Per @chrisrussel... Gano released cundiff added

[shakazullo]

I HATE this move. First move in the Shanahan era that I seriously, unequivocally think is STUPID and short-sighted.

Hate it. Terrible move. We will regret this move in 2 years. Mark it down.

Wow. I mad.

LOL. How mad can you possibly be if you are using smiley faces?

[jly0784]

This is the first move I unequivocally disagree with this offseason/preseason. I would rather have either Rackers and/or Gano over Billy Cundiff. I don't get the thought process here.

From John Keim:

@JohnKeim Surprised by this: Cundiff has attempted more than 25 kicks in a season five times; has made more than 80 percent of his kicks once.

you just read this on 1067 the fan lol

[CTskins]

Billy is only 32.....

Gonna hate this move when Graham turns into a world class FG kicker for some other team.

The guy just kicked our longest field-goal in team history last season.

I don't like the move, but trust the coach.

Danny Smith must have pics of Danny Snyder!

What makes you say that? Gano has a 68.6% career make percentage...not exactly Raul Allegre', let alone Gary Anderson. Maybe the reason so many kicks were blocked, coupled with the ability to hit 60 yarders, is because he had a low trajectory. Maybe it didn't have to do solely with the kick protection.

Personally, I like Rackers over both Gano and Cundiff, but I like Cundiff over Gano as well. Cundiff's career FGM% approaches 77%. Gano hasn't hit 76% in a single season. I hated having a heart attack every time it was 4th down from the 25 yard line last year. Gano probably cost the 'Skins at least a few chances to win in 2011, both directly (Coach’s hesitation to kick for fear it'd be blocked) and indirectly (morale of the team after a blocked or missed kick). Gano was not the way to go for an improving team.

On the other hand, those misses allowed the 'Skins to win only 5 games, giving them the 6th pick overall and an asset to land one of the most dynamic quarterbacks this league has seen in years...

[Skins n' Bones]

This is a confusing move. Cundiff seems to me like an older version of Gano...so why not stick with the younger guy? But then again, it's a kicker, and most of them go from team to team every couple years, so oh well.

Nothing against the guy personally, but the one thing that bothers me about it from a fan perspective is that he's not only an ex-Raven, but he's also an ex-Cowboy...

[Hiro]

What?!

Erhm ... I'm confused by this ...

[KDawg]

Cundiff is better on kickoffs and better inside 50. We don't want to keep a guy because hes more consistent from 50+.

[MDTERPS27]

Looks like we won't be attempting any 50+ yard kicks this season. There were games that I remember the Ravens could have won with a 51 yarder or a 49 yarder and Harbaugh knew he couldn't send this guy out there because he simply can't hit them. I guess that means we'll either be going for it on 4th down a lot or punting from the 32 yard line. Exciting times ahead.

And that is a bogus stat about kickoffs and touchbacks. Gano could send the ball 4 rows deep into the stands any time he wants, Danny Smith calls for him to send the ball higher in the air so the other team can try to return it against our NFL league leading kick coverage unit and get stopped inside the 20 half of the time. Gano will be kicking our ass with some team for the next 15 years.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

As a fan, if you have no confidence Gano was going to make the FG, I don't want him on my team. I felt like that everytime he stood behind the ball every Sunday. Not to mention the kick-offs that went out of bounds and put the other team on the 40 yd line. He had his chances to excel and he didn't show much improvement. Just like any other position on the team. If you can't show that you are getting the job done, you gotta go. We can't just keep waiting around hoping he will be good in 5 years

[DaSkinzBaby]

In terms of having been to a pro bowl and hopefully better consistency. I did like Gano's leg but he seemed to be unable to focus and realize the ability he had. Besides I would hope the coaching staff has a bit more knowledge and understanding than us here on Extremeskins..........

[KDawg]

Looks like we won't be attempting any 50+ yard kicks this season. There were games that I remember the Ravens could have won with a 51 yarder or a 49 yarder and Harbaugh knew he couldn't send this guy out there because he simply can't hit them. I guess that means we'll either be going for it on 4th down a lot or punting from the 32 yard line. Exciting times ahead.

And that is a bogus stat about kickoffs and touchbacks. Gano could send the ball 4 rows deep into the stands any time he wants, Danny Smith calls for him to send the ball higher in the air so the other team can try to return it against our NFL league leading kick coverage unit and get stopped inside the 20 half of the time. Gano will be kicking our ass with some team for the next 15 years.

If Danny Smith is telling a kicker who can kick the ball into the bleachers to put it in the air so our coverage team can get down there, we have a much larger problem than our kicker.

[DaSkinzBaby]

Well said agreed 100%

[skins4eva]

Are you people shedding tears over Gano serious? He was called "Oh-No-Gano" for a reason. They guy was completely unclutch, and his field goals were blocked bc of his low trajectory kicks. They guy sucked, and I'm glad he's gone.

[DaSkinzBaby]

If Danny Smith is telling a kicker who can kick the ball into the bleachers to put it in the air so our coverage team can get down there, we have a much larger problem than our kicker.

Amen to that!!!

[CTskins]

Last year: 28-37, 75.7%, long of 51
Career: 132-172, 76.7%, long 56

Gano:
Last Year: 31-41, 75.6%, long of 59
Career: 59-80. 73.8%, long of 59

And Gano was a punter and kicker in college, so if Rocca went down in a game we have a backup with experience on the squad (mock that if you will, but in the last 3 seasons, Gano has had to punt in a game 4 times with a net of 35.8 yds - less than 4 yards less than Rocca's net of 39 yds).

I trust Shanny & Allen, but how anyone can look at career stats and claim Cundiff is an actual upgrade is beyond me.

You can't count the UFL. It's a completely different environment and level of play.

[justice98]

Gano has cost us many games because of missing easy field goals early or late in games. Look back at the games lost the last few seasons and we have lost many by 2 or 3 points, and in many of those losses, Gano has missed at least one field goal. Our coaches see and know things that us fans don't, and it's obvious they feel we are a better team with Cundiff than with Gano.

They also felt we were a better team with John Beck starting. They've been wrong before.