The Kicking Game
 

One player that has flown under the radar this year is Shaun Suisham. It has been a long time since we had a realiable kciker to lean on. By the time we had John Hall he was servicable at best.
S.S. stats going into tonight

5th FG made-22
16/19 fgm 30-49 yds
85% total fg made

Since 1997 only 2 Redskins kickers have made over 16 FG's in one season:
Brett Conway 21/33 2001 only 63%
Brett Conway 22/32 2004 69%
John Hall 25/33 2003 76%

At this pace Suisham should easily kick over 80% and make close to 30 fg's.
Hes no Mark Mosely, but definaltely has done a great job taking over a position weve struggled with.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

While that position isn't one with a lot of long-term security, "Shazam" has put himself in a good position for this year. I'd love longer kickoffs, but Shaun has earned the faith of this staff, justifiably.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

He's been pretty solid. Seems like a keeper.

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I got him on the fantasy roster. He seems good enough to keep around.

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[quote=BrudLee;389499]I'd love longer kickoffs, but Shaun has earned the faith of this staff, justifiably.[/quote]

Yeah, I like Suisham a lot, especially after the rough stretch we've had at the position. Those kickoffs that land at the 15 yard line do kill me though. He does seem pretty good at directional kickoffs, though, and even when his kicks are short they often seem to land by the numbers rather than in the middle of the field. I'm assuming that is planned.

I'm curious to see how they deal with Hester this week. It seemed like they were trying some things with McGee last week, really trying to pin him between the numbers and the sideline. All the kicks seemed to land on about the 10-15 though. I think I'd just pop it up to the up man and try to force them to just call a fair catch.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

very satisfied with our kicker. like you have said, it seems like forever since we had a kicker we could depend on. anyone think Conway makes the kick against Tampa if Johnson doesn't fumble the snap?

Re: The Kicking Game
 

Suisham went through a mini funk mid-season with the hooks, but he seems to have straightened himself out. Quietly, he's had the second best year by a Redskins kicker that I can remember.

As to Hester, my view is why take a chance? If you kick to him, he has the potential to score as many points as the Bears offense does on their own. You hate to give up field position, but I would rather take my chances with our defense against Grossman et al than I would kicking to Hester. He has 10 TD returns in 28 games. Brian Mitchell had 13 in over a 100 games and he was considered a great return man.

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i have to disagree with you all here. his kickoffs are far too short and hes not reliable on field goals past the 45. anything over 50 yards forgetaboutit.

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It's kind of hard to judge him on 50+ when he's 1-3 in his career. Plus there aren't too many kickers out there that are very consistent on anything over 50.

Kickoffs on the other hand are ridiculous...however one begins to wonder if it's on purpose. When he first got here, he was booming them inside the 5, and from time to time, you will see a deeper kickoff. But now he's consistently around the 10-15 yard line. Is he kicking it higher and shorter to allow his coverage team time to get down field? A good question for Danny Smith...

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[quote=dmek25;389524]very satisfied with our kicker. like you have said, it seems like forever since we had a kicker we could depend on. anyone think Conway makes the kick against Tampa if Johnson doesn't fumble the snap?[/quote]

Someone might get on me for taking it way back to 1999, but since you bring it up... Am i the only one who still has nightmares of Kip Vickers getting beat all day long in that game? My position was always that if Andy Heck was healthy he would have been able to slow down the pass rush enough that the Skins could have won. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Vickers give up a sack just before that field goal attempt that made it much longer than it would have been otherwise?

I got a chance to work with Heck a bit when I was at UVa and mentioned that to him once. He agreed (of course), though he also said that he thought that if they beat Tampa then they would have taken out St. Louis and gone to the dance. Not sure about that one.

Sorry for the digression. That one sticks with me for some reason. Maybe I need to get some counseling or something :)

Re: The Kicking Game
 

Some more numbers on Suisham:

He's hitting on 84.6%, the league average is 82.1%.

From 30-39 this year he's 7 of 8.

