SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Buffalo improved in its overall special teams efficiency. Should they keep the band together? https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2020/1/22/21074697/state-of-the-buffalo-bills-roster-specialists-corey-bojorquez-stephen-hauschka-reid-ferguson The Buffalo Bills finished the 2018 NFL season ranked No. 31 in special teams Heath Farwell, who had been with the Carolina Panthers as a special teams assistant, joined Buffalo’s staff as a coordinator for the first time this year (2019), and his unit did not disappoint. Gosselin’s 2019 rankings were released on Monday, and the Bills jumped all the way to No. 12 overall this season. K Stephen Hauschka Contract status for 2020: Signed; second year of three-year extension ($3.05 cap hit; $1.25 million dead-cap charge if cut) LS Reid Ferguson Contract status for 2020: Signed; second year of three-year contract ($900,000 cap hit; $250,000 dead-cap charge if cut) P Corey Bojorquez Contract status for 2020: Signed; final year of rookie contract ($660,000 cap hit; zero dead money if cut) P/K Kaare Vedvik Contract status for 2020: Signed to reserve/future deal on 1/7/2020
H2o Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Hauschka seemed to turn it around after we put a claim in on McLaughlin. We still need to be on the lookout for a kicker who can be counted on for FG's that extend to about the 55 yard range if given the opportunity. SH's leg strength seems to be on the decline and he's liability when you need anything longer than a 49 yard attempt. Ferguson is fine. Bojo is hit or miss. He has games where he hits some really nice punts, then has a game where he shanks 2 out of 5 with the other 3 being meh. Field position is huge so I would hope that they are looking for an upgrade to a more consistent punter, and Vedvik is not going to be the answer. Vedvik = fodder 2
Ethan in Cleveland Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Draft a punter in the later rounds and keep everyone else.
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 20 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said: Buffalo improved in its overall special teams efficiency. Should they keep the band together? https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2020/1/22/21074697/state-of-the-buffalo-bills-roster-specialists-corey-bojorquez-stephen-hauschka-reid-ferguson The Buffalo Bills finished the 2018 NFL season ranked No. 31 in special teams Heath Farwell, who had been with the Carolina Panthers as a special teams assistant, joined Buffalo’s staff as a coordinator for the first time this year (2019), and his unit did not disappoint. Gosselin’s 2019 rankings were released on Monday, and the Bills jumped all the way to No. 12 overall this season. K Stephen Hauschka Contract status for 2020: Signed; second year of three-year extension ($3.05 cap hit; $1.25 million dead-cap charge if cut) LS Reid Ferguson Contract status for 2020: Signed; second year of three-year contract ($900,000 cap hit; $250,000 dead-cap charge if cut) P Corey Bojorquez Contract status for 2020: Signed; final year of rookie contract ($660,000 cap hit; zero dead money if cut) P/K Kaare Vedvik Contract status for 2020: Signed to reserve/future deal on 1/7/2020 We need a new punter. 1
MAJBobby Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Final thinking in this Position group for me would be: Take one of our picks after round 5 and draft one of the punters. The reality is once we get passed round 4 I think any player drafted is going to have a hard time seeing the field with the depth that we have built on this team. So, I am looking to upgrade a position that we have been trying to for a while All three of these punters have draftable grades IMO. So, go get one. I really am not going to be comfortable going into camp with Kaare Vedvik and Corey Bojorquez in a punting battle. All kickers in the draft have undraftable grades and without seeing an actual upgrade to Hauschka right now just stay with him. Just know that anything over 50 yards at this point I would seriously consider going for it instead, especially in open air conditions. Write-up I did on the Group to Justify my thinking 2 1
The Jokeman Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 16 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: We need a new punter. With some of our extra picks I'd take a chance on Braden Mann in Round 5.
