Mason Crosby Signs New Deal

[pbmax]

Just quote more

However, he was inconsistent, especially late in the season. In the playoff loss at Arizona, Masthay posted a net average of just 32.8 yards.

In three preseason games this year, Masthay averaged 42.8 yards (31.6 net) on nine punts.

Was it Tim or coverage? Tune in later this week when Patler fills in the blanks.

[texaspackerbacker]

Allow me to rephrase, since you clearly ain't as smart as Tex:

According to Patler, Masthay was a consistent punter. Why the fuck would Todd cut a consistent punter for an unproven commodity (Schum) just to save 675 K? Either Todd was incompetent, or Masthay was inconsistent. More likely, both - Todd once cut Ryan for Frost, after all; Masthay was indeed inconsistent.

Aaron Jones is the mother of inconsistency. Rarely ever produce magnificent games back to back. Scores 4 TDs in a game one week; rushes for 30 yards and poops out the rock the next. Aaron, eloquent bro of Moses one week; Erin, lumpenproletarian of Baltimore the next.

hahahahaha You got a way with words - you should be a damn songwriter or something.

Not that this thread is about Aaron Jones, but I'm pretty satisfied with his consistency. I prefer to blame the O Line for his ups and downs, especially the downs.

I'm kinda on the fence about Crosby. I know I've talked against re-signing him for significant money and in favor of just going with Mr. X, given the fact that 25 or 30 Mr. X's graduate from major colleges alone every year, a lot of them very decent kickers. The way I see it, Crosby rose to the level of borderline good last season after a really shaky previous year. For the money he's gonna be paid, he damn well better not revert. In fact, even at the age he is, he better take his game up a notch or two. That's not unheard of for old kickers.

Bottom line, now that we've got him back, I'm not gonna complain unless or until he makes complaining obvious.

[Zool]

If Demovsky said Masthay was inconsistent, then Masthay was inconsistent.

Got it.

[call_me_ishmael]

In 2017, the Packers thought they could save money and perhaps even do better than the reliable, consistent but not dominating Tim Masthay at punter. Since then, Vogel and Scott have given them some higher highs, but also much lower lows than Masthay did, including some real stinkers at critical times. Scott needs to prove himself in 2020.

To this day, I have no idea why they moved on from Masthay. I always thought he was a pretty darn good punter.

[run pMc]

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2020/02/22/green-bay-packers-retain-stability-kicking-game-re-signing-mason-crosby/4844438002/

Crosby’s wife, Molly, had surgery in the summer to treat a tumor and blood clot and his sister-in-law, Brittany, died from ovarian cancer Nov. 29 at age 30.
Crosby maintained his focus and had one of the best seasons of his career, connecting on 22 of 24 field-goal attempts (91.7%), which ranked fifth in the NFL. It was the highest field goal percentage for a Packers kicker since Ryan Longwell ranked No. 4 in 2003.
Not only did he excel kicking field goals, he set a career-high with a touchback percentage of 62.0%.

He was named a first alternate for the Pro Bowl

It's funny to me how people think he's easily replaced when it would be considered crazy to let a top 5 player any other position walk in FA, especially when you could afford him and you have no obvious replacement on the roster. He hit several clutch kicks last year (game winners vs. DET) and contending teams must have a good kicker.

[call_me_ishmael]

^ Kickers are one of the few positions where the stats in isolation largely speak for themselves. I think you can get 90% of the production for 20% of the price. BUT you might miss a clutch kick that changes your season. It's a gamble for sure.

[Cheesehead Craig]

^ Kickers are one of the few positions where the stats in isolation largely speak for themselves. I think you can get 90% of the production for 20% of the price. BUT you might miss a clutch kick that changes your season. It's a gamble for sure.

You really can't. Unless you get a Dan Bailey who was in a "prove it" contract year. But then you're taking a chance on someone who had some issues. But that was a one year deal and now the Vikes are going to pay for him if they want to keep him. Or you're banking on a rookie. In a win now NFL, kicking could cost a HC his job.

[call_me_ishmael]

You really can't. Unless you get a Dan Bailey who was in a "prove it" contract year. But then you're taking a chance on someone who had some issues. But that was a one year deal and now the Vikes are going to pay for him if they want to keep him. Or you're banking on a rookie. In a win now NFL, kicking could cost a HC his job.

The stats don't lie. I did a break down in a different thread where something like 28 of the kickers made >= 80% and maybe like 7 made >= 90% IIRC. Rookie kickers would do just fine in the vast majority of cases but where it gets a little iffy is if the game is on the line and you REALLY need the kick. I didn't research specific scenarios to see how they bare out in game winning attempts, etc so I can't speak to that beyond anecdotal which is why I consider it a risk.

