Zach Hocker - Kicker

[Deadskins]

Forgot to mention...

It's really interesting that NO one has mentioned the punter...In my mind, our punter hurt us more last year than our Kicker.

Do we have our punter on the 90 now?

No one?

Obviously we have no idea how he is under the pressure of real game situations, but if he consistently makes the FGs that Kai misses, and his KOs are through the end-zone, and he can punt as well, then the writing is pretty much on the wall.

Besides, this thread is about a particular kicker, so I'm not sure why you think people should be talking about our punter in it. There was a thread a while back that was about the punting position.

[KazooSkinsFan]

The Skins better be absolutely sure this rookie can kick FGs under pressure as that could cost us games.

All of us know, Kai has been very accurate on FGs.

It gets down to, are 5 more yards on KOs worth a couple misses?

Maybe we start with Kai on roster, and Rookie on PS. If Kai's KOs kill us early, cut him and bring up the kid.

The short kickoffs are like getting a penalty on every kickoff, it's a bigger deal than that. Also, at critical times, we can't really try a long field goal that could tie or win a game for us. I like Kai, and I do remember all the kickers we've struggled with, but his leg is a real issue.

[KazooSkinsFan]

Forgot to mention...

It's really interesting that NO one has mentioned the punter...In my mind, our punter hurt us more last year than our Kicker.

Do we have our punter on the 90 now?

No one brought up our offensive line either, wow, that was a problem last year. Or our secondary, we couldn't stop anyone. The pass rush was weak, wasn't it? Why didn't anyone bring up that? Or that Shannahan was a virtual lame duck, no one mentioned it. We really do have to talk about every issue in every thread...

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

The Skins better be absolutely sure this rookie can kick FGs under pressure as that could cost us games.

All of us know, Kai has been very accurate on FGs.

It gets down to, are 5 more yards on KOs worth a couple misses?

Maybe we start with Kai on roster, and Rookie on PS. If Kai's KOs kill us early, cut him and bring up the kid.

His college stats would lend to him being capable under pressure. Not to mention battling the starter kicking through arena football goal posts entails its own pressure kick as well.

Kai wasn't anything special last year- three misses putting him in the bottom third of kickers?

And the PS theory would be great but is it worth the risk of losing him to another team?? I mean he was drafted in the seventh instead of picked up as an undated free agent due to the possibility of another team taking him when we wanted him.

As for punter (covered in the appropiate thread) this kid had a respectable average as punter w a long of 70!!

So if he wins the punter position and KO maybe we keep him and KAI as a deserve if he gets hurt or buckles under pressure. I like Kai but fact is his KO struggles cost us valuable field position and in turn contributed to us losing games.. so yes I'd say roll the dice on the rook for the measily five yards- Cus when he kicks it out of bounds trying to give it his all it costs us a LOT more than just five yards.

[fredp45]

I wasn't implying we should be talking about the punter - or the offensive line -- in this thread.

Just surprised there's been so much discussion about the kicker but very little has been said "anywhere" about our no name punters.

And....I don't believe Kai was as big a problem as our punter (and coverage units). Was very surprised (as I'm sure all of you were) that we drafted a kicker AND not a punter.

[KazooSkinsFan]

I wasn't implying we should be talking about the punter - or the offensive line -- in this thread.

Just surprised there's been so much discussion about the kicker but very little has been said "anywhere" about our no name punters.

And....I don't believe Kai was as big a problem as our punter (and coverage units). Was very surprised (as I'm sure all of you were) that we drafted a kicker AND not a punter.

OK, fair enough. You know you could start a thread about our punter yourself though.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

I wasn't implying we should be talking about the punter - or the offensive line -- in this thread.

Just surprised there's been so much discussion about the kicker but very little has been said "anywhere" about our no name punters.

And....I don't believe Kai was as big a problem as our punter (and coverage units). Was very surprised (as I'm sure all of you were) that we drafted a kicker AND not a punter.

With the last of out picks in the last round... NO pick would surprise me.
I wasn't surprised at the pick Kai has been a liability on KOs. I wish I could forget the failed kicks to the corner of the endzone that went Ob giving the other team the ball on our 40 and killing th field position battle instantly.

Fwiw like I said.. what if the kicker we drafted IS the punter?

[DarthMonk]

Generally, there are two people you don't want to be in an NFL locker room during training camp: A rookie or a kicker. Zach Hocker is proof of what happens when you're both.

The seventh-round pick out of Arkansas showed up at the Redskins' team skit this week and was supposed to do something funny. Hocker couldn't think of anything funny, so he thought of something else, "I'll cut my hair however you want to cut it," Hocker told his teammates, via ESPN.com.

That ill-advised statement led to the photo you see at the top of the page from CSN Washington's Tarik El-Bashir.

Hocker was also nice enough to tweet out a side, profile view of his haircut.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Haha good ish!
I'd like to be a fly on the wall during the teams "skits"

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Coach said that the current situation is neck and neck aswell as him being confident in rolling with either kicker... with that said if we see more of the same (hocker getting more touch backs and equal fgs save the Forbath 2 misses one being replayed and made [one being a terribly short miss on like a 43 yardee]) wouldnt we be smarter to go with the rookie and save some coin? Or is it similar pay for a rook and or not count against our cap being one of the lower salaries? Just a thought, if we save dollars it makes even more sense..

[DarthMonk]

Coach said that the current situation is neck and neck aswell as him being confident in rolling with either kicker... with that said if we see more of the same (hocker getting more touch backs and equal fgs save the Forbath 2 misses one being replayed and made [one being a terribly short miss on like a 43 yardee]) wouldnt we be smarter to go with the rookie and save some coin? Or is it similar pay for a rook and or not count against our cap being one of the lower salaries? Just a thought, if we save dollars it makes even more sense..

