Shayne Graham

[Jet23]

Great guy......average kicker.

Every NFL stat relating to Shayne Graham proves this statement to be false.

Why all the hate for Opie Cunningham?

Look again. This time pay attention to little things called touchbacks and average kickoff length. I will save you the suspense, he is horrible at both. Unless you want to burn a roster spot for a designated kickoff specialist, you must consider the good and the bad. I went through the trouble of putting together a formula for you:

some good + some bad = AVERAGE

Shayne is money from inside 40. He had a groin injury that was affecting his kickoffs. But until that happened he was putting them inside the 5 pretty regularly. I know, because his short kickoffs were always a criticism of mine as well. Then he did leg conditioning or whatever he said all offseason, came back, and was getting touchbacks pretty regularly.

The worst thing you can say about Shayne stat-wise, is that his kickoffs are short. The best thing you can say about Shayne stat-wise is he has spent much of his career on the top 5 all time FG accuracy % list.

So again, why the Opie bash? "Is that you, Barn?" (sorry...Mayberry joke. )

The 40? He!! I'm money within 40. I'm really not trying to bash Opie, I just don't think he is worth top 15 money. Jim Breach worked in Cincinnati, because he had Lee Johnson to kickoff. IMO Opie needs that type of situation. I respect the fact that he has worked on his kickoffs, but wasn't that a big reason for his leg problems. Didn't Pelfry go through pretty much the same thing? It didn't work out too well for him.

Respectfully,

Ernest T. Bass

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

The 40? He!! I'm money within 40.

If you care to demonstrate that in an NFL stadium with 11 big, ugly guys running at you who want to kill you, under the biggest pressure of any situation in sports, then you can make a few hundred thousand dollars per year. In other words, I call shenanigans.

Bengals fans have been spoiled by having a long string of better than average kickers. Talk to fans from other teams about their crappy kickers. Raider fans were getting killed by their kickers (which is why Davis drafted Jank), any team that employed one of the Flying Grammatica Brothers, etc. Seriously, we haven't had to suffer through truly "average" kickers much. Count it among the few blessings we have as Bengals fans.

As far as Shayne's kickoffs - true. Can we teach Huber to do kickoffs? Or, if it comes to it, I could think of worse things to do with the 45th roster spot than a kickoff specialist who can drill it between the posts.

[Jet23]

The 40? He!! I'm money within 40.

If you care to demonstrate that in an NFL stadium with 11 big, ugly guys running at you who want to kill you, under the biggest pressure of any situation in sports, then you can make a few hundred thousand dollars per year. In other words, I call shenanigans.

Bengals fans have been spoiled by having a long string of better than average kickers. Talk to fans from other teams about their crappy kickers. Raider fans were getting killed by their kickers (which is why Davis drafted Jank), any team that employed one of the Flying Grammatica Brothers, etc. Seriously, we haven't had to suffer through truly "average" kickers much. Count it among the few blessings we have as Bengals fans.

As far as Shayne's kickoffs - true. Can we teach Huber to do kickoffs? Or, if it comes to it, I could think of worse things to do with the 45th roster spot than a kickoff specialist who can drill it between the posts.

Wow, 40 yards with a bunch of big guys on the field with me. That's impressive. In 4 years of high school, I never missed a single fg of less than 40 years.

[gregstephens]

The 40? He!! I'm money within 40.

If you care to demonstrate that in an NFL stadium with 11 big, ugly guys running at you who want to kill you, under the biggest pressure of any situation in sports, then you can make a few hundred thousand dollars per year. In other words, I call shenanigans.

Bengals fans have been spoiled by having a long string of better than average kickers. Talk to fans from other teams about their crappy kickers. Raider fans were getting killed by their kickers (which is why Davis drafted Jank), any team that employed one of the Flying Grammatica Brothers, etc. Seriously, we haven't had to suffer through truly "average" kickers much. Count it among the few blessings we have as Bengals fans.

As far as Shayne's kickoffs - true. Can we teach Huber to do kickoffs? Or, if it comes to it, I could think of worse things to do with the 45th roster spot than a kickoff specialist who can drill it between the posts.

