The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

This is a potentially controversial move. It is one of those that if it works, they are geniuses, and if it does not, they are idiots.

My take is that they wanted PREDICTABILITY in key situations. They might have felt that Gano has a great leg but he may not handle pressure well.

Cundiff is not a long term answer in any event.

Redskin in Canada wrote:They might have felt that Gano has a great leg but he may not handle pressure well.

Cundiff missed the winng FG in last season's AFC Championship game. We don't need that kind of performance under pressure.

Deadskins wrote:

Redskin in Canada wrote:They might have felt that Gano has a great leg but he may not handle pressure well.

Cundiff missed the winng FG in last season's AFC Championship game. We don't need that kind of performance under pressure.

I doubt that they brought in a kicker that they think will be worse than the one they had

maybe that's just me

Gano, Cundiff and Rackers are all good kickers - Cundiff is here for now

He will not be here for long if he doesn't clearly show that he's able to do a really good job

i think we're lucky he got cut by the ravens

skinsfan#33 wrote:

The Hogster wrote:

skinsfan#33 wrote:

The Hogster wrote:I wanted Gano cut at the end of last season. He sucks. This is a good move.

Come on Hogster. Normally you are pretty rational about things, but this is a major step back words if you are going off last years parformance!

Gano was 31 of 41 with 5 blocks or 76%
Cundiff was 28 of 37 with no blocks or 76%

Gano was 29 of 34 on kicks that were blocked or 85% and he was 2 for 7 on kicks that were blocked (yes, you read that right).

So compared to Cundiff he was 9% better on kicks that weren't blocked. The Ravens didn't allow any of Cundiff's kicks to get blocked, but Gano actually made 2 out of the 7 kicks that were blocked; not too bad!

Not blaming a kicker for a blocked kick that was the fault of the blocking unit is not making an excuse it is being rational and looking at the situation realistically!

Check his 2010 stats. He was still dead last without the blocks. But I guess we know better than experienced coaches who have watched him in games and in practice. Even still, kickers are judged by their ability to perform under pressure. And, Gano doesn't.

Not talking about 2010. I'm talking about 2011 and I don't care if a Kicker misses every kick in practice (although reports are he was doing fine in practice) all I care about is what he can control on game day.

On game day, if the kick wasn't blocked he connected on 85% last year, the guy that just replaced him connected on 76% (which is roughly an average season for him.

So as you pointed out, 2010 was bad for him and as I pointed out 2011 was pretty good. Cundiff was just the opposite.

You may be happy Gano is gone but you can't be happy it is for this guy!

We will have to wait and see. Comcast just reported that Cundiff is 14/15 in fourth quarter kicks. He missed that big kick last year in the playoffs when the team was rushing on the field (when they had a timeout). But, aside from that, he's made kicks late in games. Something Gano can't be relied on to do.

We will see how the league views him now that he's cut. If he doesn't get signed, then maybe people here should accept the fact that he's not well respected. If he goes unclaimed, then there's always a chance he could come back if needed.

But, being that the coaching staff decided to go with a totally different kicker than the two who competed here--it's safe to assume that they were underwhelmed by what they've seen out of him.

Chris Luva Luva wrote:

markshark84 wrote:Not a good move at all. I see a David Akers type thing happening with Gano.

This just makes no sense. Cut a younger, better kicker for a lesser, older one......

1. I think the Akers thing is a bit much...
2. Gano is better from long distance, Cundiff is better from mid-range/kick offs. So "better" is subjective.


Everyone lost their mind when we cut Gafney... FYI, the Patriots just cut him too, he didn't even last to the final round of cuts.

Let's not overreact.

Your perspective has moved me from the "doesn't make sense" to "I get it." As Graziano said, Shanny must see something that he values in Cundif.

... then why didn't we just keep Rackers?

Last two years:
20-29 yds, 22 of 22
30-39 yds, 21 0f 22
40-49 yds, 9 of 15
50+ yds, 7 of 9
PAT, 82 of 83

Cundiff was not any better and was 1 of 6 from 50+ last year ... and we've seen the shanks lately.

BTW, Gano was better on FG% on unblocked attempts than both Rackers and Cundiff.

IF either cut was classless (Cooley's or Gano's), it was Gano's.

After cutting Rackers, Shanny certainly had Gano thinking "I'm in."

Gano's interview yesterday after thinking he'd survived:

3 min 28 sec

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_ski ... 6&f=694281

I wonder if any other 'Skins are "looking over their shoulders" and if this is the right way to do business.