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 18 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: We need a new punter. I recall he started out poorly but I thought he did better at the end of the season minus one or 2 bad kicks that happen to any kicker .. what game was it where the opponent kicked one so high it went 15 yards? 1
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said: I recall he started out poorly but I thought he did better at the end of the season minus one or 2 bad kicks that happen to any kicker .. what game was it where the opponent kicked one so high it went 15 yards? What if you catch your own punt? Is that like a forward pass? 15 yards is almost always a 1st Down? 1
DCOrange Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 I wouldn't draft anybody, but I think we should try to replace Bojo. As far as Haushka goes, my philosophy with kickers is that if you don't trust them in the 50-60 yard range, you have a kicker problem. We clearly do not trust Haushka. We should be bringing in competition for him and be prepared to cut him if the competition beats him out. 2
BuffaloBillyG Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Long snapper is fine. Very solid actually. I believe the kid signed to the futures deal is Bojo's competition if we can't get better in the draft/FA. The big question is at kicker. Yes, 100% agree that Hausch did much better later in the season converting kicks he was asked to. However, there were a few times when a long FG attempt made sense but he wasn't sent out. With the way this team is built, having the strong defense that we do...a kicker that can be even semi consistent is HUGE. Stealing an extra 3 points here and there can make the difference between 9 wins and a WC and 11 wins and a division. I would be open to keeping Hausch, but this year he needs some competition brought in. Let him earn his job. Someone I would look at is Joey Slye. Rookie kickers will struggle, and he was only 78% on FGs, but bombed 8-11 from 50+. Long of 55. 1
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 1 hour ago, DCOrange said: I wouldn't draft anybody, but I think we should try to replace Bojo. As far as Haushka goes, my philosophy with kickers is that if you don't trust them in the 50-60 yard range, you have a kicker problem. We clearly do not trust Haushka. We should be bringing in competition for him and be prepared to cut him if the competition beats him out. Haushka was perfect in the Houston playoff game. I have no idea why the coaches didn't want him to kick one for 50 yards INDOORS!!! Also .... If you keep scoring TD's then keeping Haushka or Bojo isn't a problem 1
Don Otreply Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Outside of the LS, one return guy and the kickers, they are almost all backups and they all come cheap pay wise, so why not? Not making fundamental mistakes goes a long way it appears... Go Bills
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Better kicker buys 1-2 wins. Haushka was 1/5 from 50 plus. For comparison He was 7/9 in 2017. also no longer blasting it through the end zone. time to look for something better 2
Utah John Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 We have a pretty good band but they keep playing the same old songs and they don't sound so good anymore. We could actually use a new PK and P. LS is fine -- I don't remember the last bad long snap. We have a Pro Bowl returner. It's the coverage and return teams I wonder about. We'll lose Lorax and probably Perry from this year's teams. Next year we'll have rookies as upgrades in many reserve positions, the very people who get put on STs. These will all be guys who were position starters in college and don't know how to tackle yet. This part is always a roll of the dice.
DCOrange Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 2 hours ago, SlimShady'sGhost said: Haushka was perfect in the Houston playoff game. I have no idea why the coaches didn't want him to kick one for 50 yards INDOORS!!! Also .... If you keep scoring TD's then keeping Haushka or Bojo isn't a problem He definitely came up big in the playoff game. Like I said, I wouldn't be cutting him immediately, but I would bring in competition to see if you can do better. We could certainly be in a worse spot as far as kickers go, but again, if you can't trust them 50+ yards out, you should be looking for a replacement IMO. 1
Buffalo Boy Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Special teams was Meh. It didn’t hurt us ( First NE game?) but it didn’t help either. Wanting a better punter and kicker is good. Getting one is a different story. Also, our gunners blocking was consistently lacking all year. I didn’t see us knock one guy off his line, much less out of bounds when we received. I would like to see the bottom of the roster get stronger which is a product of Beane continuing to increase the talent level.
Jobot Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 There's gotta be more to the Haushka story. The guy set the consecutive 50+ field goal record... I gotta believe he wasn't fully healthy all year long.
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted January 22, 2020 Author Posted January 22, 2020 21 minutes ago, DCOrange said: He definitely came up big in the playoff game. Like I said, I wouldn't be cutting him immediately, but I would bring in competition to see if you can do better. We could certainly be in a worse spot as far as kickers go, but again, if you can't trust them 50+ yards out, you should be looking for a replacement IMO. From what I saw this past season .... (facing the EZ) when kicking from the (his) right hash he was horrid. when kicking from the (his) left hash he was much much better. I don't think he misses any from that spot when kicking from the middle of the field ... he still scared me.
blacklabel Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 I'm good with that group if Bojorororoqueezz can be more consistent. I think Hauschka is better than the alternatives out there at the moment. And Ferguson is solid.
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