Wow, 40 yards with a bunch of big guys on the field with me. That's impressive. In 4 years of high school, I never missed a single fg of less than 40 years.

What a coincidence--me neither! Of course, I didn't make any, either.

[Jet23]

The 40? He!! I'm money within 40.

If you care to demonstrate that in an NFL stadium with 11 big, ugly guys running at you who want to kill you, under the biggest pressure of any situation in sports, then you can make a few hundred thousand dollars per year. In other words, I call shenanigans.

Bengals fans have been spoiled by having a long string of better than average kickers. Talk to fans from other teams about their crappy kickers. Raider fans were getting killed by their kickers (which is why Davis drafted Jank), any team that employed one of the Flying Grammatica Brothers, etc. Seriously, we haven't had to suffer through truly "average" kickers much. Count it among the few blessings we have as Bengals fans.

As far as Shayne's kickoffs - true. Can we teach Huber to do kickoffs? Or, if it comes to it, I could think of worse things to do with the 45th roster spot than a kickoff specialist who can drill it between the posts.

Wow, 40 yards with a bunch of big guys on the field with me. That's impressive. In 4 years of high school, I never missed a single fg of less than 40 years.

What a coincidence--me neither! Of course, I didn't make any, either.

Give that man a C-gar!

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Wow, 40 yards with a bunch of big guys on the field with me. That's impressive. In 4 years of high school, I never missed a single fg of less than 40 years.

Yeah, that's high school. Players are a little bigger and faster in the NFL. They're taller too, so you need more angle on your kicks - none of those low floaters anymore, 40 yard FGs need to be at least half way up the uprights. Oh, and you're doing it in a stadium with 60,000 people, not 600, and you've never had that kind of pressure, I'm guessing. I'll admit I haven't.

Every year, you see college kickers who looked great in college fail in the NFL. You're a step below that. But if you really think kicking is easy in the NFL and you can hit 95% from under 40 yards in game situations, go try out. If you're as accurate as you claim (of which I have doubts), you can go make a few hundred thousand dollars a year. Unless you're currently making $300,000 to work half a year, go do it.

Either do it or forget the "I could do that" routine, because you can't.

[Pidge]

I hope we resign him long term.

Me too. Shayne is a strength of the team right now and has been for some yrs now. Even signing him to a longer term, hefty contract for a kicker, means nothing in the grand scheme of things. So many s**t WRs and linemen are on far bigger contracts in the NFL without a word uttered.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Shayne's biggest weakeness is that if you need a 47+ yard FG to win a game, you're out of luck most likely (he can kick them a little over 50, but the Bengals' rarely test him in those situations and the Palmer offense keeps him close) - at least with a handful of other good kickers you can't make that claim. It probably costs the Bengals' 1 win a year on average - a lot of kickers do though.

He hasn't made a FG over 48 yards since 2006. They don't test him much over 45 much any ways - they know his limitations, which aren't exactly unusual or unforgiveable.

He's done well and is consistent enough to keep until someone proves better or he has a bad year. Top 5 $? I would balk at that also long term. His kick-offs aren't very good and as noted he lacks a lot of accuracy over 45 yards.

He isn't holding them back much - kickers who are that consistent, are fairly rare. You're taking a trade-off with him.

[Bearcat1975]

Shayne's biggest weakeness is that if you need a 47+ yard FG to win a game, you're out of luck most likely (he can kick them a little over 50, but the Bengals' rarely test him in those situations and the Palmer offense keeps him close) - at least with a handful of other good kickers you can't make that claim. It probably costs the Bengals' 1 win a year on average - a lot of kickers do though.

He hasn't made a FG over 48 yards since 2006. They don't test him much over 45 much any ways - they know his limitations, which aren't exactly unusual or unforgiveable.

He's done well and is consistent enough to keep until someone proves better or he has a bad year. Top 5 $? I would balk at that also long term. His kick-offs aren't very good and as noted he lacks a lot of accuracy over 45 yards.

