Packers Punting

[Pokerbrat2000]

Had Masthay been a FA at the end of 2015, would fans have been happy with TT signing him to a one year $1.2M contract with a $100K workout bonus, no guarantees?

 

[HardRightEdge]

Had Masthay been a FA at the end of 2015, would fans have been happy with TT signing him to a one year $1.2M contract with a $100K workout bonus, no guarantees?

Why not?

Unless and until Masthay makes the opening day roster when his salary is guaranteed, the risk is $100,000, 1/5 of a rookie contract. That such a contract would be offered and accepted would be an acknowledgement by both parties that Masthay was on the bubble.

Doesn't anybody remember Georgio Tavecchio being brought to camp to compete with Crosby in 2013?

Crosby was coming off a horrible 2012 season, so the opportunity would have been attractive to UDFA kickers. Tavecchio was the best they could find. How would that have worked out if Crosby had been cut? Here are Tavecchio's career NFL stats:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/search/search.fcgi?search=tavecchio&results=

Right...name not found.

Of course the competition focused Crosby; he had his best season in 2013 in a pretty mediocre career.

It makes no sense to cut Masthay until the competition shows up and proves he can be better.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Why not?


Doesn't anybody remember Georgio Tavecchio being brought to camp to compete with Crosby in 2013?


It makes no sense to cut Masthay until the competition shows up and proves he can be better.

I get the Crosby/Tavecchio argument, but at the time wasn't it viewed as more of a short term slump for Crosby? Tavecchio ended up serving his purpose and pushed Mason into performing better.

Had Masthay just had a poor 2015, I might see the sense behind giving him the same benefit. But the Packers were in this same position with him last year, after he had a less then stellar 2014 season. So the Packers brought in Cody Mandell to push Masthay. Mandell was a guy that didn't make it with the Cowboys as an UDFA in 2014, sat the whole season and then signed by the Packers in June of 2015. Hardly competition in my mind.

I really don't care when the timing of his release is, I just don't see Masthay in Green and Gold this coming season. But if the Packers want to replace him with a quality punter, they better do more then sniff around for an out of work UDFA from 2015.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I get the Crosby/Tavecchio argument, but at the time wasn't it viewed as more of a short term slump for Crosby?

To that point, Crosby was a below average career NFL kicker. His career FG make % ranked him somewhere in the low 20's among active kickers at the time. He's climbed to 24th.:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/fg_perc_career.htm

And as the Captain pointed out in a past post, his cold weather disadvantage is a illusion. He's been outkicked at Lambeau and in other cold weather metrics by more than half the league.

20 years ago you'd be thrilled with an 80% make. Not today in the golden age of the place kicker. And he's not all that good in getting touchbacks. Some years he looked somewhat above average; in at least one year he was near the bottom of the league.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

To that point, Crosby was a below average career NFL kicker. His career FG make % ranked him somewhere in the low 20's among active kickers at the time. He's climbed to 24th.:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/fg_perc_career.htm

And as the Captain pointed out in a past post, his cold weather disadvantage is a illusion. He's been outkicked at Lambeau and in other cold weather metrics by more than half the league.

20 years ago you'd be thrilled with an 80% make. Not today in the golden age of the place kicker. And he's not all that good in getting touchbacks. Some years he looked somewhat above average; in at least one year he was near the bottom of the league.

Rumor had it, he can kick a 70 Yards field goal as a rookie...Heard he kicked one in practive that could have went another 5+ yards... I remember McCarthy giving him a change in a preseason game (i think) his rookie year... Worst choke shank job I ever seen. LOL. Missed the pylons I think... After Crosbys mental game struggling those early years. McCarthy never gave him even close to another chance...

I wonder if he can still kick that far? Or farther??? And if McCarthy will ever give him a chance to at least break the record.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

If Masthay is back in 2016...... I will be shocked. He is #%@& horrible. And seems to kick 30 yarders at the worst moment ON PURPOSE!!! FIRED! FIRED! FIRED!!! GET OUT!!!!

 

[HardRightEdge]

If Masthay is back in 2016...... I will be shocked. He is #%@& horrible. And seems to kick 30 yarders at the worst moment ON PURPOSE!!! FIRED! FIRED! FIRED!!! GET OUT!!!!

Wait for it, wait for it....

At the very least, wait until after the draft/UDFA signings. It costs absolutely nothing to keep him until the $100,000 workout bonus kicks in. And unless some new guy looks like the next Ray Guy, you might as well pay the $100,000 to create a competition.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Rumor had it, he can kick a 70 Yards field goal as a rookie...Heard he kicked one in practive that could have went another 5+ yards... I remember McCarthy giving him a change in a preseason game (i think) his rookie year... Worst choke shank job I ever seen. LOL. Missed the pylons I think... After Crosbys mental game struggling those early years. McCarthy never gave him even close to another chance...

I wonder if he can still kick that far? Or farther??? And if McCarthy will ever give him a chance to at least break the record.

It's way easier to kick a long field goal in practice without a rush and no pressure. Crosby's longest attempt in a preseason game was a 66-yard try in last season's finale against the Saints which had the direction but was several yards short.

In the regular season or playoffs he has never kicked a 60-yard or longer FG with two 58-yarders being his longest attempts, making one of them.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

It's way easier to kick a long field goal in practice without a rush and no pressure. Crosby's longest attempt in a preseason game was a 66-yard try in last season's finale against the Saints which had the direction but was several yards short.

In the regular season or playoffs he has never kicked a 60-yard or longer FG with two 58-yarders being his longest attempts, making one of them.

I guarantee I seen it. He come out of the mountains, and had kicked a long one in the thin air, in college... The announcers were talking about his leg, and that he had kicked a 70 yarder with room to spare , in practice or warm ups maybe... Then at the half, the circumstances were there for a 70 yarder for a last play. Rather than the usual McCarthy kneel down, he let the rookie bomb it. And Crosbys kick missed the pylons. Only thing he could have done worse would be trip , fall, and hurt himself...
Maybe the attempt didnt count in the books, because it went out of play?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I guarantee I seen it. He come out of the mountains, and had kicked a long one in the thin air, in college... The announcers were talking about his leg, and that he had kicked a 70 yarder with room to spare , in practice or warm ups maybe... Then at the half, the circumstances were there for a 70 yarder for a last play. Rather than the usual McCarthy kneel down, he let the rookie bomb it. And Crosbys kick missed the pylons. Only thing he could have done worse would be trip , fall, and hurt himself...
Maybe the attempt didnt count in the books, because it went out of play?

It doesn't appear in any of the play-by-play listings about the Packers preseason games. Maybe it was a free kick, I didn't search the information for that.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

A pretty decent evaluation of Tim Masthay:

http://lombardiave.com/2016/01/31/green-bay-packers-roster-cut-candidate-tim-masthay-2/2/

"Having someone without the leg strength to flip the field when drives go bad, or able to be counted on to properly place his kick every time, leaves a team lacking in what could be game-deciding moments."

 

[HardRightEdge]

I guarantee I seen it. He come out of the mountains, and had kicked a long one in the thin air, in college... The announcers were talking about his leg, and that he had kicked a 70 yarder with room to spare , in practice or warm ups maybe... Then at the half, the circumstances were there for a 70 yarder for a last play. Rather than the usual McCarthy kneel down, he let the rookie bomb it. And Crosbys kick missed the pylons. Only thing he could have done worse would be trip , fall, and hurt himself...
Maybe the attempt didnt count in the books, because it went out of play?

The ball flies further at altitude.