Punter and Johnny Hekker

[biggame1190]

As much as I like Johnny Hekker as a person and great hype man for the team, I do think we should have him in a heated competition for his job this season. Johnny Hekker had times last season where he displayed a BOOMING leg and solid accuracy on his punts...But their were also numerous times where he had HORRENDOUS shanks, some punts only going 15 yards or so giving the oppenent possession at our own 40 yard line. Sure he is young but being a young Punter is not like being a young WR or QB, or even a Kicker. No comparison in "well he will grow with time".

So then I ask this question out of curiosity...Is Johnny Hecker's passing ability one of the big reasons he appears to have a solidified roster spot on this team?... Please don't get me wrong I am grateful for his ability to carry out the fake punt/FG pass! It showed useful...But how much does this way in his roster spot?

As stated Johnny Hekker had some good moments as Punter last season, some very good games! But he also had some terrible games that I cannot overlook just because he is a great teammate and seemingly down to earth cat.

I am not calling for him to be off this team, not at all. I just hope the coaching staff doesn't just bring in a young camp body to handle punts in the 4th quarter of game 1 and 4 of the preseason...I hope they bring in someone that can challenge Johnny Hekker to be more consistent (and if they good enough than sure maybe unseat him).

Johnny Hekker is a awesome guy and has ability but I just question if he has the consistency. Like I said I like the guy but there it is. :yeh:

 

[-X-]

I don't know. A punter camp battle? Like you said, Hekker was pretty solid, so bringing in someone else to challenge him for his job would only be useful if the guy you brought in had a bionic leg. Or someone who was WAY better than Hekker, at least. That's the only way you're going to see someone separate from the other. I guess it couldn't hurt, but why would you want to make one of your 90 players an additional punter? And I'm sure as cut-downs began, an extra punter would be among the first to go.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, they must feel confident in his abilities going forward. And -- he's gotta be the emergency reserve QB as well, so you'd have to find a punter who used to be a QB if you want the competition to be fair.

 

[bluecoconuts]

They'll bring another kicker and maybe punter into camp but only to give the guys a rest in the offseason... If he ends up losing his job that's another thing, but I'd say our kickers are about as safe as Bradford and the rest of the core.

 

[A55VA6]

He had a couple shanks and needs to work on his consistency but he'll be fine. Not concerned.

 

[albefree69]

biggame1190 hating inconsistency:

As much as I like Johnny Hekker as a person and great hype man for the team, I do think we should have him in a heated competition for his job this season. Johnny Hekker had times last season where he displayed a BOOMING leg and solid accuracy on his punts...But their were also numerous times where he had HORRENDOUS shanks, some punts only going 15 yards or so giving the oppenent possession at our own 40 yard line. Sure he is young but being a young Punter is not like being a young WR or QB, or even a Kicker. No comparison in "well he will grow with time".

So then I ask this question out of curiosity...Is Johnny Hecker's passing ability one of the big reasons he appears to have a solidified roster spot on this team?... Please don't get me wrong I am grateful for his ability to carry out the fake punt/FG pass! It showed useful...But how much does this way in his roster spot?

As stated Johnny Hekker had some good moments as Punter last season, some very good games! But he also had some terrible games that I cannot overlook just because he is a great teammate and seemingly down to earth cat.

I am not calling for him to be off this team, not at all. I just hope the coaching staff doesn't just bring in a young camp body to handle punts in the 4th quarter of game 1 and 4 of the preseason...I hope they bring in someone that can challenge Johnny Hekker to be more consistent (and if they good enough than sure maybe unseat him).

Johnny Hekker is a awesome guy and has ability but I just question if he has the consistency. Like I said I like the guy but there it is. :yeh:

I too was very disappointed in his consistency last year. But it wasn't just his inconsistency that bothered me. I thought his directional punting sucked big time. The guy just can't seem to be able to kick it away from Peterson for one thing. I'm hoping for a big improvement this year because I'm not impressed so far.

With the new rule about the back up QB not counting against your game day roster (pointed out to me by X) his ability to be our emergency QB is pretty useless.

 

[Thordaddy]

I too was very disappointed in his consistency last year. But it wasn't just his inconsistency that bothered me. I thought his directional punting sucked big time. The guy just can't seem to be able to kick it away from Peterson for one thing. I'm hoping for a big improvement this year because I'm not impressed so far.

