We Need a New Punter

[Buffalo716]

3 hours ago, Orlando Buffalo said:

Punters for the Bills likely will not impact any games but poor holds can cost us games. It is why Bojo was cut.

Bojo was never cut and there's never been a punter who was talented at punting who was cut for holding ability 

 

Ethan is correct it is the most overblown thing...

 

Bojo new kicker says he is the best holder he's ever had..  it's literally not a hard skill to learn 

 

I repeat a good punter has never been cut because of his holding abilities

[ganesh]

When did we start making decisions based on pre-season rankings?

[section122]

4 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Bojo held just fine as Dustin Hopkins was voted as an alternate to the ProBowl last year.

Maybe the guy teaching him was terrible. 

Maybe he was just fine holding the ball and Bass just wasn't any good. 

 

Mason Crosby had by far his worst year with bojo holding as well.  Maybe he has since figured it out but it was a known weakness.

 

Also it was a knock on Araiza coming out as he didnt have experience with it.

[The Helmet of]

I compare every punter to Brian Moorman.

 

I’m always disappointed.

 

When Buffalo was irrelevant during the drought years special teams was usually top notch. It was all wasted.

 

Now we’re superbowl contenders and special teams is trending to the bottom of the league in many metrics! 
 

Levy also had top tier Teams units.

 

Beane needs to send his scouts around the globe and search HIGH and LOW for some ace kickers. Search other sports— anything involving kicking.

 

Others may scoff but many will be watching to see how the “punt god” does this year.

Edited September 1 by MarkKelso'sHelmet

[BarleyNY]

16 hours ago, DapperCam said:

Sam Martin in the worst starting punter in the league. I present to you the PFF grades for the preseason. He is below a bunch of punters that were released.

 

 

Not sure if serious….

 

But PFF ranked Martin 13th overall last season with a 70.8 grade so it would seem we are good. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

16 hours ago, DapperCam said:

Sam Martin in the worst starting punter in the league. I present to you the PFF grades for the preseason. He is below a bunch of punters that were released.

 

 

I am surprised by the negative reactions. Sam Martin has been terrible since the day he got there

[Orlando Buffalo]

8 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Bojo held just fine as Dustin Hopkins was voted as an alternate to the ProBowl last year.

Maybe the guy teaching him was terrible. 

Maybe he was just fine holding the ball and Bass just wasn't any good. 

 

I am mad at you for making use Reddit but I put this forward.

I will also point out that why punters are cut is not exactly big new for anyone in the NFL, so assuming we know why is improper.

[PromoTheRobot]

18 hours ago, DapperCam said:

Sam Martin in the worst starting punter in the league. I present to you the PFF grades for the preseason. He is below a bunch of punters that were released.

 

 

 

You have PFF grades? Welp, there's no refuting those.

[I'm Spartacus]

Need to use an existing defensive or offensive player to punt. Saves an extra roster spot. See Paul McGuire. Use a receiver to hold for Bass (who is starting to kick like a perch!).

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

12 minutes ago, I'm Spartacus said:

Need to use an existing defensive or offensive player to punt. Saves an extra roster spot. See Paul McGuire. Use a receiver to hold for Bass (who is starting to kick like a perch!).

 

So you want to reduce the practice time this player gets at WR to have him hold??  This isn't 1980 where the coach could just tell the player to stick around and extra 1/2 hour to work with the kicker.  This is why back up QB's rarely hold anymore for the same reason, they don't want to further reduce the limited amount of practice time they get.  And now you want top make it even worse by using a WR?? 

[Max Fischer]

So, three pages in and not one suggestion on who would replace Martin.  

[Jay_Fixit]

Yep. Another punter thread.

 

 

[Jimmy Harris 69]

According to Spotrac, punters earn an average of $1,520,940 per year. This figure represents the average salaries for the special teams unit in the NFL for the 2023 season. The Bills are paying Martin $2M for three years. This puts him in the middle of the pack for punters in the NFL. The decision to hurry into a deal was a poor one considering how much they punt the ball. A rookie would have served them as well for under a million. The team has bungled the position in recent years. Bojo was a much better punter than any of the yo’s they’ve brought in since. One article cited holding as a possible issue for the decline in Tyler Bass’ effectiveness because that was the only difference they could see from the outside. Hardly scientific. If the ball wasn’t being placed properly for Bass, don’t you think that would be fixed by lunchtime? Other players could hold if the punter wasn’t capable. They have a salary problem with a player who has the yips.  Maybe they could hire that shrink from the “Natural”. “ missing kicks is like a disease as bad as bubonic plague.…”

[I'm Spartacus]

1 hour ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

So you want to reduce the practice time this player gets at WR to have him hold??  This isn't 1980 where the coach could just tell the player to stick around and extra 1/2 hour to work with the kicker.  This is why back up QB's rarely hold anymore for the same reason, they don't want to further reduce the limited amount of practice time they get.  And now you want top make it even worse by using a WR?? 

Easy big fella! I was 98% kidding. Do you work for McDermott? 🤪

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

2 hours ago, I'm Spartacus said:

Easy big fella! I was 98% kidding. Do you work for McDermott? 🤪

 

Well there's has been many posts over the years suggesting this so hard to tell who is serious and who is kidding.

[hondo in seattle]

13 hours ago, JDubya76 said:

So we are are anrguing about who is the smartest kid on the short bus.

 

Maybe...

 

But Martin had the 28th best average in the NFL last season (26th Net).  He had only one good year in his career - back in 2016.  After 11 years in the league, he's probably not going to get any better than he was last season.  And he wasn't good last season.  

 

Araiza is just beginning his NFL career.  His trajectory probably points in a better direction.

[machine gun kelly]

Length of punt is not relevant, pre-season punts are not relevant.  The key is directional punts, pinning as close to the goal line is relevant, so this measured on ball placement.  Martin is not the best, but neither the worst.  The important piece is what happens in the season, and how close can we get the ball to the goal line.

 

This data is completely irrelevant.  I’m not picking on the OP just needs more depth to evaluate a punter’s effectiveness.  Bass is a bigger concern as he has the skills and the leg, just his psyche needs fixing.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

No matter how I try, I can't rework Huey Lewis's 'I Want a New Drug' into I want a new punter. 🙁

[I'm Spartacus]

7 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Well there's has been many posts over the years suggesting this so hard to tell who is serious and who is kidding.

Just remembered, Davidson is supposedly a pretty good punter! Right now on the practice squad.

[BigDingus]

On 8/31/2024 at 7:33 PM, BuffaloBillyG said:

We need a new ST Coordinator. 

 

How is it Bass has been here this long and they still haven't figured out how to fix that wicked slice he gets? Perhaps she has caught up to Martin, but he wasn't a bad punter when he got here. Our coverage units aren't great... there's a theme here.

 

What's Bobby April up to these days? He was one of the few bright spots on this team for a while...