Making the Case for Graham Gano

[panel]

Gano has big kick ability. If we are in a 59 yard must make FG senerio, with Gano, we have a chance. Most teams don't even have a chance there. I say we keep him

[Morneblade]

I feel that a kicker has one job: to kick. He isn't adjusting to the speed/complexity of the game. Either he has it or he doesn't. Gano never had it but Rackers does. I'll take consistency over youth/potential in a kicker any day but that's just me.

Also, I still don't see what Gano has shown to get this much love. At his best he's average, numbers and game film don't lie.

No, he's adjusting to a different ball and different angles. And most young kicker struggle, even great ones before finding their groove. And I'll take having a position locked up for 10-15 years over looking for a guy that got CUT from another team (because that team wanted a younger, strong legged kicker) every year.

[Boston Skins]

I cringe at the thought of Gano going somewhere else. This team needs to be committed to developing players. He's got the leg.

[HBnotBlades]

I'm glad the writer of that article referenced the Blogging the Beast article about the blocked kicks, it pretty definitively places blame for the blocks on the line.

Outside of those blocks, Gano missed one field goal under 48 yards. One. That's pretty freakin good.

[aussieskin]

An excellent article, you have researched this very well, welcome to Extremeskins from downunder

[pjfootballer]

If Gano is so terrible and is to blame, how come the genius Danny Smith hasn't found a kicker in 7 years? If it's so easy to find a kicker, how come we continue to have a revolving door at the position?

I have news for you guys. Gano is going to miss field goals. So is Crosby, so is Gostkowski, so is Tynes, so is Akers, so is Janikowski (he missed a 42 yarder last nigh- that's a chip shot for him), etc. etc.. He won't be perfect. He was 31-41 including the 5 blocks. The blocked kicks were from 23, 30, 36, 36 and 49. I think he makes 4 out of the 5 that were blocked. That gives him 35 of 41 for 85%. That's pretty damn good.

And of his other 5 non blocked misses, he missed from 49 and 50 against Miami, 49 and 52 against Dallas and 39 yards against the Giants. 49, 49, 50 and 52 ARE NOT easy. So the guy basically shanked one kick from under 40 yards in FORTY ONE field goal attempts. Every kicker shanks one during the season and we still beat the Giants.

Give the guy a break. Looks like he's on his way to being a good kicker if we stop that damn blocked kick crap.

[JohnnyUtah]

I'm with the consensus here. If it's even close, then keep Gano. Rackers could be solid for a few years, but I'd rather develop Gano and hope that he matures into his leg. Guy has a big time leg. First time I have ever said those words.

[Airyx]

I totally agree with the article, and want the team to keep Gano. By the way, on a mental, body-control, technique-driven thing like kicking, you really can't make a judgement on one day. I hate to say it, but every once in awhile there is just an off-day. You need to look at the whole body of work, not just a small sample.

However, there is one thing that they left out...solid reliable veteran kickers are pretty easy to come by. Every season, there is at least two or three guys, like Rackers, that can be brought on. Unlike the QB position, where solid guys are extremely rare, there really isn't a need to suffer through the difficulty of developing a new kicker.

Plus, there is only one roster spot for a kicker (if your wise), so you can't keep one around to develop while the main guy takes care of business.

So, if the team decides parts ways with Gano, and go with Rackers, I'll be disappointed, but fine with the decision. Because, two years from now, chances are they will be able to just sign another solid veteran guy. I don't like it this way. It is an unfortunate by-product of free agency. I loved it back in the day, when we had the same kicker for 12 straight years (Mark Mosley), and then Chip Lohmiller for another seven years.

[pjfootballer]

I'm with the consensus here. If it's even close, then keep Gano. Rackers could be solid for a few years, but I'd rather develop Gano and hope that he matures into his leg. Guy has a big time leg. First time I have ever said those words.

Thanks for the answer to your sig. I'd love to....ahem...do some research.

