Punter Try-Outs?

[texasthunder]

The guy is our starting punter. I didn't want want to use a pick on a punter period. I thought even the worst punting can't keep a good team from winning. The Redskins have proven that, even though Brooks does his best to give away points and has surrendered more points than the winning margin in 2 games already. Likewise, punters don't win games either. But they can help out with field position, and Brooks is helping us the least of any punter in the NFL. Not one of you Brooks supporters has the balls to admit it, and even if Brooks progresses to the point of Frost, which isn't so much, how do you justify using a pick to do so? Only a sixth? Where did Horton come from? We could have had Brooks undrafted and on the PS for development.

You people wanting to sacrifice games to "develop" a freaking rookie punter amaze me. How on earth did you figure out how to use a computer?

So because the dumb coaches, scouts and FO didnt do things the way you wanted, you are going to be obsessed with bashing a rookie punter?

Wow, they really screwed up your special teams karma didnt they.

You must be feeling really proud of yourself, you are getting to tell all these folks "I told you we shouldnt have drafted a punter". You are so knowledgable about football, I feel humbled to be basking in your hindsight.

Lets see, didnt Horton have a major rookie mistake today? One that may have cost us the game if the reciever had made it to the end zone?

[elkabong82]

His net was 17.5. Hard to spin that in a positive light.

4 punts, 2 inside the 20, 1 downed, 0 touchbacks

[elkabong82]

It wasn't overlooked, just discounted by some.

Cuz you've never overlooked or discounted any stats

Seriously, we just beat Philly in their house one week after beating Dallas in their house. Instead of talking about any of that, or anything positive, you're on here saying "I told you so" about a 6th round pick punter.

Get over it and root for the team instead of rooting for yourself.

[turbodiesel#44]

"Wanting to sacrifice games to devlop a rookie." Isn't that what just about everyone wanted, to keep more draft picks and bring more youth in to replace starters who aren't cutting it?

Not a punter. You know nothing about football. Why aren't our rookie 2nd rounders starting? They don't even see the field much because they aren't nearly as good as our starters. Not even Thrash. We don't have that option with 1 punter. 17 points this year against us and counting on the cost of Brooks. Add crap field position and no tackling along with giving up a pick. No positives whatsoever, and the greatest gain we could realize is a couple yards above Frost's old average. Looks like that's a long way off. If you can't see that, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

And I posted the only stats that matter on this very thread, the performance of our punter compared to any other punter in the NFL. You come back with jibberish, speculation and Madden.

[elkabong82]

Not a punter. You know nothing about football. Why aren't our rookie 2nd rounders starting? They don't even see the field much because they aren't nearly as good as our starters. Not even Thrash. We don't have that option with 1 punter. 17 points this year against us and counting on the cost of Brooks. Add crap field position and no tackling along with giving up a pick. No positives whatsoever, and the greatest gain we could realize is a couple yards above Frost's old average. Looks like that's a long way off. If you can't see that, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

"You know nothing about football" says the self-serving person crying about a punter 5 weeks in while his team just beat 2 division rivals in a row on the road. The only reason you are harping on this is cuz you said you didn't like it and after just 5 weeks of Brooks' career you think you can say "I was right."

But go ahead and dismiss a player entirely only 5 weeks into his career, it really reveals how much you "know" about football.

The positive is Brooks will hopefully DEVELOP into a more consistent punter than what we had. The key word is develop, because the process takes time, it doesn't happen over night. Go ahead and keep being impatient, harping on a few bad things instead of the good just so you can say "I was right." I'm betting you had that same impatience with Campbell and other players, and that you'll keep being wrong about these players rather than ever learning.

"And I posted the only stats that matter on this very thread" The only stats that matter are that we won and Philly lost. "You come back with jibberish, speculation, and Madden". Please point out where I speculated, or used jibberish, or said anything about Madden, otherwise stfu. You've ignored the points I've made, and you speculated that Brooks wouldn't have gotten drafted if we hadn't picked him. Stop being a cry-baby hypocrite. I

If you want to ignore all the good things happening with the team right now just to pat yourself on the back prematurely, then you are missing out on what is shaping up to be a great season. A man with priorities so far out of whack shouldn't be telling others what they do and do not know about football. In other words, remove your head from your end and maybe things won't smell like **** to you.

[turbodiesel#44]

If you want to ignore all the good things happening with the team right now just to pat yourself on the back prematurely, then you are missing out on what is shaping up to be a great season. A man with priorities so far out of whack shouldn't be telling others what they do and do not know about football. In other words, remove your head from your end and maybe things won't smell like **** to you.

