wkloiber13 wrote:
The nice thing about kickers is it probably isn't difficult to see which guy is better. You let them go back to back for a month or two and I'm sure the better guy will emerge. Whoever makes the most kicks (especially beyond 40 yards) on a consistent basis wins the job.
Carpenter has been a good kicker for us the past several years. But I think his numbers were inflated because we had very poor redzone numbers and Sparano was always willing to settle for easy fieldgoals. Carpenter was automatic from inside of 40 yards and that is why his accuracy is so high. But from outside of 40 yards, he was very mediocre.
We need a guy who can bury the kickoff through the uprights after a score so that the opponent doesn't get a chance to return the kick. We need the guy who can pad the lead by hitting a 52 yard kick before halftime. We need the guy who can nail the 48 yarder with time expiring to win the game. In other words, we need a difference maker who can make the big time kicks required to help win football games.
Carpenter's been pretty solid from distance..............his career average is 50% for 50+ and 76% on 40+...........he's also kicked a career long 60 yarder. I do agree his TB % is simply average, but that's a knock on Sturgis too.
The pluses do line up with Sturgis..........greater upside, cap savings and the team just invested a 5th rounder.