From 40-49 this year he's 9 of 11.

He's been pretty damn solid. The numbers don't lie.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

I'm happy w/shazam, makes the kicks he's expected to w/in 40 yards & is pretty decent beyond that, that's about all we can ask for.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[QUOTE=SC Skins Fan;389592]Someone might get on me for taking it way back to 1999, but since you bring it up... Am i the only one who still has nightmares of Kip Vickers getting beat all day long in that game? My position was always that if Andy Heck was healthy he would have been able to slow down the pass rush enough that the Skins could have won. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Vickers give up a sack just before that field goal attempt that made it much longer than it would have been otherwise?

I got a chance to work with Heck a bit when I was at UVa and mentioned that to him once. He agreed (of course), though he also said that he thought that if they beat Tampa then they would have taken out St. Louis and gone to the dance. Not sure about that one.

Sorry for the digression. That one sticks with me for some reason. Maybe I need to get some counseling or something :)[/QUOTE]
I think we would have beaten St. Louis if we hade made that kick. We had already kicked there butts that year during the season and if I remember correctly St .Louis barley beat the Buc's.
That Buc's playoff game still hurt's me when I think about it.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

thanks for the stats, i guess im giving shazaam alil bit of an unfair shake . . just dont have too much confidence in him but he is a servicable kicker which we havent had in awhile.

ps - i saw dexter manley and his big ol' superbowl ring at lunch today!! said whats up, nice guy, real nice suit with red socks! the man can dress

Re: The Kicking Game
 

lol....What do I think of Shazaam?...just read my signature... :D

I still stand by it...

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[quote=over the mountain;389610]thanks for the stats, i guess im giving shazaam alil bit of an unfair shake . . just dont have too much confidence in him but he is a servicable kicker which we havent had in awhile.

ps - i saw dexter manley and his big ol' superbowl ring at lunch today!! said whats up, nice guy, real nice suit with red socks! the man can dress[/quote]

I think you were on to something but didn't quite put your finger on it. He's only 1-3 on 50+ FGs in his career because coaches don't feel comfortable with giving him a shot from that distance. He doesn't have the kind of leg that inspires confidence there, so Gibbs typically prefers to either go for it or just punt when faced with a 50 yarder.

He has been very solid on the medium and short range FGs. Overall I like him. But the % stats are a little misleading, because the best kickers in the league are going to get several shots from that distance each year, and will hit on more than half of them.

He'll do. Nothing special, and not a long term answer, but I'll take merely reliable given where we've been recently.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

I'd disagree that he can't be a long term answer. Kickers typically only get better over time and based on what he's done here, why can't he be our long term answer??

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[quote=Mattyk72;389639]I'd disagree that he can't be a long term answer. Kickers typically only get better over time and based on what he's done here, why can't he be our long term answer??[/quote]

Because legs don't usually get stronger with age.

If I were running the team I'd be searching for an upgrade in leg strength, especially for kickoffs. At the same time, I'd be perfectly fine keeping the guy until I found an upgrade.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

To echo the only gets better over time statement, there is a reason Morten Andersen is still playing at Age 47.

When I think of the league's most consistent kickers, I come up with Jason Hanson (37, 15 years in league), Jason Elam (37, 14), John Kasey (38, 16), Matt Stover (39, 17), David Akers (33, 10), John Carney (43, 19). It takes time to figure out consistency. These guys have been doing it for years.

Suisham is in his 3rd year, and kicking at an 85% clip. Not too shabby...the Skins have the opportunity to foster his ability and watch him grow as a kicker. The carousel the Skins have been on kicker-wise hopefully has come to an end with Suisham.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[quote=BDBohnzie;389648]To echo the only gets better over time statement, there is a reason Morten Andersen is still playing at Age 47.

When I think of the league's most consistent kickers, I come up with Jason Hanson (37, 15 years in league), Jason Elam (37, 14), John Kasey (38, 16), Matt Stover (39, 17), David Akers (33, 10), John Carney (43, 19). It takes time to figure out consistency. These guys have been doing it for years.

