Special teams looking special

[4and12to12and4]

I don't know if this has been addressed here or not, but one thing I noticed in the Seattle game was how much better we are on not gving up open lanes on kickoff returns. We seem to be much improved in this area. This actually started the last game of last season. We shut down Hester Big Time which shocked me. Maybe we were too hard on the coach, and the players are beginning to execute better. But is't nice to see teams starting at or inside the 20 yard line.

By the way, prediction, Rayner is gone. Crosby is our guy. Guaranteed. I just hope we can get a decent pick (like 3rd round) for him. He's a decent kicker, but Crosby obviously has a stronger leg, and will win the job.

Lastly, Jon Ryan has quietly had a nice preseason, and his hangtime is much improved. I like his new two step procedure. He could turn into a stud. I just hope he learns to pin teams inside the ten on a short field. That is so important.

[ny10804]

3rd rounder for a kicker? You'd have better luck getting a 5th for a donut.


I do really like Crosby and Ryan though.

[HarveyWallbangers]

3rd rounder for Rayner? WTF!

[Joemailman]

To get much for Rayner, there would have to be competition for him, in terms of more than one team wanting him. Otherwise, a team looking for a kicker will just wait for the Packers to release one.

[Rastak]

3rd rounder for Rayner? WTF!

Yea, I'm guessing nothing......LOL


Nice position to be in though, having two kickers to choose from, usually one eliminates themselves......

[Brohm]

I'm going with a B-C, not that they are average all around, but definate strengths and weaknesses.

The kicking game is in good hands. The kick-offs are picking up. The coverage teams I am guessing will sort themselves as the roster gets trimmed.

[Scott Campbell]

Re: Special teams looking special

I just hope we can get a decent pick (like 3rd round) for him.

We picked him up for a ham sandwich and a bag of chips. Don't be so greedy.

[Brohm]

What I would be happy with and think is the most we could get is a conditional 7th if the guy pans out on another team (on the team for X amount of games, like Moreley to the Jets). Maybe more if someone's kicker breaks his leg or something

[HarveyWallbangers]

I can see us getting a late pick for Rayner. He'll be a good kicker. Or maybe a team that needs a PK has a TE they can spare.

[Joemailman]

If Miree doesn't get back soon, TT might be looking for a FB more than a TE.

[Rastak]

I can see us getting a late pick for Rayner. He'll be a good kicker. Or maybe a team that needs a PK has a TE they can spare.

They know for a fact Green Bay won't keep both so why not wait until he's cut? I know you can avoid competing with other teams by trading but I would think the number of teams needing a kicker is pretty low so I'd take my chances after he's cut were I a GM.

[superfan]

Kickers create a surplus
But Packers could struggle finding a trade partner
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 19, 2007

Green Bay - Sometime in the next two weeks, the Green Bay Packers are going to decide to keep either Dave Rayner or Mason Crosby as their kicker.

In most years, the Packers would be in a position to parlay their good fortune of having two young, impressive kickers into more than just a reliable leg. They would have at least a couple of teams interested in trading for the loser of the battle.

But this year, most National Football League teams appear settled with their kicking games, and if there is a team interested in the loser of the Packers' competition, it's questionable whether it would spend a draft pick in a trade instead of just waiting for someone to get cut.

"It kind of depends," general manager Ted Thompson said of the market that might be available for a trade. "Quite frankly, we have ongoing charts and workups of every team and where we think they might be looking and where we think they might be strong.

"But things change. You might think a team that is playing tonight is all set with a young kicker and the kid goes out and misses a bunch and then all of a sudden they're looking. Or you're one attempted tackle on a kickoff away from having somebody injured. So you never know."

There aren't any teams that can be categorized as desperate for a kicker at this stage of training camp. Only three teams - Green Bay, Kansas City and Dallas - have rookies who are in serious contention for a starting job and few others have a young kicker who is going to win the job.

By a conservative count, 22 teams are guaranteed to go into the season with their No. 1 kicker, barring injury.

