Bye, Sepulveda...

According to the same article that said Kirby Wilson returned to the Steeler`s facilities the other day, and is expected to resume coaching duties this year, Sepulveda will not be back with the team.
Looks like we are in the market for a punter.
I think it`s a shame.
I wouldn`t say we wasted the high draft pick on him, because he did have a lot of potential, and played well when healthy.
Unfortunately, for him, and us, he does us no good, being hurt, constantly.
Best of luck to ya, Danny...

 

THIS REALLLLY SUCKS FOR ME!! I always thought that he was AWESOME when he was healthy. I liked him so much that I even thought about getting his jersey at one point. The thing I liked about him was that he didn't play like a punter. He played like a football player that could punt. He wasn't one of those punters that would just fall down and try and trip a guy up. He would knock a dude out if he had to.

 

I've supported him from the beginning. He was expensive in draft picks for a punter, but I believed (and still do) that it would have been worth it if he'd stayed healthy. Having a great punter for a long time is a blessing, and shouldn't be taken for granted. That's what the team tried to do, and I respect that.

In my grading project, Sepulveda is turning in remarkable numbers, although I'm not finished yet. I said this a lot in an earlier thread about him and I'll say it again: his kicks aren't just long and high, they allow no returns. Opponents only had 37 punt return yards against him in the whole season! Okay, he didn't play the whole season, but he had 25 punts. That's 1.48 return yards per punt. Kapinos, who I don't mind at all, allowed 6.12 return yards per punt. Yes, there are other factors at work like coverage, but if you watch the tape, the returners who catch Sep's balls (heehee) just don't have anywhere to go. They either have to fair catch it, have to let it bounce and be downed, or catch it and have no place to go. And when they do let it bounce or fair catch it, it's still 40-50+ yards downfield. That means that although lots of guys can kick it far, Sep could minimize the risk of a big return without sacrificing distance. For example, Shane Lechler, widely considered the best punter of the last decade and one of the best in history, averaged 5 yards longer than Sep in gross distance and almost 2 yards longer in net distance, but also allowed 7.6 return yards per punt (593 yards on 78 punts, compared to Sep's 37 yards on 28 punts) and 2 TDs. Again, I know there are other factors like coverage teams and who the returner is, but if you look at the tape, Sep's kicks leave returners surrounded by defenders. Many of Lechler's leave the returner all by himself and a big running start before the first wave arrives. Would you take 2 extra yards per punt? Or would you sacrifice 2 yards and take away the return man?

It might seem like a small thing, but minimizing risk of return (he's also a legitimate 11th defender, instead of the 10 1/2th defender that most punters are) is just one part of his game I think is getting overlooked. I think if not for his knees he would have been a great Steeler for a long time, and no one would question the price. I hope he stays healthy this time and has success somewhere.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst...tegory=PUNTING&conference=null&qualified=true

 

Unless some stud punter pops up the Steelers already HAVE their punter in Kapinos...they will bring in another leg to "compete" but its Kapinos job to loose.

Anyways I always liked Sep...a good guy and a good punter...but being a punter he cant keep getting hurt like this...or he will have to find another line of work. I wish him well!

 

i like both he and kapinos. good luck sep, but kap has earned the job.

 

We are fine with kapinos...he did a great job.What we need is a fg kicker.

 

I totally agree with you defva. I really think we've needed one since Jeff Reed.

 

I like Kap as the punter, we just need a trustworthy FG kicker.

 

I like Sep too. He's a tough guy (for a punter) and seems like a good dude. BUT...

...the fact of the matter is that Jeremy Kapinos actually out-performed him last pre-season and was, IMHO, unjustifiably cut from the team. To me, this is poetic justice.

 

I like Kapinos. If they keep giving Sep a chance they will lose reliable Kap.

 

I remember people making a big deal of this at the time. If I'm remembering right, Kapinos did have better averages, but he only had like two punts. That sample size is ridiculous. Imagine Gary Anderson competing in the preseason with some scrub camp body, and Gary goes 0 for 1 and the camp body goes 1 for 1. You cut Anderson because he was outperformed? It's not just about preseason. There are many factors to take into account. If you really want to compare, use the numbers from the year before:

.......... Punts ..... Gross ..... Net ..... Average return yards per punt

Sep ....... 56 ........ 45.5 ..... 39.1 ..... 3.5
Kap ....... 14 ........ 41.1 ..... 32.3 ..... 6.0

Also, as I detailed in my post at the top of the thread, Sep brought more than just numbers and tackling. Also, you take into account what happens depending on which one you take. With Sep, the only risk is that he'll get hurt. But he's a proven punter, on the top end of the league. With Kap, there aren't really injury concerns, but he's not nearly as proven and hasn't performed as well. Plus, if you do cut him and Sep gets hurt again (which is what happened), he'll probably be there for you to sign again like last year (which is what happened!). They took a chance on Sep, and it worked for half the year, and then their fallback plan was right in place. Sounds justifiable to me. And the way Sep was punting before he got hurt, I think it was definitely the right move.