Suisham is in his 3rd year, and kicking at an 85% clip. Not too shabby...the Skins have the opportunity to foster his ability and watch him grow as a kicker. The carousel the Skins have been on kicker-wise hopefully has come to an end with Suisham.[/quote]

Yes but all those guys you named have huge legs.

Suisham is very accurate, which is great and you need that, but he's not long like those guys.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[QUOTE=Schneed10;389647]Because legs don't usually get stronger with age.

If I were running the team I'd be searching for an upgrade in leg strength, especially for kickoffs. At the same time, I'd be perfectly fine keeping the guy until I found an upgrade.[/QUOTE]

I agree,I'm happy with his fg's but his kickoffs keep getting shorter and shorter,last week was especially bad,I think one kickoff barely made it to the 25 yrd line

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I think Suisham's leg is plenty strong. Gibbs' conservative nature probably has more to do with the limited attempts that Suisham has had from 50+ more than anything.

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[QUOTE=htownskinfan;389651]I agree,I'm happy with his fg's but his kickoffs keep getting shorter and shorter,last week was especially bad,I think one kickoff barely made it to the 25 yrd line[/QUOTE]

or either have frost practice kickoffs more and see if he cant kick further than SS

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[quote=Mattyk72;389652]I think Suisham's leg is plenty strong. Gibbs' conservative nature probably has more to do with the limited attempts that Suisham has had from 50+ more than anything.[/quote]

The guys with strong legs like Akers, Elam, Stover, Kasey, Hanson and Carney are consistently kicking the ball off between the goalline and the five. Suish ain't quite there.

Please note, this is in no shape or form a complaint about Suisham, he is more than serviceable. But do I think he'll attain the level of a David Akers or a Jason Hanson? No. He's not long enough.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

[QUOTE=Schneed10;389655]The guys with strong legs like Akers, Elam, Stover, Kasey, Hanson and Carney are consistently kicking the ball off between the goalline and the five. Suish ain't quite there.

Please note, this is in no shape or form a complaint about Suisham, he is more than serviceable. But do I think he'll attain the level of a David Akers or a Jason Hanson? No. He's not long enough.[/QUOTE]

That's what she said

No but seriously, I'm more concerned about Frost than Suisham. Overall I'm pretty happy with Swiss Beatz, and I think our efforts should be focused elsewhere in terms of improving the roster.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

he's going fine...would like a touch back here or there, but other than that, no real complaints.

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Suisham is a good kicker, not great but good. He gets the job done. I really would love to see kickoffs that go past the 10 but that's ok.

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we could always pick up someone with a stronger leg to do kickoffs but he has been pretty solid if he continues he could be a sleeper for nfc pro bowl kicker

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[quote=SmootSmack;389660]That's what she said

No but seriously, I'm more concerned about Frost than Suisham. Overall I'm pretty happy with Swiss Beatz, and I think our efforts should be focused elsewhere in terms of improving the roster.[/quote]


swiss beatz i like that.

Re: The Kicking Game
 

just dont kick it to Devin Hester.

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Jinx?? it's looking like it.

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Can your next thread be about how awesome our remaining opponents are and we'll never win another game again?

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Right... the game hasn't gone into the second half yet and he already got missed 2. Please this guy is a joke....

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[QUOTE=SmootSmack;389889]Can your next thread be about how awesome our remaining opponents are and we'll never win another game again?[/QUOTE]

aight...

We cant beat the Giants at the Meadowlands theve owned us there the last 5 years!!

Re: The Kicking Game
 

I'm just going to shut up on Suisham now

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[QUOTE=Mattyk72;390397]I'm just going to shut up on Suisham now[/QUOTE]

ready to sign Vanderjagt yet?
:lol:

Re: The Kicking Game
 

Wow--NOW I know why Suish had such an off night. Talk about your jinx threads!

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jeez...just when he was making me proud...lol

:doh: