Mason Crosby sucks

[Forget Favre]

I'm only uber nervous when he's taking a FG of 45 yards or longer. He's decent in the 40-44 range.

Same here.
Heck, I always feel like it's a small miracle when he makes the extra point after the TD.

Now I know this is faked.
If he can be that good with a small window target why not with a larger one?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sI7vFv9REI"]‪NFL Fantasy File: Mason Crosby‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

 

[JoshuaRHuffman]

Could you skew that stat any more? hahah

OK lets give the whole story

Longwell year 1 - 80%
Longwell year 2 - 87.9%
Longwell year 3 - 83.3%
Longwell year 4 - 86.8%
Longwell year 5 - 64.5%
Longwell year 6 - 82.4%
Longwell year 7 - 88.5%
Longwell year 8 - 85.7%

So you try to argue your point by throwing out the worst year of his career? Which looks like an anomaly, not a trend.

That doesn't disprove the point. Longwell wasn't very accurate by his fifth season. Otherwise, he'd never have a year where he converts 64.5% of his field goals (BTW... why did you skip year 9?). Hell, he had 83.3 and 80 in two of the seasons your pimping by year 5 and he rarely attempted long kicks.

Furthermore, that's not a skew (?). The following is a skew:

You know how Mason Crosby often attempts kicks over 50 yards, sometimes beyond 55 and even 60?

Well... you know what that does to a kicker's overall percentage?

Skew.

So comparing overall field-goal percentages between Longwell (or almost anyone other than Janikowski) and Crosby doesn't make much sense. You either have to account for Crosby's range that lowers his percentage or account for when Longwell could barely hit the crossbar from 50. Crosby would be another mid-80 guy too if he didn't kick those biggies.

Anyway... unless the kicker is Adam V, people will complain. The hate for Crosby is just entertainment.

Besides, IN TED I TRUST *****ES

 

[Forget Favre]

I don't care what anybody says or writes.

Longwell is better than Mason.
Period. End of discussion. Case closed. Over and out.

 

[Helmets]

Matt Flynn is a better kicker. He is our backup...

 

[Future]

I don't care what anybody says or writes.

Longwell is better than Mason.
Period. End of discussion. Case closed. Over and out.

I recently had this exact discussion on this board recently.

 

[Fazeman]

The name of the game is football, but kickers and punters seem to be in the furthest orbit around the team. Kinda like golf and tennis, kicking and punting is an individual sport. To get these guys feeling more like part of the team, the coaching staff can have Crosby kick field goals when the team is running their sprints; toward Crosby.:icon_biggrin:

 

[JoshuaRHuffman]

I don't care what anybody says or writes.

Longwell is better than Mason.
Period. End of discussion. Case closed. Over and out.

Today? Yes, Longwell is better (even if he usually kicks in a dome and has far less leg strength). Longwell has been kicking for so long now that it's automatic for him.

HOWEVER.... I'll take Crosby after 4-5 years over Longwell after his first 4-5 years. Longwell also wasn't much of a fan favorite during his first five years here.

Basically, I like Crosby more at this stage of his career then I did Longwell at the same stage. If Crosby continues to develop in his mid-range kicks then the Packers have their kicker for 10-15 years. I'm not a fan of 50+ yard field goals (too much risk and not enough reward unless it's end-of-half kicks) but I do think his leg strength will be valuable for kickoffs now that they're moved up to the 35-yard-line.

Now if Slocum still has Crosby doing those pooch kicks then I will be very disappointed.

Unless we could replace Crosby with Adam V or Rob B, I wouldn't even consider being one of those teams that change their kicker every 8-16 games. There's no kicker that's going to give us more than Crosby and there certainly isn't a free-agent kicker with his potential.

All I'm saying on this

 

[TJV]

I agree with Jersey Al with one caveat: Crosby's kick off numbers for the past couple of seasons are due in part because he's been asked to kick "pop-ups" and/or to kick directionally to make up for bad coverage units. Still, it's difficult to argue he's even an average FG kicker. And that's not what bothers me most. As some have mentioned, he's not clutch - when the game is on the line I don't have any confidence in him. The 5-yard change in kick offs will increase his value though - he's got a very strong leg so we can expect a lot of touchbacks. I'd still rather have a clutch FG kicker. Crosby may become that, but he's not there yet.

As great as Thompson is, I think he struggles with cutting players that he drafted (Harrell for example), whether it is arrognace of not wanting to admit to being wrong, or because he is sentimental or about his players, or some unknown reason.

I don't think Thompson hesitates to cut players he drafted. Thompson drafts more players than most teams and while his roster is made up of a lot of those players, a lot have been released, or weren’t pursued in FA. BTW, I don’t think Harrell is a good example of Thompson not wanting to admit he’s wrong. I think it’s an example of investing about $8M of guaranteed money in a kid the first year and then (according to one site) paying him $370K in ’08, $460K in ’09 and $550K in ’10 to see if Harrell could finally get healthy. That’s a lot of money in the real world but by NFL standards not an outrageous amount to see if a talented big man could finally get on the field. The $8M was already spent.

Beyond that, by my count from 2005 through the 2009 draft (I’m excluding the two most recent drafts), Thompson selected 51 players. 29 are gone for one reason or another and 3 from the 2009 draft could be waived this season. In addition to first round bust Harrell, the list of the departed include 4 second rounders, 4 third rounders, 5 fourth rounders, and 15 fifth to seventh rounders. Saying goodbye to that many players, particularly 9 in the first three rounds over 5 drafts doesn't look like a reluctance to cut draftees to me.

There are a lot of big egos in the NFL; players, owners, and front office people. Some just seem to scream for attention. But I just don’t see the evidence that Thompson fits that mold. He has developed a plan of how to build a team and he’s tenacious in sticking with the plan. And his plan seems more cold-blooded than sentimental to me since it includes the concept that it's better to let a player go a year early rather than a year late.

 

[Bensalama21]

I dont think it would be hard to find someone better, but sorry I dont follow kickers like QBs or RBs or WRs.

LOL! less of a chance? wow that might be hard to find someone with less of a chance of making field goals.

TTs bane has been STs. He hasnt managed it well at all. I dont even think this is up for debate. But I do give him somewhat of a pass for last year based on injuries. Its just all the other years that you can point to.

I don't want to get into an argument, but, if you don't follow kickers like QB's or RB's, you shouldn't evaluate a kicker like one. Just give Crosby a year or two, and I'm sure a solid career is in front of him. If not, Ted Thompson will be the one giving the boot.

 

[ivo610]

I don't want to get into an argument, but, if you don't follow kickers like QB's or RB's, you shouldn't evaluate a kicker like one. Just give Crosby a year or two, and I'm sure a solid career is in front of him. If not, Ted Thompson will be the one giving the boot.

I dont know the names of the free agent kickers doesnt mean I cant look and see he sucks. Sorry but ranking in the bottom half of the nfl for your career might be a sign.

Seriously, did you read the article that was linked?

 

[longtimefan]

Ted is prob going to sign a kicker in the next week..

So the argument of no competition wont work this off season

 

[ivo610]

That doesn't disprove the point. Longwell wasn't very accurate by his fifth season. Otherwise, he'd never have a year where he converts 64.5% of his field goals (BTW... why did you skip year 9?). Hell, he had 83.3 and 80 in two of the seasons your pimping by year 5 and he rarely attempted long kicks.

Furthermore, that's not a skew (?). The following is a skew:

You know how Mason Crosby often attempts kicks over 50 yards, sometimes beyond 55 and even 60?

Well... you know what that does to a kicker's overall percentage?

Skew.

So comparing overall field-goal percentages between Longwell (or almost anyone other than Janikowski) and Crosby doesn't make much sense. You either have to account for Crosby's range that lowers his percentage or account for when Longwell could barely hit the crossbar from 50. Crosby would be another mid-80 guy too if he didn't kick those biggies.

Anyway... unless the kicker is Adam V, people will complain. The hate for Crosby is just entertainment.

Besides, IN TED I TRUST *****ES

Longwell wasnt very accurate by his 5th season? WTF are you typing LOL. Wow. Your twisting things so much. Longwell had his worst season in year 5, 10% points off his 2nd worst season and about 20% off his average! You key in on some bullsh*t like that as your only point in an argument where you dont even have a leg to stand on! The evidence is clear, Crosby is a very below average kicker.

I didnt "skip" year 9. I think you meant to ask why did I stop at year 8? well I didnt see a point in listing all the years he has kicked. I thought the point got across rather well with 8 years. Would you like me to list them all?

Mason Crosby career long - 56 yards
Ryan Longwell career long - (gasp!) 54 yards (while playing for GB)

Now for your argument that Crosby's FG % is affected by those deep kicks he has to make.

Crosby 50+ field goals - 8 for 15 53%
Longwell 50+ field goals (while in GB to be fair) - 13 for 22 59%

Figures come from PFR

 

[Wood Chipper]

Same here.
Heck, I always feel like it's a small miracle when he makes the extra point after the TD.

Now I know this is faked.
If he can be that good with a small window target why not with a larger one?

‪NFL Fantasy File: Mason Crosby‬‏ - YouTube

This a no pressure situation which is when Crosby is good

 

[Forget Favre]

Does Mason get this much attention during the regular season even in a stadium full of fans?

