidence, even if you get "close". McCrappy should be shot for that. preseason? fine. regular season game? NO WAY.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the 69 yarder a free kick? Though it counts for field goal points, the rules are slightly different. And yes, I think that one did build confidence. The NFL record is like 63 yards, and that kick showed Crosby he definitely has one of the all time strongest legs. I reject your conclusion that attempting the 69 yarder was something M3 should be shot for. Other game management is available, but not that.

[retailguy]

then that wasn't the kick I was thinking of. Earlier this year McCarthy sent him out on a ridiculous kick. I had forgotten that the 69 yarder was the free kick and was last season... sorry for the confusion.

One of those misses this season was really long, and really not a high percentage kick. Memory is fuzzier than I thought, but maybe it was the second of two closely back to back kicks and he missed them both?

That, I think, is what I was thinking of and calling the 69 yarder.

[retailguy]

scrap my point. I think the game I was thinking of was the Cardinals preseason game. Since I was OK, with ridiculous kicks in the preseason, I don't have a point... I just remember thinking WTF? Why send him out there in a situation where he was likely to fail?

The thought stuck with me, but the memory faded.... apologies.

[Smidgeon]

then that wasn't the kick I was thinking of. Earlier this year McCarthy sent him out on a ridiculous kick. I had forgotten that the 69 yarder was the free kick and was last season... sorry for the confusion.

One of those misses this season was really long, and really not a high percentage kick. Memory is fuzzier than I thought, but maybe it was the second of two closely back to back kicks and he missed them both?

That, I think, is what I was thinking of and calling the 69 yarder.

Gotcha.

[The Leaper]

Crosby is almost automatic inside of 45 yards...which is tough to come by. He's struggled with the long ones this year, but those certainly aren't gimmes.

He might not become an elite kicker...but he will be a very solid starter for the next 12 years. Crosby is near the bottom of the list of concerns for this football team.

[SnakeLH2006]

Snake's Take:

Crosby is a pretty good NFL kicker...and better than most.
Crosby has been inconsistent with the long field goals McFatty wants him to do (and perhaps why some are down on him with his HUGE leg).
Crosby has been poor in clutch field goals.

Despite his deece stats as a kicker, McFatty has lost confidence lately with him in FG chances. That's fair, as Crosby is deece stats wise, but not clutch at all.

Our O (with ARod) is pretty damn good on 3rd down, but the NFL's worst (saw the stat last week) in going for it on 4th down.

Knowing that, I'd still kick it...but Snake isn't fat or an NFL head coach.

[Fritz]

I am all for the Packers drafting a punter if a good one is available. Like, fifth round good. Maybe fourth, even.

But not third, no.

Take a look at drafted punters and how they are doing. The last few drafts of punters have not been pretty.

There is no point in wasting a draft pick on a punter. I agree with Ted's methods, but it is going to take time. If there is a good one available as a UFA, by all means, otherwise, bring in a few for tryouts, keep the best one or two (plus the existing punter) through minicamps, settle on the best two for TC, cut the worst after the first week. And live with it. That was a huge blunder to replace Ryan the way he did. The way we challenged Kaps this year is the right way to do it. It might take a few years, but eventually you will get a good one this way.

What about the guy from U Cincy ? Kevin Huber .....I think was his name. Strong leg/lefty. I thought he was doing pretty well and tabbed him as a great pick for TTT well before the draft.

I think if we end up employing that same strategy in all probability we'll be stuck with a sub par one for a while. I'm all for the free agency but we might have to overpay to get one in Green Bay. Of course, as I've stated over and over again...with the cap as it is it's alright to overpay in free agency. You fail when you choose the wrong guy...not overpay.

This was exactly the punter I was going to mention. Huber is a rookie and rookie punters are notoriously streaky - but so is Kapinos. I think Huber is punting better than Kaps and has more upside.

I haven't researched the punters coming out this year, but if one is out there who is worth a pick, do it. We can afford one less Jamon Meredith type - even a Desmond Bishop type - in exchange for a punter who can develop. And of course you can also bring in FA's in the meantime.