[slaga]

Nothing on Extremeskins bothers me more than the completely illogical loyalty to Graham Gano, a player who has cost us so many games the past two years and been among the worst kickers in the entire league. Why exactly should we hold onto him? Would you hold onto a quarterback in his third year who performed at the lowest level? Keeping Gano is like letting Jimmy Clausen be your starting quarterback for three straight years, under the illusion of: "Give the kid some time. He's going to be great." Everyone here expects Gano to miraculously turn into Chip Lohmiller someday. What exactly makes you think that will happen? Because of David Akers? A kicker who played ONE SINGLE game as a Redskin before moving on to the Eagles? We didn't know what we had in Akers because NO ONE did. But trust me, we know exactly what we have in Gano. A bottom of the barrel kicker. Rackers is so much better than him, it's not even worth discussing. Can't wait for the day Gano is shown the door and I don't have to cringe every time we line up for a field goal.

For the record, Gano who you feel is "among the worst kickers in the entire league" has better kicking stats, even with the 5 blocked kicks he had last year that were not his fault, than the great Chip Lohmiller. Gano also has a much stronger leg:

Chip Lohmiller:
Career Field Goal Percentage: 71.8%
50+: 39.3%
http://www.pro-football-reference.co...lohmichi01.htm

Graham Gano:
Career Field Goal Percentage: 73.8%
50+: 44.4%
http://www.pro-football-reference.co...G/GanoGr44.htm

Gano turning into Lohmiller would be a regression...

---------- Post added August-14th-2012 at 12:43 PM ----------

Actually we need him to be better than Lohmiller.

Statistically speaking, he already is.

[Bang]

for all you bashing on gano, you ever stop and think about how much SKILL it takes to purposely miss a field goal... and make it look like it had a chance?

think about how many games it would have put us away from being able to trade up for BobbyG had gano actually planned/been told to make them.

yea... WITHOUT gano there would be NO griffin. so sit down, shut up, and thank Gano.

Now that we have a bona fide starter QB, the need for a kicker is greatly diminished. Give him time to continue groom his stanky leg skillz and he will become great, if not legendary.

this is ridiculous.

really. professional football coaches throwing games. Professional football players throwing games for a team they might not be a part of next year

So, if this is what they did, how is it we are out our next 3 first round picks and next 2 seconds?

you know how hard it is to try and throw games, and win so many that you STILL have to mortgage the future to get the guy you were throwing games for?

Dumbest thing I've heard all year.

~Bang

[Botched]

Last year we passed on David Akers, who was a free agent. Akers made more field goals than anybody in 2011, and finished at 85%, and that includes 3 blocked kicks.

We also cut Shayne Graham because he missed 2 kicks in preseason. He was coming off of a 12/12 season and has an 86% lifetime average.

Meanwhile we're going into another season saying "we just need to give him more time", and we may end up passing on another veteran in favor of the wildly inconsistent Gano. By the time he "gets it" (assuming he ever does) we'll probably have passed on half a dozen better kickers. If Rackers looks even a smidge better than G-dub this preseason, we need to keep him and cut the Onions.

As far as the Danny Smith stuff, yeah he stinks. How he still has a job here is baffling to me. It is possible that both Smith and Gano suck though, and I think that's the case here.

[nachol]

For the record, Gano who you feel is "among the worst kickers in the entire league" has better kicking stats, even with the 5 blocked kicks he had last year that were not his fault, than the great Chip Lohmiller. Gano also has a much stronger leg:

I gotta admit, I thought Lohmiller had much better numbers than that, particularly during the 91 season. I stand corrected.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

This has been beaten to death. Why do you directional kick when your kicker can kickoff through the goalpost? Let them start at the 20. Directional kicking comes with the idea that you can "squeeze" them inside the 20. But whenever the ball goes towards the sidelines, return men are more apt to let it bounce out of bounds then try and catch it and get squeezed on the sidelines. And it's very difficult to directional kick inside the 10. .....

So if it's been done to death man, why did you feel the need to expand on more or less the same thing I posted about the coach being a moron for getting away from booming it through the EZ?

Still doesn't alter the fact it's one less facet to Gano's abilities however.

Hail.

[pjfootballer]

So if it's been done to death man, why did you feel the need to expand on more or less the same thing I posted about the coach being a moron for getting away from booming it through the EZ?

Still doesn't alter the fact it's one less facet to Gano's abilities however.

Hail.

The way you wrote it sounded like you were forgiving the coach for directional kicking instead of booming it away. If I read that wrong, I apoligize.