Give me Hocker. The coaches have been asking him to kick pop-ups to the goal line so coverage teams can get practice. He will mostly be booming touch backs in real games ... Assuming we can score a little bit on offense. I was a little disappointed they didn't give him a chance for a 58 yard or against the Ravens.

[Deadskins]

I was a little disappointed they didn't give him a chance for a 58 yard or against the Ravens.

Voice recognition?

[Countertrey]

I was a little disappointed they didn't give him a chance for a 58 yard or against the Ravens.

Voice recognition?

...per hops DM want in us to be live he had such in bread apple tap Molly gee?

[DarthMonk]

I was a little disappointed they didn't give him a chance for a 58 yard or against the Ravens.

Voice recognition?

... or lack thereof.

[StorminMormon86]

I have seen bits and pieces of the preseason games thus far (flipping back and forth between the Skins and Orioles) and have missed most of the kick offs. Does Hocker have a clear advantage on kick offs as opposed to Forbath? If so, Hocker gets the job, IMO.

[DarthMonk]

I have seen bits and pieces of the preseason games thus far (flipping back and forth between the Skins and Orioles) and have missed most of the kick offs. Does Hocker have a clear advantage on kick offs as opposed to Forbath? If so, Hocker gets the job, IMO.

Absolutely. He was Mr. Touchback until the coaches asked for goal line pop ups so we could practice coverage.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

And the alternative has been dreadful.. another kickoff that goes OB this season and ill lose it. That alone gives Hocker the preseason win imo.

For anyone to even report "neck and neck" blows my mind... Kai killed himself week one didnt he?
If the ob KO wasnt bad enough he missed two Fg attempts... yes he made the do over on one due to a penalty... but the 43 or 48 yard miss was charles barkley turrable! He barely even made it to the damn endzone! No idea what happened there.
Hocker seems to be the more "athletic" of the two..
Week one he also stopped a possible return for Td and forced a turn over! Yea we had to rekick due to penalty but the play still happened nonetheless.
Has Hocker even missed anything?

[Countertrey]

And the alternative has been dreadful.. another kickoff that goes OB this season and ill lose it. That alone gives Hocker the preseason win imo.

For anyone to even report "neck and neck" blows my mind... Kai killed himself week one didnt he?
If the ob KO wasnt bad enough he missed two Fg attempts... yes he made the do over on one due to a penalty... but the 43 or 48 yard miss was charles barkley turrable! He barely even made it to the damn endzone! No idea what happened there.
Hocker seems to be the more "athletic" of the two..
Week one he also stopped a possible return for Td and forced a turn over! Yea we had to rekick due to penalty but the play still happened nonetheless.
Has Hocker even missed anything?

Yup... I've been thinking that Hocker is actually a football player who happens to be a very skilled kicker... an incredibly rare confluence, these days. I think I heard that he was a competent linebacker.

and, oh, yeah... he's reportedly an NFL quality punter, as well... not a bad deal, at all.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

And the alternative has been dreadful.. another kickoff that goes OB this season and ill lose it. That alone gives Hocker the preseason win imo.

For anyone to even report "neck and neck" blows my mind... Kai killed himself week one didnt he?
If the ob KO wasnt bad enough he missed two Fg attempts... yes he made the do over on one due to a penalty... but the 43 or 48 yard miss was charles barkley turrable! He barely even made it to the damn endzone! No idea what happened there.
Hocker seems to be the more "athletic" of the two..
Week one he also stopped a possible return for Td and forced a turn over! Yea we had to rekick due to penalty but the play still happened nonetheless.
Has Hocker even missed anything?

Yup... I've been thinking that Hocker is actually a football player who happens to be a very skilled kicker... an incredibly rare confluence, these days. I think I heard that he was a competent linebacker.

No kidding?! I like him more then!
Dullass has had that at kicker... and Oaktown has a helluva athlete/football player as their punter- might be their best player overall on the entire roster!

[riggofan]

Anybody have a clue what the team will do on Hocker v. Forbath? I sure as heck don't.

Bummed that Hocker missed that FG last night. I really appreciate that Kai has been a reliable kicker for us, but his kickoffs drive me crazy.

[Irn-Bru]

Anybody have a clue what the team will do on Hocker v. Forbath? I sure as heck don't.

Bummed that Hocker missed that FG last night. I really appreciate that Kai has been a reliable kicker for us, but his kickoffs drive me crazy.

I'm worried that Gruden will go with Kai on the basis of that miss. I haven't seen them in camp, but from the games I am 100% for Hocker.

[SkinsJock]

Anybody have a clue what the team will do on Hocker v. Forbath? I sure as heck don't.

Bummed that Hocker missed that FG last night. I really appreciate that Kai has been a reliable kicker for us, but his kickoffs drive me crazy.

I kind of hoped that Hocker would either make the squad or at least make Forbath find a way to get more air time on his kickoffs

I like having a reliable FG kicker and Forbath has shown that ... HOWEVER ... until last night I felt sure that Hocker would be the kicker

UPDATE - Hocker has been cut

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ilas-redd/

[Countertrey]

I have no worries about Forbath's reliability kicking FG's and EP's... but I guess we get to look forward to another year of fun opposing kick-off returns and out of bounds KO's.

[SkinsJock]

I have no worries about Forbath's reliability kicking FG's and EP's... but I guess we get to look forward to another year of fun opposing kick-off returns and out of bounds KO's.

I like his reliability but the KO's have to get better or he will not be here

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Why?