Mike Nugent?

[ShulaSteakhouse]

So, if you run into him in the 2nd round and he's still there, do you draft him?

Sure Graham is very reliable from 45 in, but he can't kick-off, I realize he's working on that this off-season, not sure how much it will help.

Nugent is one of the best kickers you'll ever see, clutch, great on kick-offs and just as good at FG kicking from any makeable distance.

I think it would be nice to lock that position up for 10 years and forget about it for once, much like the Patriots and Colts have been able to do (plus you save a roster spot) and trade Graham for a draft pick, or whatever you can get for him after his year last season.

I have to admit, if Nugent didn't have local ties being a Buckeye, I wouldn't think much of it. But he'd be a great draw for the northern and central Ohio fan base.

I have nothing against Graham at all and am just as happy having him here if that's the way it ends up.

But I do know that field position KILLS the Bengals every week and it's been that way around here for years.

The defense is essentially given one or two series less of downs after every score and twice a game if you think about it. That can't help in close games, when the opposition is constantly starting at the 35-40 yard line.

I have not looked up the stats as for starting field position - if there even is such a thing that's searchable - but I'd be interested to see where the Bengals rank.

I have a feeling he won't be there though for the Bengals that late in the 2nd, but it's still very possible.

Just a thought, you never know with the Bengals.

[AGrizzlyBaer]

NO! you have big money with shane, he is mister automatic. anyways i could see a team that despretly needs a kicker going that rout in the second

[chrishcovga]

There is no doubt that Nugent will be the first specialist drafted ,and perhaps as high as the Second round. The only reason why I don't think the Giants will jump on him in the Second is because they do have other immediate needs and are in no position to think they're a ( Kicker ) away from a playoff run, i.e. the Raiders 1st round selection of Sebastian Janikowski a few years back.

[turningpoint]

Jets will take him in the 2nd round, easily.

s**t the guy is clutch from 55yds out, imgaine if they had him in PIT.

[bengalboomer7]

I predict the second round to Minnesota before Anderson's leg falls off

[#85MVP]

Problem: kicker jay feely's contract is running out

Answer: take nugent in the 2nd round.

NUGENT TO ATLANTA

[bengalsfan33]

We won't take him because we have some major money on Graham and he's done a great job for us, so why draft a kicker when we already have one of the best?

[schweinhart]

Jets will take him in the 2nd round, easily.

s**t the guy is clutch from 55yds out, imgaine if they had him in PIT.

I'm w/ Turning Point. No way the Jets don't take Nugent after the mess they got into in playoffs.

[BengalSIS]

Don't MAKE me bring out the league kickoff stats again.

As for Nugent, he is definitely going to go early to someone. He won't be nailing them out of the endzone like he does in college though unless he goes to a warm climate or high altitude. Jano kicked the same way in college...

The ball, the tee, the starting spot, the coaching....it all affects the kickoff. He will be good, but there are never guarantees. He's definitely worth a fairly early pic though.

[bengalboomer7]

Minnesota needs one even worse and they p[ick before the jets

[schweinhart]

Minnesota needs one even worse and they p[ick before the jets

Yeah the Vikes are proly in worst shape at K than any other team. Morten is ancient and a UFA who can't kick past 42 yds anymore. Plus they got an RFA who boots 65 yds on KOs but is terrible w/ FGs.

They could definitely bite on Nugent that early but I guess they address their DT rotation 1st. I like the Vikes to pick up a free agent at K and draft Jonathan Nichols in the 5th.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Don't MAKE me bring out the league kickoff stats again

Please do BengalSIS!! I am very interested in those, or anything you have.

I know we're talkin' family here for you so I apologize - as I said I am more than happy if Shayne stays, but am under the impression the Bengals' may be looking for a kickoff specialist.

I also forgot they signed Shayne to a rather large contract for a kicker.

