POLL: Is it Time to Fire Vizzy? - K Dustin Hopkins Signed!

[CivilBolt]

Getting a different kicker is positive. Keeping Vizcaino was not going to work. So got to acknowledge that.

Hopkins has the experience. So we can pick on his stats. The reason we can do that and not pick on Verity or Fry is that they don't have the years and seasons of experience Hopkins does. In a down year for kickers overall (outside of Tucker and Butker) Hopkins has been above average. Above average is a tremendous step up for our team. And hopefully, unlike Badgely and other inexperienced kickers, he has already experienced the lows of kicking and won't be crushed when he hits a rough spot. Like Badgely did. And Koo. And Vizcaino. Remember that just like Tucker has sung the praises of Verity, Vinaterri sung the praises of Badgely when he was on the Colts pre season roster. Kickers are such a frustrating roll of the dice. And we are snake bit, it seems.

TG

The positive here is Staley is not afraid of making midseason changes to make the team better. No loyalty, it is purely based on how players perform :Cheers1:

[Topcat]

The positive here is Staley is not afraid of making midseason changes to make the team better. No loyalty, it is purely based on how players perform :Cheers1:

Yep, misplaced loyalty can be a real Achilles heel, as it was with Loyal Lynn. To quote Don Corleone, "nothing personal, just business!"

[Guest]

Viz has a stronger leg than Hopkins so he would have had no problem getting touchbacks either. It’s a deliberate strategy by the coaching staff. Hence why Hopkins’ numbers will probably drop with us.

Right. It is just that I think with the quality, or lack thereof, of our kickoff coverage team, we should just take the TBs.

[UglyTruth]

[Bolt4Knob]

Glad to see him back on the PS
Give him a chance to hang around Hopkins - maybe pick up pointers and hone his craft a bit more

[Eurobolt]

Well at least it’s kickers and not QBs.

Let's play the game board game:

"Can you name them all?"

[AKFlyFisher]

I think the data doesn’t always tell the story. Vizcaino could likely kick a touchback every time but he was instructed not to by Swinton. Don’t know what the deal is with Hopkins. But if analytics/data is being used in the decision to not kick TBs by the Chargers, chances are that Washington and other teams see and use that same data. So what I am saying is I don’t think we can reach much into the kickoff numbers

TG

Has Swinton said in interviews that he is informing kickers to kick touchbacks only 40 percent of the time? I say that because 40 percent touchbacks, if you look at other kickers, is extremely low.

Here is some data:
Hopkins' TB percentages have been consistently 70 to 80 percent while in the league.
Justin Tucker, who has a kickoff team to take advantage of short kicks, still has a touchback percentage at 59 percent and has hovered at 53 percent to 68 percent his entire career.
Koo, is kicking TBs at 68 percent; by the way, an improvement from his prior years that were at roughly 40 percent (like Viz).
Lutz, with New Orleans, is at 76 percent TB percentage.
Jason Sanders, with Miami, has a TB percentage of 62 percent.
Butker has a TB percentage of 68 percent and has historically been in the mid 70s.

Given the above data -- and I could go through other kickers in the league -- I'm not sold that this is coaching affecting the data. I think this shows that Viz lacks accuracy and consistency when he kicks the ball, despite his strong leg.

Admittedly, as fans, we all work from assumptions. I know I do. I'd love to think Swinton was asking for short kickoffs, I just can't believe given the coverage units that he has called for short kickoffs almost 60 percent of the time.

[AKFlyFisher]

Viz has a stronger leg than Hopkins so he would have had no problem getting touchbacks either. It’s a deliberate strategy by the coaching staff. Hence why Hopkins’ numbers will probably drop with us.

I posted some data in another post. I don't think the coaching staff here was asking Viz to kick short kicks 60 percent of the time. Leg strength is only one factor in touchbacks. If you listen to Novak and others talk kicking, mechanics and consistency are just as important; just like in golf. I don't think Viz was consistent. If Viz was that good, then he wouldn't have problems with his accuracy on XPs. He has an accuracy issue and has raw mechanics. That is why he is in the 40s on TB percentage and someone like Tucker -- who means to kick short kicks -- is at 58 percent touchbacks.

[Xenos]

I posted some data in another post. I don't think the coaching staff here was asking Viz to kick short kicks 60 percent of the time. Leg strength is only one factor in touchbacks. If you listen to Novak and others talk kicking, mechanics and consistency are just as important; just like in golf. I don't think Viz was consistent. If Viz was that good, then he wouldn't have problems with his accuracy on XPs. He has an accuracy issue and has raw mechanics. That is why he is in the 40s on TB percentage and someone like Tucker -- who means to kick short kicks -- is at 58 percent touchbacks.

I don’t think you need that much accuracy to kick it through the end zone.

[equivocation]

We'll find out if we're kicking short on purpose soon.

[jubei]

...I guess we'll see how the kid, Blewitt, fares...

Is that REALLY his name? imagine if on a game winner he blew it???!!!

[Steve]

I don’t think you need that much accuracy to kick it through the end zone.

No, but you have to make clean contact on the sweet spot and that is tough for players who haven't develop the consistency.

But Kickers have always adjusted the trajectory of the ball. Whether it is to try an get a team to try a return, or to get more hang time on the kickoff to make it easier on the coverage guys, there are reasons why they do it.