Skins Sign K Neil Rackers

[colkurtz]

The Redskins dumped Akers who then went on to have an outstanding career with the Eagles. He wasn't afraid to tackle people either.

I think Gano and Rackers should have a fair competition, simply because Gano had low numbers (influenced by FIVE blocked kicks). Being a kicker is 80% mental. Let's see who wins this summer.

[flave1969]

Rackers for the record was 32-38 last year.

10 from 11 30-39 Yards
4 from 8 40-49 Yards
4 from 5 50 plus Yards

Gano by Comparison

31-41 (He had 5 blocks - not all his fault)

5-9 30-39 Yards
8-11 40-49 Yards
4-6 50 plus

[colkurtz]

Originally Posted by flave1969

Rackers for the record was 32-38 last year.

10 from 11 30-39 Yards
4 from 8 40-49 Yards
4 from 5 50 plus Yards

Gano by Comparison

31-41 (He had 5 blocks - not all his fault)

5-9 30-39 Yards
8-11 40-49 Yards
4-6 50 plus

84% for Raker and 86% for Gano, IF we take out the blocked kicks. Should be a good competition.

[Gravy]

I'm torn...I know this kid well (Gano). But I like competition. We need the best kicker going into the season...whoever that may be...
We also need a better blocking o-line during these FG attempts

[cal_junior]

Originally Posted by flave1969

Rackers for the record was 32-38 last year.

10 from 11 30-39 Yards
4 from 8 40-49 Yards
4 from 5 50 plus Yards

Gano by Comparison

31-41 (He had 5 blocks - not all his fault)

5-9 30-39 Yards
8-11 40-49 Yards
4-6 50 plus

Anybody know what the two were in terms of touchbacks and their longest few makes of the year?

[Keino]

I don't get the notion of discounting the blocks to come up with Gano's FG %. If a receiver deflects a ball he should have otherwise caught and it is picked off, that is still an INT counted against the QB. If a QB throws a Hail Mary at the end of the half and it is picked-off, that is still counted as an INT. The nature of team sports is that we depend on others for our performance and Kickers are no different.

Gano does bear some blame for a few of his blocks. As I recall, there were a few that were blocked because the trajectory of the ball was low and defenders pushing up the middle were able to get their hands on the ball, despite not having better than average penetration. I seem to remember Shanny mentioning this at a post-game or next day presser.

I am all for competition. If he beats out Rackers, we know he will have earned it.

[culpeper]

Originally Posted by Keino

I don't get the notion of discounting the blocks to come up with Gano's FG %. If a receiver deflects a ball he should have otherwise caught and it is picked off, that is still an INT counted against the QB. If a QB throws a Hail Mary at the end of the half and it is picked-off, that is still counted as an INT. The nature of team sports is that we depend on others for our performance and Kickers are no different.

Gano does bear some blame for a few of his blocks. As I recall, there were a few that were blocked because the trajectory of the ball was low and defenders pushing up the middle were able to get their hands on the ball, despite not having better than average penetration. I seem to remember Shanny mentioning this at a post-game or next day presser.

I am all for competition. If he beats out Rackers, we know he will have earned it.

Good post

Gano getting blocked goes back past last year too. Something is wrong there even if each one wasnt his fault. One of the things we CAN count on Shanny doing is bringing in competition.

[smave]

Originally Posted by Keino

I don't get the notion of discounting the blocks to come up with Gano's FG %. If a receiver deflects a ball he should have otherwise caught and it is picked off, that is still an INT counted against the QB. If a QB throws a Hail Mary at the end of the half and it is picked-off, that is still counted as an INT. The nature of team sports is that we depend on others for our performance and Kickers are no different.

Gano does bear some blame for a few of his blocks. As I recall, there were a few that were blocked because the trajectory of the ball was low and defenders pushing up the middle were able to get their hands on the ball, despite not having better than average penetration. I seem to remember Shanny mentioning this at a post-game or next day presser.

I am all for competition. If he beats out Rackers, we know he will have earned it.