[PalmertotheJohnsons]

being in columbus and watching the bucks every saturday i have to say mike nugent might be one of the best kickers to come out in years and he's not a headcase (janikowski) but the only way i see him in stripes is if he is available in the late late rounds(6th, 7th) and i seriously doubt that he'll drop that far. i'm in agreement with everyone when they say that the bengals kickoffs killed them last year, but this team has much more pressing needs on both sides of the ball to use an early pick on nug. esp, in the second...who would you rather have shazor or nug? WHO-DEY

[skyline]

TN is probably interested as well...

Their normal kicker has been injured for the past two years, and they keep having to bring in the 200 year old Gary Anderson to fill in...

[Kirkendall]

We won't take him because we have some major money on Graham and he's done a great job for us, so why draft a kicker when we already have one of the best?

Yeap yeap. Love the Graham.

[BengalSIS]

I am tired of people saying kickoffs KILLED us last year. They didn't. The opponent's avg start was the 29. Cinci was 13th in opposition starting spot. Sorry guys, but that's not getting killed.

I'll be back to edit this with stats in a second...

Ok, taken from an earlier post in Kickoff Specialist thread:

These are the stats for kickers and kickoffs from nfl.com + one column I added showing the avg starting distance for opponents.

Any kicker with less than 10 kickoffs was not included.

You will note how many southern kickers are in the top group. Also note that several of those kickers had kicks returned for touchdowns.

And for those who refuse to believe me when I say leg strength has little to do with kickoff distance, check out Todd Sauerbruns kickoffs. Nobody can accuse that boy of having a weak leg.

And before I hear the argument about coverage units controlling the return avg, I agree to a point. But the hang time and placement also help. Otherwise, avg return would not be a stat kept for kickers.

