Tyler Bass, kicker, might be Bills' best pick

[BuffaloMatt]

11 hours ago, billieve420 said:

With expanded rosters they could decide to keep 2 kickers. Bass handle kick offs and extra long FG attempts over 50 yds. Now if he lights it up during training camp and outplays hausch money maybe they move on but doubt they would go with a rookie.

I think you nailed it. Expanded roster expanded Beane's flexibility in the late rounds.

[YoloinOhio]

I respect (though not always agree with) the opinion or joe Marino from the Locked on bills podcast and draft network and he said today he fully expects Bass to win the job. He also doesn’t expect Fromm to make the team. 

[JimS]

Trying to sneak a kicker onto the PS is how they lost Dustin Hopkins. Chase McLaughlin was waived at the end of training camp and picked up within 24 hours, my guess is the same thing happened. 

11 hours ago, Happy Gilmore said:

The big leg is all well and good, but a kicker worth keeping has to be accurate.  They also need to have a good head on their shoulders where they forget the missed kicks so it doesn't affect them going forward.

 

Beane commented in one of his conference calls (late Sunday call?) that Bass sat down with a psychologist or similar in the Bills organization for an hour or so before the draft. So, there's that. ?

Edited April 28, 2020 by JimS

[billsfan89]

11 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said:

It’s tough drafting a kicker. No matter how good they were in college, it seems like they have to fail or get cut multiple times before they gain the required mental toughness to kick in the NFL.  

 

That's why it is good to draft a kicker when you have a decent veteran kicker on the roster. Haush was fairly reliable on kicks under 50 yards it was only long range kicks that he struggled with. Often times teams draft kickers when they don't have a viable kicker on the roster and it puts them up against the wall. If Bass can't make the adjustment to the NFL they can stick with Haush. 

[DCofNC]

Every kicker was a rookie at some point.. let him compete and may the best guy win. 

[Saxum]

12 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

There is not much patience for developing a kicker.  They have little time to win the job and they better not cost their team any wins.  One option is to transition with a kickoff/long fg specialist but using 2 roster spots on kickers is not popular either.

 

I wish NFL posted the PDF files of games like they used to but recently many are going to the *shudder* tablet form of game results.  I used to keep track of who was inactive or was active and did not play which helped determine how many players were being developed without risk of being taken off practice squad.  I think Tyler Bass is not going to be ready for NFL yet and what the Bills should do is copy what Denver did when they raided our practice squad - offer to pay him full NFL salary for his draft pick level while putting him on practice squad.  When the Bills believe their is advantage for him being active they elevated him for a game (or game set, that part of rules is unclear) and then he goes back to practice squad without risking waivers.  Yes he can be signed off practice squad but on it he is being developed and has chance of being starter next year rather being signed by another team off the squad and then cut after minimum number of games as has happened with a number of young kickers.

[T master]

12 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

I expect to get some heat for this opinion, but the pick I'm most excited about is Tyler Bass.  It looks like he has the potential to be an elite NFL kicker.  I've watched a video of him kick a fifty yard field goal standing stationary and just swinging his leg.  He hammered a 60 yarder with one step.  He says he hit a 71 yarder with a bit of a tailwind a couple weeks ago.  He was the consensus best kicker coming out of the college ranks this year.

 

After the QB, the place kicker is the one player on a football team who is most likely to win or lose a game for the team.  A team with an iffy kicking game is in a very bad place, you see it every week in the League.  We all remember Hauschka's mid season slump last year.  Playing in New Era Field with the winds and weather makes the kicking game even more dicey.  If Tyler Bass is as good as the draftniks say he is, he will likely have a bigger impact on the future of this franchise than any other player Beane drafted last week.

 

Imagine the luxury of having a Justin Tucker on our team or a Vinatieri or Gostkowski in their prime? Tucker has a cannon for a leg and Harbaugh in Baltimore has no qualms sending Tucker out for 60+ yard field goals.  He's just about automatic.  In today's NFL with shoddy kicking all over the place, having a great place kicker is literally a game changer.

 

Beane grabbing Bass with the 188th pick in the 6th round could turn out to be the most important Bill's pick of this year's draft.

 

 

 

What ever you do don't let Bass read your post before he goes into negotiate his contract ? !!

 

Is there much tape on him i never have looked up a kicker to see their high lights but i will agree we all know too well how much a missed FG or extra point can be the difference between a W and a L ...?

[Doc]

7 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

I wish NFL posted the PDF files of games like they used to but recently many are going to the *shudder* tablet form of game results.  I used to keep track of who was inactive or was active and did not play which helped determine how many players were being developed without risk of being taken off practice squad.  I think Tyler Bass is not going to be ready for NFL yet and what the Bills should do is copy what Denver did when they raided our practice squad - offer to pay him full NFL salary for his draft pick level while putting him on practice squad.  When the Bills believe their is advantage for him being active they elevated him for a game (or game set, that part of rules is unclear) and then he goes back to practice squad without risking waivers.  Yes he can be signed off practice squad but on it he is being developed and has chance of being starter next year rather being signed by another team off the squad and then cut after minimum number of games as has happened with a number of young kickers.

