See ya Kaser, Welcome Donnie Jones

[SDBORN]

The "reason" is that Kaser as a holder is why all our kickers sucked. That and Lynn was enraged that he took a 3 steps instead of 1 on the blocked punt. Of course, if the ST coach had reminded him when he went out there...

What's interesting is that we had multiple holders and kickers last year. If you don't mind the torture, you can see some of the missed kicks from last year here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKYOitMlG7M

They have tried multiple holders and multiple kickers. None of the combinations so far have worked. Lynn is probably hoping Sturgis familiarity with the holder will help.

[WahooBlue]

I guess A Lynn figured out that all of the problems with kickers last year and this was because of the holder but how does that improve the
god awful performance of Special Teams other than the obvious ?
When does the coach get made accountable for his units failures ?

[richpjr]

When does the coach get made accountable for his units failures ?

Evidently, never. Now if Sturgis misses another kick this weekend, I guess our long snapper better watch out!

[21&500]

Sleeping with Bieniemy

His punch-line after getting laid.

[Heatmiser]

Ok. I have thought about this and here is what I think. Kicking is largely mental. All these guys in the NFL have the leg to make kicks, but if they get messed up mentally, they are finished. So:

1. Kicking is largely mental
2. Sturgis has been a very successful and accurate kicker in the past
3. He may be to the point now where he is messed up mentally. Could be the injury he had, could just be the slump he is in
4. Bringing in a buddy from when he was very successful may help him through the mental part
5. Chargers made a big investment in Sturgis so not going to throw that away too quickly
6. Kaser is easy to replace and he leaves no dead money

TG

[Heatmiser]

[vinabolt]

Like I said in other thread right before this move, since FG kicking is largely mental, the more the kicker trust and confidence in other parts of the process (snapping, blocking/protecting, holding), and in sync with the holder, the more accurate he is. Pro kickers should have enough legs to make extra points and short-distance FG automatically. It's the trust and confidence level that usually mess up the kicker mentally and then mess up the kick. If the kicker is at ease and confidence, trust the process, and comfortable with the timing, he will kick the ball accurately. Especially if he shown 1000 times in practices that he has the legs and the talent to make kicks and missed extra points in real game, and you know right away that he has been kicking scare. He has been nervous out there, especially in high pressure situation.

Kicking with fear and nervousness, always afraid that your mates will screw up, afraid that something will screw up back in his mind, uneasy with the timing, will cause the kicker to miss cheap shots. We need to make the cheap shots and extra points automatically before going into harder things.

About the 3 steps punt in the endzone and got blocked. Punters punt 3 steps 99% of the time since it so rare that he has to kick in the endzone. So endzone punt is a rare and uncommon play, so I'm sure the coaches, the ST staff on the sideline were yelling for him to take 1 step, like all coaches in all levels would in that situation. Those things usually are what they yelling on the sideline. It was Kaser who either didn't hear that, because his mind were else where. Or that he heard it and forgot and still did the 3 steps kick out of habit during the actual play.

[Bolt-O]

Not that I like this move, but Kaser seems to be a dumb-ass, no situational awareness. He has a huge leg, but can't back spin the ball as well as Scifres... and out kicking the coverage seems to happen too often. I don't recall him even doing or trying a coffin corner..

[vinabolt]

I wonder something wrong with Aguayo, as he's not even get invited somewhere for tryout. A lot of teams need kickers so far. I thought Aguayo's kicks in preseason were more accurate than Sturgis. Yes they both made a lot of kicks (low pressure games), but Aguayo's made kicks look more accurate, more of a sure thing than Sturgis's. The ball strongly went right through the middle, while Sturgis' made kicks were sailing a bit.

[Formula 21]

Damn good point. How unprepared are you when you dont have a backup holder. Or how stupid are you when your starting qb is the backup holder.

Take your pick.

[Bolt-O]

Especially with Geno being active for the games...

[richpjr]

I wonder something wrong with Aguayo, as he's not even get invited somewhere for tryout. A lot of teams need kickers so far. I thought Aguayo's kicks in preseason were more accurate than Sturgis. Yes they both made a lot of kicks (low pressure games), but Aguayo's made kicks look more accurate, more of a sure thing than Sturgis's. The ball strongly went right through the middle, while Sturgis' made kicks were sailing a bit.

Just a guess - he folded so badly in the past that teams will be reluctant to count on him in the future???