Player Team G KO Avg TB OSK OSKR Ret RetAvg TDs Starting point

1.Neil Rackers ARI 16 70 67.5 23 0 0 46 22.1 1 24.6

2.Josh Scobee JAC 16 62 65.2 11 0 0 50 19.9 0 24.7

3.Jason Hanson DET 16 71 64.3 14 2 0 53 19.3 0 25

4.Matt Bryant MIA 3 12 63.7 0 0 0 12 18.9 0 25.2

5.Billy Cundiff DAL 16 67 61.7 3 1 1 62 17.5 0 25.8

6.Jay Feely ATL 16 73 63.8 13 3 2 55 20 1 26.2

7.Jeff Chandler WAS 3 14 62.2 0 0 0 14 20 0 27.8

8.David Akers PHI 16 86 64.9 12 0 0 73 23.2 0 28.3

9.Toby Gowin NYJ 16 76 63 7 0 0 69 21.7 1 28.7

10.Micah Knorr DEN 12 61 64.4 15 1 1 45 23.3 0 28.9

11.Olindo Mare MIA 11 44 64.6 11 0 0 32 23.5 1 28.9

12.Matt Stover BAL 16 23 62.7 2 0 0 21 21.8 0 29.1

13.Shayne Graham CIN 16 82 60.5 2 1 0 79 19.6 0 29.1

14.John Carney NO 16 42 62.4 0 2 0 40 21.6 0 29.2

15.Kris Brown HOU 16 69 63.8 9 1 0 58 23.2 1 29.4

16.Sebastian Janikowski OAK 16 76 64.1 12 1 0 62 23.5 0 29.4

17.Mitch Berger NO 16 37 65.4 1 0 0 34 24.9 0 29.5

18.Jeff Reed PIT 16 84 62.1 7 0 0 74 21.6 1 29.5

19.Martin Gramatica TB 11 46 62 6 1 0 38 21.6 0 29.6

20.Aaron Elling MIN 7 35 63.8 0 1 0 34 23.5 0 29.7

21.Rian Lindell BUF 16 83 58.3 3 3 1 77 18.3 0 30

22.Adam Vinatieri NE 16 94 63 6 0 0 86 23.3 1 30.3

23.Josh Brown SEA 16 82 61.4 5 1 0 76 21.8 0 30.4

24.Wade Richey BAL 12 53 63.1 7 0 0 43 24.1 2 31

25.Jason Baker IND 4 33 61 2 0 0 29 22.1 0 31.1

26.Nate Kaeding SD 16 89 61.1 2 0 0 82 22.3 2 31.2

27.Ryan Longwell GB 16 83 58.6 2 3 0 79 20.2 0 31.6

28.Steve Christie NYG 16 71 57.7 2 2 1 66 19.4 0 31.7

29.Martin Gramatica IND 4 21 60.4 1 0 0 19 22.2 0 31.8

30.Jeff Wilkins STL 16 70 63.6 3 0 0 66 25.5 1 31.9

31.Lawrence Tynes KC 16 94 60.5 7 2 1 85 22.4 0 31.9

32.Jason Baker DEN 4 24 63 1 0 0 22 25 1 32

33.John Kasay CAR 14 56 59.9 2 1 0 52 21.9 0 32

34.Phil Dawson CLE 16 69 60.5 5 4 1 59 22.6 1 32.1

35.John Hall WAS 8 30 60.8 1 0 0 29 23 1 32.2

36.Craig Hentrich TEN 16 73 57.6 3 4 3 65 19.8 0 32.2

37.Mike Vanderjagt IND 15 32 58.1 0 0 0 31 20.4 0 32.3

38.Jose Cortez MIN 8 38 63.9 4 0 0 33 27 1 33.1

39.Paul Edinger CHI 16 56 58.4 0 2 0 53 21.7 0 33.3

40.Todd Peterson SF 16 61 56.4 1 3 0 56 20 0 33.6

41.Todd Sauerbrun CAR 16 21 54.6 1 2 0 17 19.9 0 35.3

42.Jay Taylor TB 5 21 57 0 1 0 20 24.8 1 37.8

I also bolded the IND kicking specialists KO stats. Good thing they got THOSE guys, huh?

[Kirkendall]

Rackers is on top? WTF! hehe.

Nah, I'm with Graham. The guy is showing a nack for dependibility. I'd rather have that than some guy kicking into the endzone each time. Heck with Wilkins on special teams, there's a better chance we get a fumble and have Graham kick it for a FG! Now that's providence.

[BengalSIS]

Rackers is on top? WTF! hehe.

Nah, I'm with Graham. The guy is showing a nack for dependibility. I'd rather have that than some guy kicking into the endzone each time. Heck with Wilkins on special teams, there's a better chance we get a fumble and have Graham kick it for a FG! Now that's providence.

hee hee

I was wondering when someone would say something about Rackers in first place. Keep in mind he's kicking in Arizona. Big difference. BUT, we all know he has a big leg. I'm happy he's in a new home and doing well. He had bad karma here.

[#85MVP]

i would rather have nugent than graham BUT we have more needs than kicker in the second round like WR, TE, C, DE, DT, S. dont expect to see nugent in orange and black next year.

[BengalSIS]

i would rather have nugent than graham BUT we have more needs than kicker in the second round like WR, TE, C, DE, DT, S. dont expect to see nugent in orange and black next year.

I think that goes without saying as you don't have any NEEDS at kicker in the second or any round.

Nugent, if he can adjust quickly to the nfl, might only be marginally better at kickoffs and won't consistantly be any better on FG's. Most FG kickers can have great seasons of 90% or better, but few repeat those kinds of performances year after year.

[AGrizzlyBaer]

i like how martin gramitca is on there twice lol

[BengalSIS]

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/8236006

"5. Ohio State's Mike Nugent is the best kicker in the draft, but he may have hurt himself by failing to drive a single kickoff into the end zone. That doesn't mean he won't be a high draft choice. He will, with one special teams coach predicting he goes in the third round -- largely because he's accurate and because six of his 11 kickoffs had hang times of four seconds or more. "Anytime you have a kicker who's 5-feet and the captain of Ohio State University's team there's something special about him," said Detroit special teams coordinator Chuck Priefer, who compared Nugent's leg speed to Jason Hanson, David Akers and Mike Vanderjagt. That's not bad."