 

They still do.

[Happy]

40 minutes ago, JimS said:

Trying to sneak a kicker onto the PS is how they lost Dustin Hopkins. Chase McLaughlin was waived at the end of training camp and picked up within 24 hours, my guess is the same thing happened. 

 

Beane commented in one of his conference calls (late Sunday call?) that Bass sat down with a psychologist or similar in the Bills organization for an hour or so before the draft. So, there's that. ?

 

Thanks for pointing the bolded out.  Good to know

[YoloinOhio]

19 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

Thanks for pointing the bolded out.  Good to know

He was also asked about the involvement of the mental health doctor in his WGR interview yesterday morning. She was in the combine interviews as well as met with select prospects via zoom pre-draft 

[cbatl32]

12 hours ago, Turbo44 said:

Nope he hit around that % 2 years ago, last year he was 20 for 28 which isn’t good . Love his strong leg, but if he isn’t accurate, it won’t matter. Making 60 yarders with a one step approach means sh$t if you miss 35 yarders

I looked up his misses from his Senior year.  He had 8 misses.  They were from 53, 48 (blocked), 48 (blocked), 46, 43, 41, 33 and 32 yards.  Considering the distance and the blocks, you can really factor out 4 of those (46 and beyond).  So only 4 'bad misses' during his Senior year.  Certainly a lot of potential.

[ehfeuh57]

12 hours ago, Flip Johnson said:

Because of the investment of the pick, I would guess he is very likely to make the team. If he struggles in camp the team might still keep him on as a KO specialist.

 

if Haus Money kicks very good or better leading up to season he is a lock. it's up to him.

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, aristocrat said:

kicker is the most important spot besides qb.  think about house money hitting all those 50 yarders the year we broke the playoff streak.  The bears kickers missing fg's over the years, vikings too. The way games are played and are so close having that edge is so important.  I'm glad house turned it around this year but if we can get a better kicker which gets us another win or 2 over a season which gives us home field you have such a leg up on the comp. 

 

This is an interesting argument. If JJ Watt in his prime was injured for a game I think a sportsbook at most would take a point off the spread. Kicker is the only player in the game besides QB that can have a 3 point or larger difference in the game. In pure scoring terms it really might be the 2nd most important position in the game.

[PhilGood08]

5 hours ago, cbatl32 said:

I looked up his misses from his Senior year.  He had 8 misses.  They were from 53, 48 (blocked), 48 (blocked), 46, 43, 41, 33 and 32 yards.  Considering the distance and the blocks, you can really factor out 4 of those (46 and beyond).  So only 4 'bad misses' during his Senior year.  Certainly a lot of potential.

I understand from Georgia Southern fans that the conditions during a lot of their games were pretty bad. Driving rain and such. Seems to agree with the NFL.com draft profile where one of the comments says, "had some issues kicking in inclement weather."  Hopefully that explains most of the misses.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

19 hours ago, Buffalo Boy said:

I’m in!!! 

Steve Christie was the man. 

I said in the draft grade thread that Bass becoming the long term answer was the pick to kick this years class into the A+ range.

My question: How does a southern kicker handle The Ralph’s weather?

 

...yes he was...Lindell acquitted himself well at OBD IMO...."honorable" mention to Booth Lustig and Bennie Ricardo.....

[Penfield45]

yup

 

he has the potential to be the best kicker in the league when he reaches his prime. will take time and patience as kickers need tons of experience but hopefully he is our franchise kicker 

[Roch Jim]

Onbe of the problems that used to exist with college kickers is that their stats were inflated because the holder was able to place the ball on a small tee, and because of the different hash marks, which reduced their degree of difficulty. Both of those differentials, I believe, have been eliminated, so projecting success from a college kicker should be easier now. The big unknown, more than any position except QB, is mental toughness. So I'm glad to hear that we at least had an opportunity to explore that a bit with our team shrink. We know he was at least 1 for 1 in GW situations, is anyone aware of any other such opportunities in his college career?

[TigerJ]

I hope not.  The Bills need significant contributions from Epenesa and Moss at least.

[Ralonzo]

11 hours ago, Limeaid said:

I think Tyler Bass is not going to be ready for NFL yet and what the Bills should do is copy what Denver did when they raided our practice squad - offer to pay him full NFL salary for his draft pick level while putting him on practice squad.  When the Bills believe their is advantage for him being active they elevated him for a game (or game set, that part of rules is unclear) and then he goes back to practice squad without risking waivers.

 

1) PS salary is not a concern with Pegulabucks. Or at least it shouldn't be before the economy armageddoned.

2) So many kickers in the NFL has that story and don't you think Beane knows it? Butker, Hopkins, Lambo, McLaughlin, etc. I'm sure the competition in camp is real, but let's face it. Anything close in accuracy, the tie is broken by leg. The kid's leg is real. And they didn't have to spend a 1st rounder like the Raiders.

[PIZ]

I sometimes forget how young theses guys (kids) are.