He isn't holding them back much - kickers who are that consistent, are fairly rare. You're taking a trade-off with him.

Well said. We now have a punter that can pin an opponent inside the 10. I would rather have the combination of P/K we have now, rather than a K who can hit the occasional 58 yarder but shanks 30 yarders now and again.

"How bout instead of trying this 56 yard FG, we pin them inside their own 5 instead."

[Jet23]

Wow, 40 yards with a bunch of big guys on the field with me. That's impressive. In 4 years of high school, I never missed a single fg of less than 40 years.

Yeah, that's high school. Players are a little bigger and faster in the NFL. They're taller too, so you need more angle on your kicks - none of those low floaters anymore, 40 yard FGs need to be at least half way up the uprights. Oh, and you're doing it in a stadium with 60,000 people, not 600, and you've never had that kind of pressure, I'm guessing. I'll admit I haven't.

Every year, you see college kickers who looked great in college fail in the NFL. You're a step below that. But if you really think kicking is easy in the NFL and you can hit 95% from under 40 yards in game situations, go try out. If you're as accurate as you claim (of which I have doubts), you can go make a few hundred thousand dollars a year. Unless you're currently making $300,000 to work half a year, go do it.

Either do it or forget the "I could do that" routine, because you can't.

Lighten up DC it was a joke. Like Greg, I have never missed a High School field goal....nor have I ever attempted one. I did, however, miss a 35-yard game winning field goal (wide left) in flag football about 20 years ago.

I guess being 'money' inside of 40-yards would be something......if it was true. Opie has only been 'money' twice in his career (2003 & 2007) from under 40-yards. Other than those two years he finished 22nd, 20th, 15th and 21st in fg % inside of 40-yards. That's hardly 'money'. But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of a good argument.

I also find it strange that you argue his value based on his ability to be 'money' within 40-yards, when it was a missed 39-yard field goal that kept them out of the playoffs. That miss actually cost his teammates a bunch of 'money'.

[HairOnFire]

He hasn't made a FG over 48 yards since 2006. They don't test him much over 45 much any ways - they know his limitations, which aren't exactly unusual or unforgiveable.

He's done well and is consistent enough to keep until someone proves better or he has a bad year. Top 5 $? I would balk at that also long term. His kick-offs aren't very good and as noted he lacks a lot of accuracy over 45 yards.

He isn't holding them back much - kickers who are that consistent, are fairly rare. You're taking a trade-off with him.

Dead on.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

I guess being 'money' inside of 40-yards would be something......if it was true. Opie has only been 'money' twice in his career (2003 & 2007) from under 40-yards. Other than those two years he finished 22nd, 20th, 15th and 21st in fg % inside of 40-yards. That's hardly 'money'. But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of a good argument.

I also find it strange that you argue his value based on his ability to be 'money' within 40-yards, when it was a missed 39-yard field goal that kept them out of the playoffs. That miss actually cost his teammates a bunch of 'money'.

All I know is his career FG numbers look pretty danged good compared to his peers. In fact, he's been in the top half of FG % each of the last 6 years. Don't know how many other kickers can say the same, but I think it's a short list. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of mindless kicker-bashing.

And again, we've never had a terrible kicker, at least not in years. We tend to get spoiled. Talk to fans of teams that have had some kickers come in at around 60% some year.

As for the missed 39 yarder, if I'm recalling the same kick it was aimed well, then moved like none I've ever seen. Looked like a vintage 1998 Kerry Wood curveball the way it did a 90 degree hook in midair. I'm inclined to give Opie the benefit of some doubt on that one, possibly the laces? I'm not sure.

I'm not saying Opie is the best kicker in the league, but he's pretty accurate and he doesn't choke. Until someone comes up with a better alternative, I'm OK with him.

[Esiason#7]

I think it's funny how everyone blames Graham for the Bengals missing the postseason in 2006.

Was Graham the one who blew a 28-7 lead to San Diego that season? No, the Bengals defense did that.

