Most ignored topic- THE PUNTER

Can't believe nobody wanted this guy fired! First, he literally was averaging 32 yards a punt until he KILLED the punt late in the game that completely flipped filed position for the Lions. I just don't get it? Does he need contacts or a quick LASIK surgery to see what he is holding/kicking? What's worse is he is shanking punts all day, and then hits a 70 yarder, so my question is WHY, as in why can't he do that more often when needed? It is truly a position that I have a hard time believing we can't fill accurately. Catch ball, hold ball, kick ball, and go sit down.....

 

Is Butler still out there? He had a decent pre-season and beat out Moorman. I don't understand why we haven't brought him back.

 

You are correct. The inconsistency at this position and from one punt to the next has been a nasty issue for years - especially amidst the early exit of the fragile Daniel Sepulveda over the past few years. And yes - ironically the play of the game last Sunday arguably could have been McBriar's 85 yd in-the-air punt. A few years ago one of Sepulveda's replacements had a knack for 25 yd punts that inadvertently hit the backs of retreating opposite players which we somehow managed to recover a few times - I dubbed these as "on-side punts" since we were able to keep our offense on the field after a punt. Is there another Colquitt kid out there for the taking?

 

What do you expect from the 3rd candidate? They shouldn't have gotten rid of Butler in the first place

 

Butler is still available. Why they didn't just reach out and grab him, I don't know.

I think for me personally, I gave him a pass for that 70 yarder that changed the field position and set the tone for the second half. I've held to the belief that Baltimore managed to eek out their wins with that punter they had.

 

I'm sure Sepulveda is available and i'm sure healed by now!

 

Take your pick ... Butler, Sepulveda, Kapinos, and Mesko are all available.

 

bobby walden.

 

Not alot to pick from. I wouldn't waste a pick in the draft for one though. Maybe an undrafted free agent. But it's not alot out there for the taking.

I say bring in Butler for a look. He's younger and trainable.

 

I say keep the one we have, because the offense is now in SUPERSCORE mode and we do not punt anymore.

 

There has to be something about Butler that the coaches just don't like. Maybe it was his attitude, I don't know. But when the Mesko expiriment failed and instead of going out and bring back the guy that had punted here before and punted decently well this preseason we went out and got McBriar...that seems to indicate we have absolutely no interest in Butler. For whatever reason that may be...

 

Chris Gardocki

 

I was actually wondering if maybe in the next draft we will go after another Sepulveda type guy. I think it's really a shame that he couldn't stay healthy because I really liked him. We definitely need a mainstay at punter though.

 

At least in Chicago, the wind made a huge difference. At times, the wind was going toward both goalposts at the same time. How bad did the weather get during the Steelers game? I could imagine 30 and 70 yarders in the same game, depending on which direction he was facing.

 

this one we have now seems the worst between all this groups , but maybe he needed to shake off the rust , maybe the 70 yarder was a turning point ?

 

I'd take any of our previous punters. This McBriar is washed up. I think that 70 yard punt was probably a combination of the returner pushing up the field due to his previous short kicks, a big gust of wind, and pure chance.

 

Most of the shanks/crap punts were into the wind...the 70 yarder was with the wind at his back....so he had some help.

 

My hope is the 70 yarder is more the norm than the 20 yard shanks he has been kicking. He had some good years in Dallas. But it is weird how quickly they have moved on from Butler.

 

Well, he is 74 years old now though.

Seriously though- no doubt we have punting problems now. But I felt that the 70 yard punt really changed that game around.

And as for Bobby Walden- who really looked 74 years old back when he played- his punting miscues led directly to 3 of the only 13 total TDs the Steelers allowed in the playoffs of 1974, 1975, and 1976. And as well, we won a Super Bowl with Mitch Berger punting too. So, these things can be overcome.

 

He absolutely did! I always thought Walden and Gerela were the ugliest punter/kicker tandem in the league. And it wasn't just Walden who had miscues. It seemed that every time Gerela kicked there was the potential for a misadventure.

 

Whatever is wrong, Tomlin needs to let him know he is on the shortest leash they have.
I do agree he gave us a great punt when we needed it last week.

 

If you ask Del, drafting a punter is stupid because their effect on winning football is small.

Our knew punter had a very strong leg but with his drop foot issue he lost some of it along with being rusty.


I say let him finish the year, as long as he doesn't get worse, and see if he improves. Shanks are due to a lack of practice. If hhe improves and his leg returns to 100% he may be a good punter for us.


We definitely need to bring in a punter in camp whether he's UDFA or a 7th rd pick.


Cajun-