Totally agree.

Although, I believe 2-3 of the blocks were just because of complete whiffs of blocking up the middle. There were a few that were just kicked way too low.

Competition is always good. Rackers is a high-quality veteran kicker. Was on top of the league at one point in his career with the Cards. It can only help by bringing him in.

[Skins7ny]

Originally Posted by Emmanouel8

If Rackers can stay healthy he is a major upgrade. Every kick Gano takes the heart skips a beat. Its a medical fact.

That is the big question. Not his fault, but Rackers seems to get majorly hurt way more than most kickers. Getting a specialist hurt can really mess up your team since there is no backup on the roster. Rackers is a very good kicker when he is healthy, but he appears to be somewhat snakebitten health-wise.

Originally Posted by GloryHog

Competition is always good, but I'd think long and hard before cutting Gano. Washington has a history of cutting loose young kickers right before they embark on long successful careers.

I can't say for certain if moving on from Gano is a good idea, but he would have to be thoroughly beaten out in training camp and the pre-season for me to give that much thought.

It appears that Shanahan/Danny Smith made a conscious decision 2 years ago to develop Gano as a young kicker and put up with his growing pains. He is a very talented kid with a strong leg. It would seem silly to cut ties with him now just when our patience with him should be paying off and our offense should be improving with RGIII. However, he had a poor year last year and the competition should be good for him.

I would expect that we will keep Gano if the competition is close to even, and try to trade Rackers for a low-round 2013 draft choice at the end of training camp if any teams are unsatisifed with their kicking situation or any camp injuries occur.

Competition will make Gano better, and if it doesn't then we probably don't want him kicking for us anyway. But it would not surprise me to see him blossom somewhere else if we cut him.

[cal_junior]

Originally Posted by Keino

Gano does bear some blame for a few of his blocks. As I recall, there were a few that were blocked because the trajectory of the ball was low and defenders pushing up the middle were able to get their hands on the ball, despite not having better than average penetration. I seem to remember Shanny mentioning this at a post-game or next day presser.

Blocked kicks are a such a tough thing because nobody really knows for sure. A kick that was supposed to travel 50-60 yards only goes about 5 feet, so we kind of have to take the word of the kicker and the coaches who watched from the sidelines.

Gano appeals to me only because of his leg strength and age, but if Rackers is clearly the better guy in camp I'm fine with parting ways.

[BIGREDSKINSFAN1963]

I'm sure this is what will happen.

Unless his back is a lot worse than anybody is letting on.

[cal_junior]

Originally Posted by BIGREDSKINSFAN1963

Unless his back is a lot worse than anybody is letting on.

Good point. It's entirely possible this has more to do with Gano's health than any other factor.

[Red Bear]

Originally Posted by colkurtz

84% for Raker and 86% for Gano, IF we take out the blocked kicks. Should be a good competition.

the thing about these percentages, they can be a little deceiving. Gano has his FG% over what 2-3 seasons? Rackers has maintained 84% over a long time, atleast over 10 years...

[Keino]

Originally Posted by Red Bear

the thing about these percentages, they can be a little deceiving. Gano has his FG% over what 2-3 seasons? Rackers has maintained 84% over a long time, atleast over 10 years...

That and Gano's real FG% was 75% not 84%. You don't get to have your stats adjusted because your teammates failed. Otherwise we have to bump Jason Campbell's completion percentade by 2-3 points.

[CNYSkinFan]

Originally Posted by culpeper

Good post

Gano getting blocked goes back past last year too. Something is wrong there even if each one wasnt his fault. One of the things we CAN count on Shanny doing is bringing in competition.

actually that has been (another) complaint of mine though, is Shanny (and zorn and gibbs before him so it may be a FO problem) seem to go into training camp with one kicker. I actually thinkl all the kicking and punting in ntc and pre season leads to dead leg at the end of a season. HAving two kickers and punters going into the first round of cuts just makes sense to me. It also allows you to audition a backup in case someone gets hurt.