Was Graham the one who gave up a 67 yard TD pass to Santonio Holmes in OT the last game of that season...you know the REAL play that kept the bengals from the playoffs? No, the Bengals defense did that.

Was Graham the one who let rookie QB Jay Cutler drive his team 99 yards in the snow for a TD in that X-mas eve game? No, the Bengals defense did that.

Theres plenty of blame to go around for the Bengals missing the playoffs that year.

[Passepartout]

Usually kickers and punters are low-key, under the radar players!

Surprised that he would make that comment.

[BengalSIS]

In the last three seasons, he has 29 touchbacks on 222 kickoffs.

A % of 13%.

His KO% this year ranks him 14th with a 15.2% TB %. not horrible, and well ahead of other very good kickers like Josh Brown (12.1), Jeff Reed (11.4), Adam V (10%), Robbie Gould (11.4%), Matt Stover (11.9%), Jason Hanson who kicks in a dome most times (10.6), Nate Keading (8.7%), etc....

His KO avg for distance is also skewed by the dumbass squib kicks the Bengals like to call. I hate those and they suck the yards from the overall kickoff avg.

Reminder.....

Have a great day.

[BengalPimp]

Okay, maybe I was too harsh on the kicker. But that missed kick against the Steelers rankles. The Denver xmas eve miss in 2006 was not his fault-botched snap. But, again, how many game-winning kicks has Graham made?

2004- He kicked game winner against Miami with no time left; Bengals 16, Dolphins 13

2004- He kicked game winner against Baltimore withy little or no time left; Bengals 27, Ravens 26

2005- He kicked game winner with no time left against Cleveland; Bengals 23, Browns 20

Those are the game winning kicks I came up with.

......and recently????????????

Dont get me wrong, I like Graham, but for top 5 money? when he's not a top 5 kicker? I'd probably put him in the top 10, but not top 5.

[Ickey44]

Okay, maybe I was too harsh on the kicker. But that missed kick against the Steelers rankles. The Denver xmas eve miss in 2006 was not his fault-botched snap. But, again, how many game-winning kicks has Graham made?

2004- He kicked game winner against Miami with no time left; Bengals 16, Dolphins 13

2004- He kicked game winner against Baltimore withy little or no time left; Bengals 27, Ravens 26

2005- He kicked game winner with no time left against Cleveland; Bengals 23, Browns 20

Those are the game winning kicks I came up with.

......and recently????????????

Dont get me wrong, I like Graham, but for top 5 money? when he's not a top 5 kicker? I'd probably put him in the top 10, but not top 5.

Really, who is better out there that's actually available?? There is nothing wrong with Graham. He's been a great kicker for us since he got here. Sure he's missed a couple in the clutch, but he's also made some, too. Most of the time he's money, which is more than can be said for most kickers in the league.

[ArmyBengal]

In the last three seasons, he has 29 touchbacks on 222 kickoffs.

A % of 13%.

His KO% this year ranks him 14th with a 15.2% TB %. not horrible, and well ahead of other very good kickers like Josh Brown (12.1), Jeff Reed (11.4), Adam V (10%), Robbie Gould (11.4%), Matt Stover (11.9%), Jason Hanson who kicks in a dome most times (10.6), Nate Keading (8.7%), etc....

His KO avg for distance is also skewed by the dumbass squib kicks the Bengals like to call. I hate those and they suck the yards from the overall kickoff avg.

Reminder.....

Have a great day.

Nice to see you still poking around the site from time to time Sis. Send Shayne our best and forget the rest of the crap you see on here...

Any word on a long term deal that might be in the cards ?? I for one am hoping so...

[gregstephens]

In the last three seasons, he has 29 touchbacks on 222 kickoffs.

A % of 13%.

His KO% this year ranks him 14th with a 15.2% TB %. not horrible, and well ahead of other very good kickers like Josh Brown (12.1), Jeff Reed (11.4), Adam V (10%), Robbie Gould (11.4%), Matt Stover (11.9%), Jason Hanson who kicks in a dome most times (10.6), Nate Keading (8.7%), etc....