 

sepulveda was a wasted pick. although he may have had a few big tackles in college on returns, the guy never transferred any of those to the nfl.

 

"Punter" and "injured often" should never be in the same sentence.

 

I don't think Sep was a wasted pick. I think if he was healthy he would have really helped our d with great field position.

 

He saved a number of touchdowns for us. I'd say that's just as good, unless you'd rather see him knock guys out than help us win games.

 

he did save a couple of td's. i don't think he was worth 2 picks, but the potential was there. one thing that was his stregnth was putting the ball inside the 20. kapinos has done pretty well at that also. it's also hard to look at punters net stats and compare, you just don't know how many were meant to be short and from where they were kicking. one thing i didn't care for from sep was the so called big leg. there were to many times he had the whole field to kick and came up with a 40 some yarder. of course out kicking your coverage can be a problem too, but i just think he failed on alot of those occasions. oh, well it's done now.

 

That's very true, but if you have a decent sample size and you're talking about the same team, I think it applies evenly to both. If you were comparing guys on different teams (say a team with lots of 3 and outs might have a punter with a higher gross) then it could get messed up.

 

I wouldn't say "earned". It depends on what the expectations of a punter were, I guess, but I've always seen Kapinos as a stop-gap. He does the job, but that's not to say we couldn't do better. In fact, we can do better, with Sepulveda - if only he could stay healthy.

 

Sepulveda is officially a bust in my book. He had so much potential upside that never really materialized and he never lived up to the hype and potential. When you consider the high draft pick and salary, it was a failed experiment. Oh well, it happens. I'm sure the Steelers can find a bargain out there and get the same or better level of performance from an undrafted dude out on the block.

 

well lets see:

2011 preseason:

punts, average, touchbacks, inside the 20, long, blocks
sep 9 49.8 1 4 63 0
kap 9 45.7 0 4 62 0

2011 reg. season

sep 25 46.1 5 8 66 1
kap 34 45 1 10 59 0


2010 reg. season

sep 56 45.5 8 16 62 0
kap 14 41.1 2 5 59 0

2009 reg. season

sep 72 42.7 4 29 60 0



i don't know if it's worth 2 draft picks. yes , i do think kap earned his spot. he's pretty good at pinning them inside the 20 and it's pretty equal in touchbacks. there's not a big difference in these guys. both are good punters.

 

I know we liked him because he was a Steeler-type tough guy, but I don't know how we can argue that he wasn't a bust for a 4th round pick. For the record, I am opposed to ever using a draft pick for a punter. Have someone take a trip to Australia and pick one up in the airport on your way out.

 

Although I think "bust" is harsh, I don't really argue it considering he spent almost half of almost every season on IR. But I do argue that the only reason he "busted" is his injuries. I think if he'd stayed healthy it would have proven to be a good pick. And I think you undervalue punters by quite a bit.

 

I admit I went a bit too far about punters. I also agree with you it was all about the injuries. I really liked the guy and hoped he was going to be with us for a long time. That being said, I still don't like using draft picks for punters.

 

I understand the sentiment, but I think they're like lawyers and dentists. You don't like them until you need one. Bouncing from crappy punter to crappy punter is a pain in the ass and can hurt the team. On the flip side, being from the Bay Area I see a whole lot of Shane Lechler and Andy Lee. It is a luxury, and very comfortable to have. They can give your team -- or take away from the other team, depending how you want to look at it -- 10, 20, 30 yards of field position every game. That's not as sexy or noticeable as a couple of sacks or penalties, but it makes the same difference. Lock that down for 10 years, and it's well worth a draft pick. Sep was as good a guy to take that chance on as any. Yeah he got hurt once in college, but you can't see this kind of thing coming. Half the guys around have serious injuries in college. Without thinking too much, I know there's Heath Miller, Cam Heyward... It's just a shame is all.

 

Well, I defended this pick on the old board, but at this point the truth is in. It didn't work and we used a draft pick on a kicker released. Ouch.