Mason Crosby to challenge Dave Rayner.

[woodbuck27]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/teamReport?categoryId=67046&type=InsideSlant

Team Report: Crosby to challenge Rayner.

Baseball has the big boppers. The lead-up to the 2007 football season for the Packers will feature the sturdy strikers.

Out of its 11 picks in the recent draft, the club might have reaped its best value with the last of three selections in the sixth round.

Colorado's Mason Crosby was generally rated as the best kicker coming out of college but tumbled from a possible first-day choice to being the third kicker taken.

The Packers had last used a draft pick on a kicker in 1997, when they chose Brett Conway in the third round. Although they were pleased with Dave Rayner's first year of handling all place-kicking duties as a pro, team officials expect Crosby to challenge the incumbent for the job.

"It's all about competition," special teams coordinator Mike Stock said.

Rayner and Crosby are in the same mold. They're able to boom away on kickoffs and field goals with powerful right legs, though they're erratic with accuracy.

What's more, both were taken in the sixth round -- Rayner going to the Colts in 2005, when he served as their kickoff specialist before being released when Adam Vinatieri was signed last year.

Crosby probably has better range than Rayner does, having benefited from kicking in the thin air at Colorado. He connected from 71 yards in warm-ups before a game but also nailed a 58-yarder in a game at Miami, the longest at sea level in NCAA Division I-A history without using a kicking tee.

"In a game, I feel confident I can make one from 65," Crosby said.

As the first step toward outperforming Rayner in the coming months, Crosby will have to regain his confidence.

He made only 19 of 28 field-goal tries last year, including 2-for-9 accuracy from 50-plus yards. Crosby subsequently struggled in pre-draft auditions for scouts.

Rayner, meanwhile, will have to win back the trust of the Green Bay coaching staff. He tailed off the second half of last season, making just 14 of 20 field-goal attempts. Five of the six misses in those last eight games were from 40 yards and closer.

"I thought he could have done a little bit better," Stock said of Rayner's field-goal percentage of 74.3, which was 26th in the league.

[Packnut]

Rayner

At least Thompson realizes Rayner was another mistake and is trying to fix it. Being ranked 26th ain't gonna get it done........

[Cheesehead4]

Crosby will absolutely win the job... and be a top 10 kicker in the NFL immediately. He was unequivocably the best collegiate kicker of the past five years, including Gostkowski, et al.

[MJZiggy]

Well, that's a confident opinion. Welcome to the forum Cheesehead4. What makes you so sure if his percentages were off last season?

[Cheesehead4]

Watching Colorodo's pathetic showing last season, it might be easy for a young stud kicker to lose a little focus when playing for a program that is imploding from within and not providing him an opportunity to showcase his abilities.

While not a confidence-inspiring character trait at first glance, it might show a little bit about his willingness to compete and play for a winner. We'll see, but I'd rate ability, past performance and that cannon for a leg above a year in a terrible playing situation.

[swede]

Welcome aboard Cheesehead. Good posts. Strong opinion with some facts to back it up.

Hmmmm. A new poster with a little inside information and an unusually strong tilt toward the talent and potential of Mason Crosby.

Mason? This isn't you, is it?



I didn't think Rayner was a disaster last year, so I welcome competition between the two without really rooting for one over the other. May the best kicker win!

[woodbuck27]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=601585

Rocky Mountain high??

Until he shows he can play in the NFL, sixth-round kicker Mason Crosby is going to have to deal with questions about how much he benefited from the high altitude at Colorado.

Everyone agrees Crosby, who connected on 12 field goals of 50 yards or longer in college, has a strong leg. But he no longer will be regularly kicking field goals in the thin air of Boulder, where the ball carries better.

"Last year we tried a lot away from Colorado," Crosby said.

"My junior year, four out of my five over 50 were away from Colorado. I only had one of 56 at CU. I probably had about half of my makes over 50-plus away from Colorado."

Crosby, who will be battling veteran Dave Rayner for a roster spot, said the bottom line is that his leg strength has never been questioned and won't be a factor away from the high altitude.

"I don't think the thin air made me kick long kicks," Crosby said.

"You still have to make it; you have to put it through the uprights. Some guy who can only kick a 30-yard field goal at sea level doesn't go up to Colorado and kick 60-yarders.

"I don't think the altitude did a whole lot."