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This year I've been much more worried about the punter leaving, than I am worried about Fick leaving. From what I understand about the rules, he would be draft eligible?

(11-19-2018 09:29 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  

(11-19-2018 08:29 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(11-19-2018 06:52 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  Smith has trouble making it from the right hash, even in practice. I'm surprised no one has brought this up. He'll consistently go 1-5/2-5 from the right hash during half time. The problem being is the Ridder can basically only through to the right, so they live on the right hash.

Kicking leg has is the most difficult for any kicker. It's much easier to slice a ball than cut a ball.

All in all, in a vacuum he isn't a bad kicker from a mechanics standpoint (I really can't see any fault in most of his kicks like I could with Gantz and Miliano), but he seems to have a HUGE issue with getting previous kicks out of his head. If you look back at all of his kicks after misses, they are significant over-corrects...which shows just how much he is "thinking" out there, something no one can really do and be a successful kicker.

You're the expert. I sit in the Baircat lair right behind the field goal posts. On the right hash he'll kick the first 2 typically wide right, one way wide left, one will find the mark, and then wide right again.

Everything else he pretty much nails consistently.

I think we're saying the same thing. When I said "kicking leg" I'm referring to the right hash for right footed kickers and left hash for left footed kickers. It's extremely hard to move a ball across your body as it requires you to either alter your set-up and approach OR over-rotate in your pendulum, which tends to cause significant hook issues.

(11-20-2018 01:15 PM)Z-Fly Wrote:  This year I've been much more worried about the punter leaving, than I am worried about Fick leaving. From what I understand about the rules, he would be draft eligible?

He was just named as a finalist for the Ray Guy, one of three remaining, along with Braden Mann and Mitch Wishnowski (another Aussie) from Texas A&M and Utah respectively.

Looking at the statistics, here's how they rank:

Punts - Smith (52), Wishnowski (44), Mann (42)
Raw Yardage - Smith (2427), Wishnowski (2138), Mann (2020)
Punt Average - Mann (50.9), Smith (46.7), Wishnowski (45.9)
Net Yardage - Smith (44.1), Mann (44.0), Wishnowski (39.9)
Touchbacks - Smith (1), Wishnowski (4), Mann (9)
Touchback Rate - Smith (1.7%), Wishnowski (9.1%), Mann (21.4%)
Punts Inside 20 - Smith (22), Wishnowski (18), Mann (17)
Return Yards Allowed - Wishnowski (67), Mann (112), Smith (115)
Average Return - Smith (5.22), Wishnowski (6.09), Mann (7)
Unreturned Punts - Wishnowski (33), Smith (30), Mann (26)
Blocked Punts - Smith and Mann (0), Wishnowski (3)

So basically, Smith is leading in all major punting categories outside of Average yardage and Total return yards allowed.

To me, the choice is pretty clear...but who knows what'll play out.

When was the last time a punter declared early?

I'm more concerned about losing 75% of our defensive line and up to 80% of our offensive line.

(11-20-2018 02:07 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  When was the last time a punter declared early?

I'm more concerned about losing 75% of our defensive line and up to 80% of our offensive line.

Yeah...I don't think there's even a chance he leaves until after he has graduated, that's kind of a weird place to stand.

The only reason I thought that was because he's already in his late 20's. I assumed he came here to become a pro and not go to class. That's the reason I'm asking.

I wasn't worried about the O/D-line, because they are leaving regardless if they want to or not. There is no choice in that. It's happening.