You can't afford to risk games developing a punter in the NFL. You treat the situation like he is a franchise QB in training. He is a freaking punter. The "upgrade" you and others proclaimed turned out to be a severe downgrade, and now you throw this "develop a punter" crap out instead of admitting he is a severe downgrade. That's why I say you don't know football.

[elkabong82]

You can't afford to risk games developing a punter in the NFL. You treat the situation like he is a franchise QB in training. He is a freaking punter. The "upgrade" you and others proclaimed turned out to be a severe downgrade, and now you throw this "develop a punter" crap out instead of admitting he is a severe downgrade. That's why I say you don't know football.

Again you're speculating. It's been 5 weeks. For all we know Brooks finishes the season as a mid-level or better punter and improves from there. Again, you are on here whining about a punter after we just beat Philly. The first thing you said in here was "I didn't want us to draft a punter." Now you're harping on it instead of enjoying the win. You'd rather be able to say "I am right" than enjoy a win, as evidenced by your actions here.

"Develop this punter CRAP"? Developing any player is not crap, even if it is a punter. That's why you don't know football, and need to get over yourself and trying to put others down when you clearly have no understanding of patience in player development. You want me to admit he's a downgrade after just 5 weeks? Unlike you I'm not proclaiming anything about Brooks other than the jury is still oput on him but he has potential. I didn't say he was an upgrade in here. You don't know **** about football and all you're trying to do is feed your stupid ego, pathetic.

[turbodiesel#44]

Oh, I'm enjoying the win. I'm just glad the team was once again able to overcome our own punter.

[elkabong82]

You can't afford to risk games developing a punter in the NFL. .

I thought even the worst punting can't keep a good team from winning. The Redskins have proven that

So we can't risk games devloping a punter, but even the worst punting can't keep a good team from winning and we proved that. So which is it? Developing a punter isn't crap, you're just full of it and have contradicted yourself throughout this thread just to try and say "I was right" only 5 weeks into the season. Something tells me, with this tendency to hate on players prematurely and the fact you can't let this go, that you were ****ting on other players earlier this season, and now this is the last chance you have to say "I was right" about something. Just showing again why you shouldn't question other people's football accumen. Those with glass houses...

[turbodiesel#44]

So we can't risk games devloping a punter,

Normally no, but Brooks has pushed the edge of suckiness. Are you denying he has cost us points in tight games? You were one of the ones lauding Brooks 70 Yd punts and 9 second hang time. What happened to your prediction? You got some nerve telling me I was wrong. Do I need to dig up old posts? I stand behind my posts at the draft, during preseason and today. I stand behind all my posts. Period. I asked if any of you guys cupping Brooks nads could name a game Frost lost for us. You couldn't do it. Even the guys who blamed Suisham for the Seattle playoff loss (lol) couldn't do it. I'm showing you Brooks stats now compared to Frost (or anybody in the league) and you can't accept it. You think 28 is over the hill and we needed to waste a pick on a punter. I don't. It's that simple.

[BigMike21]

#1. Brooks stinks. #2. He is just a punter, who cares about development, cut his ass #3. I don't want competition against Brooks, I want competetion for an open spot because Brooks is already cut and his locker cleaned out. #4. Everything tha has happened to now with draft/frost/scouts is a sunk cost, just do what you need to do to help our team in 2008 get better to win as many games as possible.

[Drunken Master III]

Vinny just said on the Redzone that they aren't bringing in any competition for the punting job.

[Scamp1]

Durant is nothing short of a liability for now and later this season, cut him now and bring in the best available "Veteran".

[Scamp1]

Normally no, but Brooks has pushed the edge of suckiness. Are you denying he has cost us points in tight games? You were one of the ones lauding Brooks 70 Yd punts and 9 second hang time. What happened to your prediction? You got some nerve telling me I was wrong. Do I need to dig up old posts? I stand behind my posts at the draft, during preseason and today. I stand behind all my posts. Period. I asked if any of you guys cupping Brooks nads could name a game Frost lost for us. You couldn't do it. Even the guys who blamed Suisham for the Seattle playoff loss (lol) couldn't do it. I'm showing you Brooks stats now compared to Frost (or anybody in the league) and you can't accept it. You think 28 is over the hill and we needed to waste a pick on a punter. I don't. It's that simple.

"Solid":applause:

[Darth Tater]

The most important stats for a punter are high number inside the 20, number of touch backs and percentage of returnable punts. The next are average return yards and a whole host of numbers we can't necessarily know. The least important is yards per punt. At this juncture, Brooks has over 33% of his punts going inside the 20 and no touch backs. Too many of his punts have been returnable punts and he has over 14 yards allowed per return (although two were big returns the one yesterday should have been called back). Somebody does need to teach him how to run, did you see his gay style?

