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

Zach Hocker - K - Redskins

Redskins selected Arkansas K Zach Hocker with the No. 228 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.

Hocker was the Razorbacks' kicker for four seasons, making 61-of-79 field goals in his career. He missed just two extra points.

He'll more than likely end up being a camp leg for the Redskins. Kai Forbath would have to faceplant.

May 10 - 5:57 PM

Gohogs14 wrote:Hey guys. Arkansas fan here. I'm obviously biased, but I wouldn't have traded Hocker for any other college kicker the past few years. I'm not sure what the NFL.com review is talking about because he consistently kicked the ball well out of the enzone for us and has a very strong leg. He was 3-4 from 50+ yards last year and went 3-3 at the east-west shrine game including a 56 yarder.

Not sure how he'll do with the skins since kicker is so hard to project but we loved him while he was here (even if most arkansans are cowboys fans )

DarthMonk wrote:I'm not buying this take. We didn't need to spend a draft pick on a camp leg. Kai is generally accurate but seems to lack strength. I'm saying we are going for true competition at the kicker spot and are hopeful this guy can take it down.

skinsfan#33 wrote:From what I understand he punted in college too. So maybe they thought he could be their punter and KO specialist.

Career Punting Stats
Year   Team   G   Punts   Yds   Avg
2013   Ark    12        7   320   45.7

HIGH SCHOOL: Hocker earned all-state honors in 2009 at Russellville High School under head coach Jeff Holt. As a senior, he was also named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was ranked as the best kicker in the state of Arkansas by Scout.com. Hocker was selected to play in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association East-West Shrine game. As a senior, he helped Russellville to an 8-3-1 record and kicked a school-record 15 field goals. All but three of his 61 kickoffs reached the end zone for a touchback, resulting in opponents starting from their 20-yard line more than 95 percent of the time. He finished the season with a 45-yard average on 35 punt attempts. He averaged more than 45 yards in seven games and 14 of his punts were downed inside the 20. He kicked four field goals in a 26-26 tie at Fayetteville, including a school-record 52 yarder.

DarthMonk wrote:

skinsfan#33 wrote:From what I understand he punted in college too. So maybe they thought he could be their punter and KO specialist.

Nice!

BTW - Gano was a good punter too.

Code: Select all

Career Punting Stats
Year   Team   G   Punts   Yds   Avg
2013   Ark    12        7   320   45.7

HIGH SCHOOL: Hocker earned all-state honors in 2009 at Russellville High School under head coach Jeff Holt. As a senior, he was also named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was ranked as the best kicker in the state of Arkansas by Scout.com. Hocker was selected to play in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association East-West Shrine game. As a senior, he helped Russellville to an 8-3-1 record and kicked a school-record 15 field goals. All but three of his 61 kickoffs reached the end zone for a touchback, resulting in opponents starting from their 20-yard line more than 95 percent of the time. He finished the season with a 45-yard average on 35 punt attempts. He averaged more than 45 yards in seven games and 14 of his punts were downed inside the 20. He kicked four field goals in a 26-26 tie at Fayetteville, including a school-record 52 yarder.

Countertrey wrote:

DarthMonk wrote:

skinsfan#33 wrote:From what I understand he punted in college too. So maybe they thought he could be their punter and KO specialist.

Nice!

BTW - Gano was a good punter too.

Code: Select all

Career Punting Stats
Year   Team   G   Punts   Yds   Avg
2013   Ark    12        7   320   45.7

HIGH SCHOOL: Hocker earned all-state honors in 2009 at Russellville High School under head coach Jeff Holt. As a senior, he was also named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was ranked as the best kicker in the state of Arkansas by Scout.com. Hocker was selected to play in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association East-West Shrine game. As a senior, he helped Russellville to an 8-3-1 record and kicked a school-record 15 field goals. All but three of his 61 kickoffs reached the end zone for a touchback, resulting in opponents starting from their 20-yard line more than 95 percent of the time. He finished the season with a 45-yard average on 35 punt attempts. He averaged more than 45 yards in seven games and 14 of his punts were downed inside the 20. He kicked four field goals in a 26-26 tie at Fayetteville, including a school-record 52 yarder.

Perhaps he isn't merely a camp leg...

brad7686 wrote:granted we have had some awful fg blocking, but I don't know that Kai always gets enough altitude on his kicks. He's obviously way better than what WE have had as of late, but that doesn't make him a good kicker.

riggofan wrote:

brad7686 wrote:granted we have had some awful fg blocking, but I don't know that Kai always gets enough altitude on his kicks. He's obviously way better than what WE have had as of late, but that doesn't make him a good kicker.

I didn't think we really had the blocked kicked issue with Kai, did we?

He was really good in 2012, only missed one kick. Considering our terrible recent history with kickers that was amazing. It might have covered up the fact that he wasn't as good last year missing four kicks. That puts him in the bottom half of kickers in the league. There are like eighteen other kickers in the league who attempted way more kicks and only missed two or three.

Point being when people say "wtf? We're set at kicker." maybe that's not entirely true?

emoses14 wrote:I think you spend a pick on a kicker when you don't want the leverage in the situation to switch. If you draft him in the 7th, he's coming to your camp or sitting for a year. If he is an UDFA, he has his choice of 31 other teams to try and sign with. Of course, if the point is that Zach isn't just a camp leg, I take your point.

Deadskins wrote:

emoses14 wrote:I think you spend a pick on a kicker when you don't want the leverage in the situation to switch. If you draft him in the 7th, he's coming to your camp or sitting for a year. If he is an UDFA, he has his choice of 31 other teams to try and sign with. Of course, if the point is that Zach isn't just a camp leg, I take your point.