The market is set by supply and demand so if every team starting to try my "use a rookie contract kicker" approach it'd be harder to find a good one, that is a caveat for sure. But if you're the only team zigging when other teams are zagging, I think you could get a bargain at the kicker spot.

[Joemailman]

One thing the stats won't show is that Crosby probably kicks in more bad weather games than any kicker in the NFL. If you're kicking for the Vikings or Lions you're kicking in domes at least 9 games. In Green Bay the bad weather starts in November and there's usually a late season game in Chicago.

The other thing the stats won't show is that having a kicker who doesn't inspire confidence can force the head coach into decisions he doesn't want. An unreliable kicker in certain situations can force a coach to punt or go for it on 4th and long rather than kicking the field goal.

[call_me_ishmael]

Absolutely Joe. I 100% agree and I didn't factor that in at all. The stats don't tell the whole story so it is for sure a risk. The more I think about it, given where this team wants to be, I guess I'd be less comfortable with it.

[run pMc]

The stats don't lie. I did a break down in a different thread where something like 28 of the kickers made >= 80% and maybe like 7 made >= 90% IIRC. Rookie kickers would do just fine in the vast majority of cases but where it gets a little iffy is if the game is on the line and you REALLY need the kick. I didn't research specific scenarios to see how they bare out in game winning attempts, etc so I can't speak to that beyond anecdotal which is why I consider it a risk.

The market is set by supply and demand so if every team starting to try my "use a rookie contract kicker" approach it'd be harder to find a good one, that is a caveat for sure. But if you're the only team zigging when other teams are zagging, I think you could get a bargain at the kicker spot.

I understand what you're saying, but I think in practice it hasn't worked out well for many teams -- Minnesota, Chicago, Tampa, Dallas, Jets... lots of teams have cycled thru kickers and finding a reliable, consistent one is harder than it seems. I think if it were that simple, teams would be doing it. It's not like they don't pinch pennies on ST by dumping veteran depth for young players now. Many teams bring in rookie kickers to push the vet guy (and give his leg some rest), and most of the time the vet wins.

Consider: Vikings gave up a R5 midseason for Kaare Vedvik and then cut him, with Dan Bailey on the roster (who replaced Daniel Carlson, who replaced Kai Forbath, who replaced Blair Walsh in successive seasons).
Chicago was a laughingstock with their kicking derby last year, and Eddy Piniero is not exactly trustworthy (3-7 from 40-49, 2-2 from 50, Nagy didn't give him a lot of long kicks).

There are definitely rookie kickers with stronger legs than Crosby has, but given his experience kicking in cold-weather stadiums like GB, CHI, PHI, NY he's worth the pricetag. Dean Lowry makes more money.

[Cheesehead Craig]

The stats don't lie. I did a break down in a different thread where something like 28 of the kickers made >= 80% and maybe like 7 made >= 90% IIRC. Rookie kickers would do just fine in the vast majority of cases but where it gets a little iffy is if the game is on the line and you REALLY need the kick. I didn't research specific scenarios to see how they bare out in game winning attempts, etc so I can't speak to that beyond anecdotal which is why I consider it a risk.

The market is set by supply and demand so if every team starting to try my "use a rookie contract kicker" approach it'd be harder to find a good one, that is a caveat for sure. But if you're the only team zigging when other teams are zagging, I think you could get a bargain at the kicker spot.

You pretty much get what you pay for. You wanna pay bargain basement dollars (550- 600k), you get kickers who make about 75% of their FGs. You also get the revolving door that was TN where they went through 5 kickers last year, and they lost 3 games directly due to their kicking woes. Top kickers make over 85% of their kicks and cost on average 3M/yr.

[Bretsky]

BOTTOM LINE IMO

If you are a shit team, I'd go bargain basement on the kicker and look on the cheaps in hopes of finding a future gem
BUT
If you are a legit contender, you can NOT let your guy kick your opportunity to the shitter when am important game on the line. We need the real deal. We have that so no need to mess around.

[Cheesehead Craig]

BOTTOM LINE IMO

If you are a shit team, I'd go bargain basement on the kicker and look on the cheaps in hopes of finding a future gem
BUT
If you are a legit contender, you can NOT let your guy kick your opportunity to the shitter when am important game on the line. We need the real deal. We have that so no need to mess around.

Bingo

[Joemailman]

BOTTOM LINE IMO

If you are a shit team, I'd go bargain basement on the kicker and look on the cheaps in hopes of finding a future gem
BUT
If you are a legit contender, you can NOT let your guy kick your opportunity to the shitter when am important game on the line. We need the real deal. We have that so no need to mess around.

Sort of like 2007, when the Packers, coming off 2 down seasons, went with a rookie kicker named Mason Crosby?