With a 53 man roster, Mason is one of the few that gets this much attention here on the board.

 

[YoKramer]

Today? Yes, Longwell is better (even if he usually kicks in a dome and has far less leg strength). Longwell has been kicking for so long now that it's automatic for him.

HOWEVER.... I'll take Crosby after 4-5 years over Longwell after his first 4-5 years. Longwell also wasn't much of a fan favorite during his first five years here.

Basically, I like Crosby more at this stage of his career then I did Longwell at the same stage. If Crosby continues to develop in his mid-range kicks then the Packers have their kicker for 10-15 years. I'm not a fan of 50+ yard field goals (too much risk and not enough reward unless it's end-of-half kicks) but I do think his leg strength will be valuable for kickoffs now that they're moved up to the 35-yard-line.

Now if Slocum still has Crosby doing those pooch kicks then I will be very disappointed.

Unless we could replace Crosby with Adam V or Rob B, I wouldn't even consider being one of those teams that change their kicker every 8-16 games. There's no kicker that's going to give us more than Crosby and there certainly isn't a free-agent kicker with his potential.

All I'm saying on this

Leg Strength on kickoffs? You realize the reason Slocum started the pooch kicks is because Mason couldnt seem to get them to the endzone anymore, and was kicking out of bounds, not to mention the horrible kick off coverage.

The problem w/ Mason is he cant hit the FGs that really matter. If we are up by 14 and its a 30yrder SURE he will hit it every time. If we are down by 2 with 15seconds to go and its a 25, He will miss it.

 

[Bensalama21]

I dont know the names of the free agent kickers doesnt mean I cant look and see he sucks. Sorry but ranking in the bottom half of the nfl for your career might be a sign.

Seriously, did you read the article that was linked?

To be a good kicker in the NFL, 99 % of what you need is a strong leg and confidence. Every kicker can kick the ball straight. When the kickers under pressure, he just has to concentrate and have confidence (Which even McCarthy said was lacking from Crosby)... If the Packers showed confidence in him by giving him a big contract, I guarantee it was a tactic to give him more confidence. I'm positive if Crosby has more than 1 bad game this year, the Packers will sign another kicker. I'm sure that he will do fine, noting that he is literally playing for 15 million dollars and potentially more Super bowls.

I'm trusting Ted here. After all the other countless times many people like myself doubted him, I think it is time to trust him on this. We can't base our whole opinion on Crosby on facts alone. Like him or not, he's a Packer and that's all that matters.

 

[armand34]

A great article on why our kicker sucks.

Mason Crosby is a below-average NFL kicker. Let me prove it to you... | AllGreenBayPackers.Com

holy crap, i tried to read that article, but that's just TMI for me...bottom line

mason has a big leg, and if we have to rely on him to win games, then our offense is playing poorly!

 

[TJV]

Leg Strength on kickoffs? You realize the reason Slocum started the pooch kicks is because Mason couldn’t seem to get them to the end zone anymore, and was kicking out of bounds, not to mention the horrible kick off coverage.

I think the best thing about Crosby is his leg strength. IMO the main reason for his pooch and directional kicks was because they didn’t have any confidence they could cover KORs if they had him kick off conventionally all the time. According to Advanced NFL Stats, “About 10% of all NFL kickoffs (not including onside kicks) are touchbacks.” That seems a little low to me but assuming it’s about right, Crosby wasn’t the only kicker not kicking it into the end zone. The coaching staff certainly thinks Crosby has a strong leg – that’s why they have him try so many 50+ yarders. This season with the KOs moving up to the 35-yard line I think Crosby’s leg strength will be on display much more. There will be a lot more touchbacks this season, helping to negate the advantage teams like the Bears have had on KORs in the past.

 

[Bensalama21]

I believe it is time to delete this thread.

 

[Kitten]

Let them eat their crow first, Bansalama! Crosby will probably even cook it for them.

 

[gbpack12_2_89]

If it wasnt for mason we lose this game hell yeah he sucks!!!!!!!!! get real people

 

[Helmets]

Is it time to revisit this thread yet, or should we wait a few more games?

Just wondering...

 

[Croak]

To borrow something from another thread; Crosby is better because he wears Green and Yellow, not purple.

 

[TJV]

I thought it was interesting what Rodgers identified as the turning point in the game last night - it was Crosby's 56-yard FG which brought the Packers within 5 points of the lead. And that kick would have been good from at least 5-yards back. Very impressive. Yo Kramer, I assume you've changed your opinion about Crosby's leg strength. That was never the question with him, it was his accuracy and so far this season he hasn't missed one.

 

[Havners Heroes]

LOL @ This thread.