Broncos kicking game

[Hawgdriver]

so you'll want to know this:

the Broncos were ranked 31 out of 32 teams in kicker scoring efficiency last year. The difference was about 1 point a game between the Broncos and the top teams due to the kicker's lameness. I call it the "kicker lameness factor in losing games number of points metric". One point not sound like much, but that one point per game translates into 1-2 more wins a season when you consider it's usually 3pts here, 3pts there.

There are a lot of weaknesses to shore up on special teams, but to me that is the biggest.

the other special teams need improvement, but when one or two wins are so easy to buy, why don't we pony up for a top tier kicker?

[shank]

i still support prater, so long as we bring in some good competition and he wins the job. he's a talented guy and for all intents and purposes last year was his rookie season.

[hotcarl]

money i guess. i think they feel like they can develop prater who actually looked pretty good in the first half until he lost his confidence.

i think that they feel he is talented enough.

they are going to build a team out of football players and coach them into the role they need to fill. anyways bye.

~bort

[NameUsedBefore]

Poop. (http://www.nfl.com/players/jasonelam/gamelogs?id=ELA548409)

[DenBronx]

its cutlers fault.

[getlynched47]

so you'll want to know this:

the Broncos were ranked 31 out of 32 teams in kicker scoring efficiency last year. The difference was about 1 point a game between the Broncos and the top teams due to the kicker's lameness. I call it the "kicker lameness factor in losing games number of points metric". One point not sound like much, but that one point per game translates into 1-2 more wins a season when you consider it's usually 3pts here, 3pts there.

There are a lot of weaknesses to shore up on special teams, but to me that is the biggest.

the other special teams need improvement, but when one or two wins are so easy to buy, why don't we pony up for a top tier kicker?

The only issue was that Shanahan released K Hartley instead of letting him compete with Prater. Competition = higher level of play.

Prater has all the talent in the world, and his stats weren't very different from Jason Elam's first full season as a kicker.

This is not our biggest issue on special teams.

Our biggest special teams issue are the backup players who are supposed to block and serve on punt/kickoff coverage. That's not Prater's fault that those players arent blocking to allow punt/kickoff returns and how their coverage was bad.

[NameUsedBefore]

If I remember right, Praeter's never done an NFL season before and his leg was worn out in the ending weeks.

[Lonestar]

If I remember right, Praeter's never done an NFL season before and his leg was worn out in the ending weeks.

All though I'm not sure why considering we did not score all that much so PAT's and kickoffs after scoring should not have been a big deal.. :laugh:
Maybe is was the drama in the locker room?

[LoyalSoldier]

All though I'm not sure why considering we did not score all that much so PAT's and kickoffs after scoring should not have been a big deal.. :laugh:
Maybe is was the drama in the locker room?

It still takes a lot of energy to go through a season week after week. Practice, travel, and weather conditions all have their toll.

[Lonestar]

It still takes a lot of energy to go through a season week after week. Practice, travel, and weather conditions all have their toll.

I was JOSHing..

Yes I did hear about him wearing down more so that being a head case.. but he needs to be able to knock them in the EZ on KO every time not just at the beginning of the year.. especially at Mile high.. I could see it in PIT at 15 degrees in a snowstorm.. but at home he has to be able to stroke it into the deep EZ or near the seating on KO's or we find someone that does..

[getlynched47]

I was JOSHing..

Yes I did hear about him wearing down more so that being a head case.. but he needs to be able to knock them in the EZ on KO every time not just at the beginning of the year.. especially at Mile high.. I could see it in PIT at 15 degrees in a snowstorm.. but at home he has to be able to stroke it into the deep EZ or near the seating on KO's or we find someone that does..

Prater stopped taking his Flinstones vitamins, and that's why he wasn't able to knock it in the End Zone towards the end of the year.

[Lonestar]

Prater stopped taking his Flinstones vitamins, and that's why he wasn't able to knock it in the End Zone towards the end of the year.



hey when I stopped eating pebbles well lets jsut say the rest of my love life picked up..

[nevcraw]

Prater will be fine this year as long as the long snapper does his job..
Lonnie will be the most hated Bronco in history if he screws one snap up.. funny all that pressure on a guy who we should not even know his name..

[Superchop 7]

Nate Webster was coaching him on the mental aspects of the game.

Tuten was working with him on strength and conditioning.

[hotcarl]

hey when I stopped eating pebbles well lets jsut say the rest of my love life picked up..

hurrrr

[Hawgdriver]

This is not our biggest issue on special teams.

I think it's a big issue. I'm not sure if it's the biggest.

I am all about developing talent internally, so if that was Prater's learning curve, so be it.

It is a big issue. We left points on the field that would have helped win games.

This is how Prater ranked #31/32:

Average all NFL field goals made (80-something %)
Use that % to determine how many FGs each team would have made with a "league average" kicker.
The difference is the points left on the field had we had a league average kicker.

The most effective kicking team was NYG with Carney and Tynes. The least effective was the Redskins' Suisham. The top team was +10 points above the league average kicker, the bottom team was -12 pts.

If one position can make that much difference, to me it's a no-brainer that it's worth some money.

If a team's annual cap is $100,000,000, then each win must be worth about $8,000,000. Leaving 22 points out there hanging is about enough points to win a game. How much is a kicker worth? I don't know. It seems like an easy way to improve team scoring if you ask me, and worth the price.