With the new rule about the back up QB not counting against your game day roster (pointed out to me by X) his ability to be our emergency QB is pretty useless.

So do you have to name a punter?

 

[albefree69]

Thordaddy asking a question:
So do you have to name a punter?

It's early and I'm getting ready to take a nap (been up since 3:30 AM) so my brain is half stepping. What you're asking here?

 

[Thordaddy]

Thordaddy asking a question:
So do you have to name a punter?

It's early and I'm getting ready to take a nap (been up since 3:30 AM) so my brain is half stepping. What you're asking here?

If Hekker could BE the designated uncounted Qb

 

[-X-]

biggame1190 hating inconsistency:

As much as I like Johnny Hekker as a person and great hype man for the team, I do think we should have him in a heated competition for his job this season. Johnny Hekker had times last season where he displayed a BOOMING leg and solid accuracy on his punts...But their were also numerous times where he had HORRENDOUS shanks, some punts only going 15 yards or so giving the oppenent possession at our own 40 yard line. Sure he is young but being a young Punter is not like being a young WR or QB, or even a Kicker. No comparison in "well he will grow with time".

So then I ask this question out of curiosity...Is Johnny Hecker's passing ability one of the big reasons he appears to have a solidified roster spot on this team?... Please don't get me wrong I am grateful for his ability to carry out the fake punt/FG pass! It showed useful...But how much does this way in his roster spot?

As stated Johnny Hekker had some good moments as Punter last season, some very good games! But he also had some terrible games that I cannot overlook just because he is a great teammate and seemingly down to earth cat.

I am not calling for him to be off this team, not at all. I just hope the coaching staff doesn't just bring in a young camp body to handle punts in the 4th quarter of game 1 and 4 of the preseason...I hope they bring in someone that can challenge Johnny Hekker to be more consistent (and if they good enough than sure maybe unseat him).

Johnny Hekker is a awesome guy and has ability but I just question if he has the consistency. Like I said I like the guy but there it is. :yeh:

I too was very disappointed in his consistency last year. But it wasn't just his inconsistency that bothered me. I thought his directional punting sucked big time. The guy just can't seem to be able to kick it away from Peterson for one thing. I'm hoping for a big improvement this year because I'm not impressed so far.

With the new rule about the back up QB not counting against your game day roster (pointed out to me by X) his ability to be our emergency QB is pretty useless.

You're like Mikey sometimes, eh? You hate everything. :lol:

I thought his directional punting was excellent last year. He punted to Peterson 9 times and didn't once outkick the coverage. He even had a 68 yarder that Peterson couldn't return as part of the mix. It didn't roll - it LANDED 68 yards out of bounds. I went back and watched them all by cueing the videos and reading the box scores from those two games. He absolutely took half of the field away - unlike Donnie Jones in 2011 who gave Peterson a 10 yard cushion and the whole field. I'm not so sure your memory serves you well on this one, Albe. For a rookie, he did better than you'd expect a rookie would.

 

[albefree69]

Thordaddy clarifies:
If Hekker could BE the designated uncounted Qb

The light dawns. :lol:

Sure but there's no need for that with 3 QBs. Plus, I think we drafted someone who played QB in HS. But that's immaterial to me. I'm interested in one thing from my punter. Punting skills.

 

[Thordaddy]

That's sort of how I remember it too X but not having the tec savvy and band width I can't review games that way, so I UNCHARACTERISTICALLY kept my mouth shut

 

[-X-]

That's sort of how I remember it too X but not having the tec savvy and band width I can't review games that way, so I UNCHARACTERISTICALLY kept my mouth shut

Then I guess you can't see this? :boohoo:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBLuiop-Kxk[/youtube]

 

[albefree69]

X comparing me to a TV star:

I thought his directional punting was excellent last year. He punted to Peterson 9 times and didn't once outkick the coverage. He even had a 68 yarder that Peterson couldn't return as part of the mix. It didn't roll - it LANDED 68 yards out of bounds. I went back and watched them all by cueing the videos and reading the box scores from those two games. He absolutely took half of the field away - unlike Donnie Jones in 2011 who gave Peterson a 10 yard cushion and the whole field. I'm not so sure your memory serves you well on this one, Albe. For a rookie, he did better than you'd expect a rookie would.