Just askin'.

DarthMonk

I wouldn't have had a problem if the team had cut Gano for a good kicker. They cut him for a guy that 7 out of his 8 years had seasons similar to Gano's 2010 season. Cundiff is not on his fifth team for no reason. He stinks!

Cut Gano, fine. Cut him for Cundiff, that has me scratching my head!

I really don't understand this fascination with Graham Gano. For the life of me.

He's the Colt Brennan of kickers. A cult icon based on a bunch of woulda, coulda, shouldas.

The Hogster wrote:I really don't understand this fascination with Graham Gano. For the life of me.

He's the Colt Brennan of kickers. A cult icon based on a bunch of woulda, coulda, shouldas.

Thank you, two years from now he will be about as famous a Redskin as Nick Novak.

Gano...

The Hogster wrote:I really don't understand this fascination with Graham Gano. For the life of me.

He's the Colt Brennan of kickers. A cult icon based on a bunch of woulda, coulda, shouldas.

No fascination here. I don't understand the fascination with Cundiff from our FO, but hey, they always know best.

I ask again, why didn't we just keep Rackers who is seemingly > Cundiff?

DarthMonk wrote:

The Hogster wrote:I really don't understand this fascination with Graham Gano. For the life of me.

He's the Colt Brennan of kickers. A cult icon based on a bunch of woulda, coulda, shouldas.

No fascination here. I don't understand the fascination with Cundiff from our FO, but hey, they always know best.

I ask again, why didn't we just keep Rackers who is seemingly > Cundiff?

+1

The Hogster wrote: - snip- He missed that big kick last year in the playoffs when the team was rushing on the field (when they had a timeout).

If I didn't know better I'd almost think you were making an excuse.



DarthMonk

DarthMonk wrote:

The Hogster wrote: - snip- He missed that big kick last year in the playoffs when the team was rushing on the field (when they had a timeout).

If I didn't know better I'd almost think you were making an excuse.



DarthMonk

Deadskins wrote:

DarthMonk wrote:

The Hogster wrote: - snip- He missed that big kick last year in the playoffs when the team was rushing on the field (when they had a timeout).

If I didn't know better I'd almost think you were making an excuse.



DarthMonk

ATX_Skins wrote:

The Hogster wrote:I really don't understand this fascination with Graham Gano. For the life of me.

He's the Colt Brennan of kickers. A cult icon based on a bunch of woulda, coulda, shouldas.

Thank you, two years from now he will be about as famous a Redskin as Nick Novak.

Gano...

Maybe he will be as famous as Shaun Suisham? Been doing well for the Steelers.. kickers aren't like rbs plug and play every year.. You have to groom the young ones and trust them. Gano isn't the messiah, but does have the redskins RECORD for longest fg. Easily forgotten by random hating, but not by all. Rackers would have been better then this tool, bad move imo.

DarthMonk wrote:

The Hogster wrote: - snip- He missed that big kick last year in the playoffs when the team was rushing on the field (when they had a timeout).

If I didn't know better I'd almost think you were making an excuse.



DarthMonk

And, if I didn't know better, I'd believe your excuse for when you posted under your alter ego the other day and accidentally signed off 'Darth Monk'



We must not have watched the same games. You guys act as if Gano didn't go out and be the dead last ranked kicker 2 years in a row. Not only missing kicks left and right, but being the ShawShank Redemption on kickoffs.

Good riddance. I guess we will see how many GM's pull a hammy running to the phone to call Gano.

The Hogster wrote:I really don't understand this fascination with Graham Gano. For the life of me.

He's the Colt Brennan of kickers. A cult icon based on a bunch of woulda, coulda, shouldas.

It isn't a fascination w/Gano! It is we traded a young kicker that made 86% of his kicks that the rest of the kicking unit did their jobs properly on for a worse kicker.

If they had kept Rackers instead of Gano their are far fewer posts. If they actually went out and got an upgrade at kicker no one posts anything except for may be you.

The Hogster wrote:

DarthMonk wrote:

The Hogster wrote: - snip- He missed that big kick last year in the playoffs when the team was rushing on the field (when they had a timeout).

If I didn't know better I'd almost think you were making an excuse.