His KO avg for distance is also skewed by the dumbass squib kicks the Bengals like to call. I hate those and they suck the yards from the overall kickoff avg.

Reminder.....

Have a great day.

It appears someone is up to date on her Shayne Graham stats.

Please tell Shayne that he's a valued member of this community, as well as team, and I hope he is for years to come.

[Esiason#7]

In the last three seasons, he has 29 touchbacks on 222 kickoffs.

A % of 13%.

His KO% this year ranks him 14th with a 15.2% TB %. not horrible, and well ahead of other very good kickers like Josh Brown (12.1), Jeff Reed (11.4), Adam V (10%), Robbie Gould (11.4%), Matt Stover (11.9%), Jason Hanson who kicks in a dome most times (10.6), Nate Keading (8.7%), etc....

His KO avg for distance is also skewed by the dumbass squib kicks the Bengals like to call. I hate those and they suck the yards from the overall kickoff avg.

Reminder.....

Have a great day.

Nice to see you still poking around the site from time to time Sis. Send Shayne our best and forget the rest of the crap you see on here...

Any word on a long term deal that might be in the cards ?? I for one am hoping so...

Agreed 100%. I for one am hoping Graham gets a long term contract in the near future.....

[redsbengalsbucks]

The 40? He!! I'm money within 40.

If you care to demonstrate that in an NFL stadium with 11 big, ugly guys running at you who want to kill you, under the biggest pressure of any situation in sports, then you can make a few hundred thousand dollars per year. In other words, I call shenanigans.

Bengals fans have been spoiled by having a long string of better than average kickers. Talk to fans from other teams about their crappy kickers. Raider fans were getting killed by their kickers (which is why Davis drafted Jank), any team that employed one of the Flying Grammatica Brothers, etc. Seriously, we haven't had to suffer through truly "average" kickers much. Count it among the few blessings we have as Bengals fans.

As far as Shayne's kickoffs - true. Can we teach Huber to do kickoffs? Or, if it comes to it, I could think of worse things to do with the 45th roster spot than a kickoff specialist who can drill it between the posts.

Wow, 40 yards with a bunch of big guys on the field with me. That's impressive. In 4 years of high school, I never missed a single fg of less than 40 years.

You really should have went to college on a full ride scholarship then.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

I was wondering when Bengalsis was going to show up and set the record straight.

[HairOnFire]

I was wondering when Bengalsis was going to show up and set the record straight.

They keep her pretty busy setting them straight at GoBengals.

As for the matter of a long term contract, I'll let her provide the details but if I understand the short version of the story...there's no longer a long term contract offer on the table for Opie to accept. Furthermore, at this particular frozen moment in time....the two sides aren't talking.

[Jet23]

The 40? He!! I'm money within 40.

If you care to demonstrate that in an NFL stadium with 11 big, ugly guys running at you who want to kill you, under the biggest pressure of any situation in sports, then you can make a few hundred thousand dollars per year. In other words, I call shenanigans.

Bengals fans have been spoiled by having a long string of better than average kickers. Talk to fans from other teams about their crappy kickers. Raider fans were getting killed by their kickers (which is why Davis drafted Jank), any team that employed one of the Flying Grammatica Brothers, etc. Seriously, we haven't had to suffer through truly "average" kickers much. Count it among the few blessings we have as Bengals fans.

As far as Shayne's kickoffs - true. Can we teach Huber to do kickoffs? Or, if it comes to it, I could think of worse things to do with the 45th roster spot than a kickoff specialist who can drill it between the posts.

Wow, 40 yards with a bunch of big guys on the field with me. That's impressive. In 4 years of high school, I never missed a single fg of less than 40 years.

You really should have went to college on a full ride scholarship then.

I actually had several offers, including a full ride at the University of Phoenix. I ended up turning them all down and walked on at Minnesota State. I kicked the game winning fg in the 1993 Pioneer Bowl to beat West Texas.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

I actually had several offers, including a full ride at the University of Phoenix.

What a coincidence. I played DE for DeVry in the 1997 Rochambeau Bowl. Key to winning that game was the coin toss.