First of all, Life (w/cinnamon) is my favorite cereal so yeah, great comparison. :lol:
Second of all, I think you just made my point for me. The object was for Peterson to not field the punt at all. He was supposed to kick it out of bounds so as to not take a chance on a big return.

First game against the Cards:
5 punts 76 return yards for a 15.2 yard average. Please. EDITED the yard average figure.
Second game against the Cards:
4 punts 59 return yards for a 14.8 yard average. Please.

Patrick could have made the PB as a PR from just our games. :boohoo:

As was written in one of our current threads, there is no "rookie" season for kickers.

As for my memory...did I mention that Life is my favorite cereal? I actually have a bowl of Life every weekday morning. I make pancakes for my daughter on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

It's possible that I am coloring my perceptions of his year by the horrible punting he did against the Cards but I think those games were really bad. I could care less that he had one fantastic punt. As was mentioned by both Biggame and myself, consistency is what we're looking for. I think he tries too much for the big punt instead of letting them happen naturally. That affects his accuracy and causes him to occasionally shank some punts.

I'm not saying he had a bad year but I certainly wouldn't characterize it as a good year. It was just OK. I expected much more from him.

 

[nighttrain]

one excellent kick!
train

 

[-X-]

First game against the Cards:
5 punts 76 return yards for a 26 yard average. Please.

Nope.

The object was for Peterson to not field the punt at all. He was supposed to kick it out of bounds so as to not take a chance on a big return.

Not necessarily. That was the objective in 2011. Last year the objective was to punt directionally to give the coverage units the chance to lock down half the field. That's what he did, and that's what they did. He's a great athlete and a star returner, but he didn't hurt the Rams one bit. I still maintain Hekker isn't a problem, and is going to continue to improve and become a real asset.

And ....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBLuiop-Kxk[/youtube]

 

[The Rammer]

Hekker is a Bad mofo and I'd be shocked if he was let go before the season. Funny story at the AZ game in PHX: A guy and his GF from LA were yelling at Hekker that was sitting next to us on the Rams sideline. We were first row so we were right next to Hekker and he was yelling Loud at him "HEKKKKKKKKERRR" "I LOVE HOW YOU KICKED A NEGATIVE 10 YARD KICK AT OREGEON STATE!!!" Hekker started laughing and nodded his head... He came after game it was pretty funny. I got pictures but don't know how to post them.

 

[-X-]

I got pictures but don't know how to post them.

Just use the Attach feature at the bottom of your posts.

First "Choose the file" from your computer,
then "Add the file" to put it in your post.

 

[albefree69]

X flaunting his superior vision:
Nope.

Not necessarily. That was the objective in 2011. Last year the objective was to punt directionally to give the coverage units the chance to lock down half the field. That's what he did, and that's what they did. He's a great athlete and a star returner, but he didn't hurt the Rams one bit. I still maintain Hekker isn't a problem, and is going to continue to improve and become a real asset.

Yeah that was me not seeing it correctly although 15.2 yards per return is still in the horrible category.

"Not necessarily" is both true and a good way to put it. So let me change what I'm saying to this:

The stuff in blue was probably true for games without a premier KR like Peterson. Against returners like Peterson, If he wasn't supposed to kick it away from him then that was really bad coaching IMO. The announcers were continually talking about that in both games and I agreed with them at the time and I still do.

Yep, awesome kick.

Consistency, consistency, consistency.

Biggame and I never tried to portray Hekkers punting as a problem and I think we're both expecting an improvement this year. As I said, I think his problem was trying to over kick the ball and after a year of reflection I think he probably understands that.

Just wait till we have a discussion about Legatron. That's when you'll really hear me complain. :nahhh:

 

[LesBaker]

Who would you replace Hekker with....or even bring in that would seriously challenge him? He's already better than half the kickers in the league.

 

[albefree69]

LesBaker missing one of my main points:
Who would you replace Hekker with....or even bring in that would seriously challenge him? He's already better than half the kickers in the league.

I don't want to replace him because he doesn't need replacing. I just want him to play more within himself and become more consistent. I like him as a person and as a player. But he can play much better IMO.