Yes, that's the point. If you just want a camp leg, you don't care if he has 31 other teams to choose from. You've got about 300 camp legs to choose from. I expect all draft picks to be on the 53 man roster for at least a season.

When was the last time the Washington Redskins had a placekicker? Last year. Okay, maybe I should rephrase the question. How long has it been since the Redskins had a clutch placekicker secured on their depth chart to assume responsibility of kickoffs, demanding field goal attempts and PATs? Can’t remember, can you? It’s been a while. Too long, in fact. The lingering absence of which has left new head coach Jay Gruden just a little unsettled. It should. Clutch special teams play at an impeccable juncture during the course of a gridiron battle can be the determining factor between a ‘W’ and an ‘L’ — and conceivably a postseason berth.

It would seem the Redskins’ skipper was thinking the exact same thing. During last April’s NFL Draft, Gruden set his sites on Arkansas placekicking marksman Zach Hocker, rolled the dice and pulled the trigger. The unforeseen strategic gridiron maneuver might be viewed by some as questionable and subjectively a blown selection by the club. But it’s not necessarily a gamble.

Kai Forbath has proven to be an accurate field goal kicker, “connecting on a league-leading 94.4 percent of his attempts in 2012 and finishing the 2013 campaign with 13 straight made field goals,” per CSN Washington.com. “But last season he ranked in the bottom third among all NFL kickers in touchbacks, which did not help the Redskins’ struggling special teams unit.”

Hence Gruden’s incentive to draft another placekicker, add a little flavor to the offseason competition and make personnel matters in the kicking game interesting. The Redskins head coach is, in essence, dispatching a memo that should be short, sweet and fairly elementary to read: Despite Forbath’s near flawless field goal percentage last season, he is by no means non-expendable. From the looks of things, Gruden fully intends to anchor a foreboding and respectable kicking game this season. The blooming head coach is on his way. So much for a short memo, but you get the point.

Hocker has fielded the pressure of impressing coaches during minicamp effortlessly. Disregarding his freshman status in the league, the Arkansas product flashed power and precision, nailing five of his six field goal attempts Saturday’s rookie minicamp practice at Redskins Park. The former soccer player also exhibited considerable power on his kickoffs, routinely “sending several deep balls into the end zone and a couple through it,” per CSN Washington.com.
Last season Hocker connected on 13 of his 15 field goal attempts for the Razorbacks, the longest of which he powered through the uprights from 54 yards out. What particularly impressed the Redskins was the hang time and distance on his kickoffs. Hocker boomed 50 kickoffs last season with minimal effort — 34 resulted in touchbacks.

“He’s a very good kicker,” Gruden said of Hocker. “A very good college kicker. The rookie kickers in the NFL, not many of them have a lot of success, but we have high hopes for him. We’re going to have competition at every position, and kicker is no different. We’ll see how he responds to the pressure.”
If he’s everything he’s advertised to be, Hocker will make the return game and special teams play very difficult — if not downright frustrating — for rival units. The factor of field position in the NFL through the leverage of polished and disciplined special teams play is absolutely critical. Hocker will immediately vie to secure a roster spot and his placekicking proficiency will make GM Bruce Allen‘s task of conceivably cutting the rookie before the Redskins’ season opener very taxing.

The place kickers competed head-to-head to conclude practice, but both kicked on Arena League goal posts (only nine feet apart, rather than the NFL’s 18 feet, 6 inches in width). Kai Forbath made one of three attempts, nailing a 44-yarder, but missing a 37-yarder and 50-yarder – both of which seemed likely to have gone through standard uprights. Meanwhile, Zach Hocker made all three field goals on the AFL uprights, with makes from 37, 44 and 50 yards out.

The place kickers competed head-to-head to conclude practice, but both kicked on Arena League goal posts (only nine feet apart, rather than the NFL’s 18 feet, 6 inches in width). Kai Forbath made one of three attempts, nailing a 44-yarder, but missing a 37-yarder and 50-yarder – both of which seemed likely to have gone through standard uprights. Meanwhile, Zach Hocker made all three field goals on the AFL uprights, with makes from 37, 44 and 50 yards out.

Deadskins wrote:

The place kickers competed head-to-head to conclude practice, but both kicked on Arena League goal posts (only nine feet apart, rather than the NFL’s 18 feet, 6 inches in width). Kai Forbath made one of three attempts, nailing a 44-yarder, but missing a 37-yarder and 50-yarder – both of which seemed likely to have gone through standard uprights. Meanwhile, Zach Hocker made all three field goals on the AFL uprights, with makes from 37, 44 and 50 yards out.

Going with a rookie kicker is a hard decision, but if I were Kai, I'd be getting pretty nervous.

riggofan wrote:

Deadskins wrote:

The place kickers competed head-to-head to conclude practice, but both kicked on Arena League goal posts (only nine feet apart, rather than the NFL’s 18 feet, 6 inches in width). Kai Forbath made one of three attempts, nailing a 44-yarder, but missing a 37-yarder and 50-yarder – both of which seemed likely to have gone through standard uprights. Meanwhile, Zach Hocker made all three field goals on the AFL uprights, with makes from 37, 44 and 50 yards out.

Going with a rookie kicker is a hard decision, but if I were Kai, I'd be getting pretty nervous.

No doubt, man. If Hocker is better on kickoffs, do you think it makes this an easier decision than it might be otherwise?

Deadskins wrote:Definitely, but it seems he may be better on FGs too. 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. My only fear is that Kai goes to a team in our division. I wonder if we could get anything for him in a trade.