Mike was 22 of 28 last season, giving him an average of 78.6% on attempts. He missed his only 2 from 50+, and had one blocked. I am going to give some of last seasons stats for the more notable kickers in the league. Alot of people say Mike was bad last season and was a waste of a second rounder. Even though I think we could have got him later in the draft, I still think he was a good pick up and will improve this season, eventually being a great kicker. David Akers (Philly)- 16 of 22...equalling 72.7% John Carney (Nawlins) - 25 of 32....78.1% Paul Edinger (Vikes) - 25 of 34 for 73.5% Jason Elam (Denver) - 24 of 32 for 75% Jay Feely (VaGiants) - 35 of 42 for 83.3% Shayne Graham (Bengals) - 28 of 32 equalling 87.7% Sebastian Janikowski (Oakland) - 20 of 30 for 66.6% John Kasay (Panthers) - 25 of 34 for 76.5% NEIL RACKERS - 40 of 42 for 96.2%....6 of 7 from 50+ with a long of 54 Vinatieri - 20 of 25 for 80% Vanderhack - 23 of 25 for 92% Nate Kaeding and John Hall were also over 85% but Hall only attempted 14 FGs and Kading has 0 attempts from beyond 50 yards. So obviously there are a few that really outshine Nuge, but in the grand scheme of thing he did pretty damn good last season. I would like to see his leg get a bit stronger, as would everyone, but I would say he had a pretty darn good rookie showing and hopefully will only get better from here. I think th critics and fans need to give the guy some slack because all in all he didnt do half bad last season and I still believe he will become the kicker everyone expected himto be when we drafted him.
The thing that worries most, including myself is his lack of distance on his kicks. He seemed to be struggling with routine 40-45 yarders when he was known in college for kicking 50+ yarders. I think he struggled from the transition of the college football to an NFL ball, but he's going to need to overcome that this year.
good post. I was actually thinking about the problem Nugent was going to be down the line in important games.... It definitely looks better when you see the stats for yurself. But he is going to make some 50+ yarders some time soon. He was a 2nd round pick after all.
I didn't think nugent did that bad last season. Everybody busts on him and said he played awful and was a waste of a pick, but I agree with you. He missed some 50+ yard kicks which really doesn't bother me and missed some normal range, but he was a rookie. Nugent will get better this year and be a top kicker in the league, if not pretty damn close to a top. Thats my prediction.
Nugent is always going to have a short leg on kickoffs, but he improved tremendously in his field goal kicking, and will be one of the best placekickers in the league in a year or two. I would like if the Jets used a roster spot on a kickoff specialist, that field position is damn worth it.
You guys aren't thinking before you post...the kickoffs that reached the 30 yard line were DONE ON PURPOSE! Mike Nugent sure as hell can kick the ball deeper then the 20-30 yard line. Those kind of kicks are called directional kicks...the idea is to kick the ball short and hopefully mess up the timing of the kick return team. Anyone who says Mike Nugent was a bust last year is a damn fool. He only missed 6 FG's in his rookie season. He got red hot near the end of the year and will be at least an 80% FG kicker this year. Does his leg need to get a tad stronger so he can nail the 50 yarder? Absolutely, but that was something he said he would work on so I am not too worried about it.
The author cherry picked stats that attempt to make Nugent look better than reality. Here's the actual unbiased statistical performance of all teams in FG's: http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/OFF-FIELDGOALS/2005/regular?&_3:col_1=5&_3:col_2=21 Kickoffs? http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/OFF-KICKING/2005/regular Do your own analysis.
He only had 1 touchback on a kickoff all season. Even if the kicks to the 20-30 yardline were in fact intended for a directional kick (you have no way of knowing) - I'm sure he wasn't always trying a directional kick. Our opponents started drives past the 20 yard line far too often, and I agree that we could use a kickoff specialist. As for his FG's, hopefully he can improve on the 40+ attempts. Even if he does, I still think we took him too high.
Nugent disagrees with you. This is what he posted on his web site on December 31, 2005. He is quite frank about the fact that his kickoffs got worse as the season went along and the weather got worse, and he doesn't mention anything about directional kicks; rather, he says that he needs to practice and get a stronger leg during the offseason. Let's hope he did it. You can note also that he was hoping for a higher FG percentage too. I would add that he was only 7 for 12 from 40+ yards, which is not very good, and also supports that he needs to get a stronger leg and learn how to kick the K balls.
How about you read the damn post for Christ's sake. When I said I was comparing him to the better known kickers in the league, I meant that I was comparing him to the better known kickers in the league. Get it? Use your damn head. Or maybe you don't know what notable means. Either way maybe you should think about what you say before making yourself look like an idiot.
Cherry picking is cherry picking. You failed to point out that he finished 21st among all kickers.... No mention of the 20 other NFL kickers who outkicked him. It means he was worse than 20 NON Notable kickers. Here's a challenge for you.. name the 20 non notable kickers who were better than Nugent last year. Try facts instead of spin, pimping a bad draft pick and you won't look like such a fool.. Get it! Want objectivity.. Here's Pro Football Talk's opinion of Nugent: Kicker: Rookie Mike Nugent was disappointing last year, especially in light of his lofty draft status. Given all of the question marks on offense, he gets an F for 2006.
If you expected Nugent to compile touch backs, you simply weren't paying attention. Even Westoff made it quite clear. What Westoff DID like was his exceptional hang time. Throught the first 8 games last year, Nugent was hitting the 5 or 6, with very good hang times. As a result, the Jets were in the top five in the NFL in starting defensive field position. It's about field position, NOT touchback stats. Yes, Rackers led the league in TB's, but he also led the league in kickoffs returned for TD's! He kicks too low, and outkicks his coverage. Now, if you want to have a legitimate complaint, talk about what the heck happened to Nugent in the second half. He lost 15 to 20 yards, and a full second off his hang times. Tired leg is one of the possibilities I've heard. Maybe the kid was just kicking too much. Like a pitcher who gets tired arm in August. I don't know what went wrong, but as someone posted, he wanted to work on his leg strength, but not sacraficing foot speed in the process, which bulking up too much would cause. He was 7 for 10 from the 40 to the 49. Slightly above the NFL average, but room for improvement. Yes, he barely missed both attempts from 50+. As far as I'm concerned, the only legitimate complaint (forgetting where he was drafted, which isn't his fault) were his KO's in the second half. Beyond that, any complaints are just fans looking for a reason to whine. Kickers are easy targets, especially rookie kickers.