[cjbrown]

This sounds like the same arguments against Campbell. Don't give people time to grow no matter their potential. ProBowl first day or else. Grow-up. We have no idea his instructions on some of the punts, he may have been told 30 yards with great hang time is preferable. Get the whole story or at least a good piece before getting rid of the Kid. Horton, our new receivers, Campbell, the McIntosh, Smoot, Jansen and the other corner would be gone if we let the fans cut people.

[zCommander]

I can't believe how you defend the worst punter in the NFL as being worth a pick.:doh:

I can't believe you think a rookie who has a lot of potential, and yes he is going to make mistakes, should be a 5 year pro by game 5. :doh:

[SKOALSKIN]

Brooks was terrible. Once again he kicked a lousy short/low punt to a dangerous return man. He needs to go.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I was at the game on Sunday and the punt came right at me. As soon as Jackson caught it, I knew it was going to be a big play. It was too short and too low and he had six or seven yards of green space to play with it. He also made a sick move at the beginning of the return to get himself loose. But the punt was not what we in the biz call good.

[kuraitengai]

Absolutely untrue. It was a 37-yard punt with awful hangtime. I could do that. The coverage was decent given how short and low the punt was. The penalty in addition was a horrible botch by the refs but that penalty was the equivalent of Heyer's smack of Dockery on Arizona...had no impact on the play' date=' Jackson was already past him.[/quote']

its a 37 yard punt from the line of scrimmage. im sure you could punt the ball 37 yards, but in the nfl that would only be a 22 yard punt. for you to kick a 37 yard punt, the ball would have to travel 52 in the air.

still think you can do that?

[slinky]

give the kid a break. he WILL be a great punter. At least he knows how to yell reallly loud

[Never4get#21]

D.S. changed the way Brooks Punts. He stresses hang time/placement VS distance. Brooks has a ton of power and can easily go into a game and out punt the coverage. He has to have time to develope his hangtime and placement.

1. Can we afford the mistakes he's making right now? Winning makes a world of difference.

2. Is he a bust? NO! He's shown that he can punt. He's not consistant but Frost was not either.

3. Should we bring in another punter? No. He's under enough pressure. He had a good game against Dallas. Build his confidence. What has not been said is that the special teams we have faced so far are among the elite in the NFL. Reggie Bush, Pac Man and D. Jackson.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Must some of y'all ALWAYS find something to question?

Man alive this has been done to death this year already but lets recap.

For those still in doubt, HELL YEAH we made the right choice at punter! WAY more upside to Brooks than Frost. Punting may not be a glamorous position, but field position is a major key to winning football games. Frost was inconsistant at best in his tenure here, and to pick up one of the best kids at the position to come out of college in many a year was, far from a waste of a pick, a savvy move by the new regime. All things being equal, Brooks should be a lock for years to come as the 'Skins and one of the leagues best punters. It's a steep learning curve for him too as it is with any rookie, adjusting to day to day NFL life, and they'll be below par games as he goe's through the maturation process as a pro.

So let's cut the kid a little slack huh and support him through the growing pains of life as a rookie?

Hail.

[Muzzah]

Maybe they told him to kick it high?

After all we got beat once on a punt return, best to not having it be repeated.

[Jeffree!]

I think Durant Brooks has 7 punts inside the 20 this year to Derrick Frost's ZERO. His net average isn't as high as Frosts but Frost has a few touchbacks to Brooks' zero. He's a rookie and won't punt out of his head every week. I still believe we should hang onto this kid and let him further develop. Andy Lee, in San Fran, has gotten better every year since he was drafted in the 6th round and became a Pro Bowler. Give the kid some time.

Brooks is last in net average right now but he's tied for FIRST with no touchbacks and tied for 12th with 7 kicks inside the 20. He's CLEARLY not the worst punter in the league if you actually know what it takes to be a good overall punter, something Frost clearly isn't ever going to be.

You also have to take into account that the Redskins offense has been very productive this year and have punted many times near midfield. Brooks has yet to have a touchback so I can assume that a lot of his punts are actually intended to be shorter so they don't go into the end zone. When scouting a punter, only taking net average and overall average is naive at best, I believe.

Yes, the punt against the Saints was a shank. Bad punt. The punt against Philly was also pretty bad. I do believe, however, that Brooks has been great pinning teams inside the 20 with good hang time, not allowing returns. He isn't kicking the ball into the end zone at all which is impressive considering he's tied for 1st in that category. He's 12th in kicks inside the 20, very impressive. A lot of things to consider regarding net average. Seriously.