Of the teams that would probably consider an upgrade, Atlanta, Kansas City, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Washington and the New York Giants are the most likely to be keeping a watch on the Packers' competition. Atlanta and Kansas City are probably the most likely to consider a trade, although neither team has a serious problem at the position.

The Falcons are going with Billy Cundiff, who lost out to Rayner in Packers training camp last year, and the Chiefs are going with rookie Justin Medlock, a fifth-round pick who has made two of four field-goal attempts this summer.

A few teams would definitely consider Rayner as a kickoff man if he were the one to lose out, but it's hard to imagine anyone making a trade to fill that need. What's more, the loser of the Rayner-Crosby battle won't be the only kicker available come cutdown time.

The St. Louis Rams have been impressed with Kevin Lowell, who has hit all four of his field-goal attempts and averaged 62.8 yards on his kickoffs. Lowell won't beat out veteran Jeff Wilkins and will be on the street sometime in the next two weeks.

Thompson said experience told him not to rule out the possibility that the Packers could find a trading partner once they decide which kicker they're going to keep. He said it was likely a team or two are following the Packers' kicking situation just in case.

"It varies," Thompson said. "I certainly think it's in the realm of possibility that someone might be shopping. At the same time, you just never know how it's going to work out."

Asked if another NFL team had told Thompson to keep it in mind once it makes a decision on its kicker, the Packers general manager was coy.

"Maybe," Thompson said.

Maybe?

"Maybe."

And that means?

"I can't tell you."

At this point, no one in the organization will say whether one of the kickers has an edge, but based purely on practice and game numbers, Crosby, a sixth-round pick, has been slightly better. He passed one significant test Saturday night against Seattle when he kicked in rainy conditions, nailing a 37-yard field goal and three extra points.

Still, Rayner has made better than 80% of his field-goal attempts thus far, and his kickoffs have been longer.

This week will be yet another case of head-to-head competition for the two young kickers, with the third exhibition against Jacksonville scheduled for Thursday.

Last year, the Packers cut Cundiff midway through camp so Rayner could have the luxury of handling all the kicks in preparation for the start of the season. It won't be that way this year because the race is too tight to call at this point.

Thompson said he was not even thinking about trade possibilities at this point.

"We're still in the competition thing so we're just sitting back and watching," he said. "We don't keep (running) score, we just go through the process and we'll see how it comes out. Both of them are doing fine."

[Zool]

I can see us getting a late pick for Rayner. He'll be a good kicker. Or maybe a team that needs a PK has a TE they can spare.

They know for a fact Green Bay won't keep both so why not wait until he's cut? I know you can avoid competing with other teams by trading but I would think the number of teams needing a kicker is pretty low so I'd take my chances after he's cut were I a GM.

If you can get a kicker with a strong leg and give up a backup TE or FB, I think most GM's would make that deal. I doubt either kicker would fetch more than a 7th though. Kickers are generally not very highly regarded, yet the have a hand/foot in the outcome of so many games.

[Merlin]

Re: Special teams looking special

By the way, prediction, Rayner is gone. Crosby is our guy. Guaranteed.

A guaranteed prediction? I love how people jump all over the new guys and say how they are so much better and then make bold predictions. To the best of anyone's knowledge, these guys are tied. So far, I haven't seen anything out of Crosby that we haven't seen out of Rayner. What do we do next year when your guaranteed prediction happens and we have yet another rookie kicking for us and he chokes down the stretch in the weather? Bring in someone else to battle all over again? What happens if we keep Rayner and he doesn't choke? It isn't my decision to make and I am glad I don't have to make it.

These are the same idiotic statements that were being said about Barnett being moved to the outside and Hodge taking his place last year. Hodge won't even make the roster this year. Everyone loves the new guy but no one clears their head long enough to think that we may just be fine with who we have.

[oregonpackfan]

Re: Special teams looking special

By the way, prediction, Rayner is gone. Crosby is our guy. Guaranteed.


These are the same idiotic statements that were being said about Barnett being moved to the outside and Hodge taking his place last year. Hodge won't even make the roster this year. Everyone loves the new guy but no one clears their head long enough to think that we may just be fine with who we have.

Excellent statement, Merlin! I couldn't agree with you more.