DarthMonk

And, if I didn't know better, I'd believe your excuse for when you posted under your alter ego the other day and accidentally signed off 'Darth Monk'

That's cool, but please clarify. Are you saying you do not believe me? That seems to be what you are saying since you say you WOULD believe if you didn't know better. If that is the case and you want a little closure, PM the man who approves new accounts.

The Hogster wrote:We must not have watched the same games. You guys act as if Gano didn't go out and be the dead last ranked kicker 2 years in a row. Not only missing kicks left and right, but being the ShawShank Redemption on kickoffs.

Good riddance. I guess we will see how many GM's pull a hammy running to the phone to call Gano.

This move is very easy to justify form a personnel standpoint. I got no problem with Cundiff over Gano.

For example, Cundiff is 90% under 50 yards, has missed only 1 4th quarter kick in 15 tries, and is a touchback monster.

I'm still confused why we didn't simply keep Rackers.

Please enlighten on this issue. We already know all there is to know about Gano's history here.

My other issue is with the way this was done. I'm not sure cutting Rackers, making Gano feel like he made it, then doing this is good business. Is it? Just asking.

DarthMonk

cowboykillerzRED wrote:

ATX_Skins wrote:

The Hogster wrote:I really don't understand this fascination with Graham Gano. For the life of me.

He's the Colt Brennan of kickers. A cult icon based on a bunch of woulda, coulda, shouldas.

Thank you, two years from now he will be about as famous a Redskin as Nick Novak.

Gano...

Maybe he will be as famous as Shaun Suisham? Been doing well for the Steelers.. kickers aren't like rbs plug and play every year.. You have to groom the young ones and trust them. Gano isn't the messiah, but does have the redskins RECORD for longest fg. Easily forgotten by random hating, but not by all. Rackers would have been better then this tool, bad move imo.

Maybe he will, but I didn't say Suisham did I? I said Novak.

Reading the last few pages is revealing

c'mon man - Gano needed competition and in came Rackers

Gano won the job but the 'competition' was not on the field

Cundiff got cut and they brought him in because they think he's a better kicker

THE RELITY IS - all 3 are about the same

I think Cundiff will be really motivated to do a good job here


we wanted an upgrade at kicker and IMO Gano did nothing to show that he was clearly better than last year


no big deal

DarthMonk wrote:
I'm still confused why we didn't simply keep Rackers.

Please enlighten on this issue. We already know all there is to know about Gano's history here.

My other issue is with the way this was done. I'm not sure cutting Rackers, making Gano feel like he made it, then doing this is good business. Is it? Just asking.

DarthMonk

If we haven't been in practices where these guys battled for the last few months, we can't be sure who out performed who. So, you'll always be confused if you don't have all of the facts.

On the business end. That's just the NFL. I am certain that the team didn't consider Gano's "feelings" in this. They think Cundiff is better. So they made a move.

The Hogster wrote:We must not have watched the same games. You guys act as if Gano didn't go out and be the dead last ranked kicker 2 years in a row. Not only missing kicks left and right, but being the ShawShank Redemption on kickoffs.

LOL. I understand that everybody was hoping Gano would develop into a reliable kicker, but you're right man. Gano was freaking HORRIBLE last year. I'm sure he cost us 4 or 5 games last year between missed kicks, blocked kicks and the kickoff shanks. I'm kind of baffled that people are sticking up for him now.

If Cundiff is worse than Gano was last year, I will eat my filthy Redskins cap.

riggofan wrote:I'm sure he cost us 4 or 5 games last year between missed kicks, blocked kicks and the kickoff shanks.

You blame him for the blocked kicks?

Deadskins wrote:

riggofan wrote:I'm sure he cost us 4 or 5 games last year between missed kicks, blocked kicks and the kickoff shanks.

You blame him for the blocked kicks?

For once and for all. Look at his 2010 stats. He still was the dead last kicker without all of the blocks. Another flaw in the blocked kicks excuse is that you guys assume he would have made the kicks that were blocked.

At his rate, he would have missed some of those anyway. Good riddance Gano. Train hard, and maybe you'll get another shot. Eliminate the shanks and the choking under pressure, and you can be a good one.

But as the old saying in sports goes "Potential just means you haven't done anything yet."

Deadskins wrote:

riggofan wrote:I'm sure he cost us 4 or 5 games last year between missed kicks, blocked kicks and the kickoff shanks.

You blame him for the blocked kicks?

No doubt blocking was a factor. But 5 blocked kicks in a single season and the kicker doesn't share some of the blame? Come on, man. Its called special TEAMS.