Roberto Aguayo Gets Some Training
Roberto Aguayo was terrible last season. For an NFL kicker, he played terribly. He became a laughing stock and honestly, his poor kicking may have cost the Bucs a game or two. He may have single handedly cost them a playoff shot. So much goes into a football game that you truly can’t ever pinpoint a single kick, but he hurt the Bucs more than he helped.
The Bucs, possibly realizing their mistake, brought in Nick Folk as competition. Honestly I’m not sure this was a a good idea. Roberto was faced with the harsh burden of expectation when the Bucs defied logic and drafted him in the 2nd (Fucking lol, still) so showing a guy that much confidence to overdraft you and then after you have a rough start bringing in seasoned competition has to be a massive hit to what confidence Aguayo has left. If you draft someone in the 2nd, even a kicker, give them a little more time. I still laugh my ass off at the Bucs overdrafting him but even I think the guy deserves another half season at least before the panic button gets hit. Kickers are weird, streaky creatures.
I also feel bad for the poor guy. No jokes, no pressure would be made if the Bucs drafted him in the 4th or later like they should have. I said it before and I’ll say it again: drafting a kicker above the 3rd round is incredibly stupid and any justifications are weak sauce.
I see you there, ready to throw Seabass in my face. Go eat a lemon. The Raiders could have had Seabass in the 3rd and gotten plenty of other players in the first round (Like Tom Brady!). Just because he worked out doesn’t make drafting him there worth it. The Giants had to drop a kicker mid-season last year, picked up a cut Robbie Gould, and were fine. The kicking position simply doesn’t have any substantial draft value.
They didn’t just draft him in the second, they traded up to do so.
Clearly you need to take a kicker earlier than the second round if you want one thats any good.
If you read Jason Licht’s (Bucs gm) comments (Protecting you draft picks is a bad thing), you see why he signed Folk
While I applaud him for not falling into the sunk cost fallacy, bailing on an investment too soon is also a mistake. If the kicking competition is the motivation Aguayo needed to be the kicker he was drafted to be, the Nick Folk signing is a good decision. If on the other hand he wilts from the lack of confidence the staff is showing in him and he ends up being cut, it’s a gross mismanagement of the situation by the team that further compounds the idiocy of trading up for a kicker in the second round and should cost him his job.
I would NEVER draft a kicker in the 2nd, even if it was Justin Tucker, who I still wouldn’t take until the 6th round
There’s almost never a reason to spend a draft pick on a specialist. The seventh rounder the Browns spent on Andy Lee was too much, even if it was a seventh round pick for the best punter in the league.
Speaking of, last year was apparently the year for teams to overreach for specialists, between the Bucs trading up to take a kicker in the second round and the Panthers trading a 2018 fourth for Lee.
While I agree you shouldn’t draft a specialist early, I can wrap my head around doing so late. Especially when you consider that many guys taken in the later rounds are taken in the hopes that they can contribute on special teams as they are being developed. When you look at what a truly great specialist brings to the table (think Marquette King or Justin Tucker) it’s more valuable than taking an undersized OLB that you hope can be a decent kick coverage guy.
Who wouldn’t trade a 6th rounder for Justin Tucker right now?
I’d trade an early 4th/late 3rd for Tucker
I hear it now….the kick is Gould!
“This has been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever”
Hans Moleman Productions Presents Man Getting Hit by Football
Well, if he WAS the reason the Bucs missed the playoffs, at least it was the Giants to replace them.
DONGK!
I play as GM in Madden, and I draft a Punter every year with my first round pick.
I’m also undefeated for 8 consecutive seasons.
Former Jaguars GM Gene Smith, Is that you ??
PS. He’s the guy that passed on Russell Wilson and drafted a Punter in the 3rd round.
Justin Tucker, Matt Bryant, Dan Bailey, Adam Vinatieri, and Phil Dawson were all undrafted. Gostowski in the fourth and Janikowski are the only really good kickers I can think of off the top of my head who were drafted at all. Ignore kickers in the draft, and just have your kicking scout work overtime recruiting UDFAs.
BREAKING: The NBA has announced that they will suspend Warriors forward Draymond Green for the remainder of the season. He has been fined $60,289 and will be charged with aggravated assault.
Or should I say… nutsault?
I’m sorry