The case for Brad Wall

[justwin]

getting a shot at kicking some FGs in St. Pete. What's it going to hurt?

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2606364/brad-wall I encourage all of you to watch his SR clips. It breaks it down by kickoffs & later on FG attempts. About 7 minutes. I know he made a few 40+ yarders his junior year that would've been good from 50. Plus, in the senior clip, dude gets hammered by rushers and still makes a 40+ to win the game as time expires, crowd goes nuts.

Notables:
He benches 315 & squats 360. Repeat, benches 315. A kicker benching 315. That tells me he's tough. I can't remember the punter's name during the JWS years, but he was the toughest SOB on the team & equally strong.
He kicks the ball straight and far. I'd rather a FG kicker consistently be near the uprights vs shanks that leave the television screen.
Mullen preaches competition. Graves has lost it. He has that Devon Bell look in his eyes and we need to put Graves out of his misery. If he really was hurt, fine. But Romo lost his job from being hurt too.
Most importantly, blue shoes made one of the most athletic plays I've seen from a kicker on the Arkansas onsides. Made a move and scat for 20 more after recovery.

As each of you rewatch the Egg Bowl on your DVRs over the next several months, I encourage you to watch Wall on the Kickoffs instead of fast forwarding. for distance, his shortest ones were to the 5 and deepest ones were middle of the endzone. For accuracy, he consistently went middle to the right hash and then middle to left #s. Appears he was consistently aiming & hitting his targets on KOs.

[jbjones]

. I can't remember the punter's name during the JWS years, but he was the toughest SOB on the team & equally strong.
.

Jeff Walker. Dude was a headhunter...Loved watching him.

[confucius say]

His name was Jeff walker

[starkvegasdawg]

I'd be for trotting Bully out there to kick over Graves.

[Bama_Dawg]

When he picked up that on side kick, he sold me. I'm still pissed they overturned that with no proper camera angle!

[maroonmania]

Seriously, unless there is some physical injury to account for Graves' kicking performance this year, then it is well past time to move on and give someone else a chance. Way too many good JUCO kickers around to stick with someone who constantly hooks everything to the left.

[Really Clark?]

Seriously, unless there is some physical injury to account for Graves' kicking performance this year, then it is well past time to move on and give someone else a chance. Way too many good JUCO kickers around to stick with someone who constantly hooks everything to the left.

He was playing injured all year. 2 bulging disks in his back I believe???

[Todd4State]

As long as he is healthy Graves should get the first chance to be the kicker next year.

[justwin]

As long as he is healthy Graves should get the first chance to be the kicker next year.

I don't understand this logic. He was 2 for his last 8 not mentioning the other times we chose to go for it on 4th down. If he had an injury, he shouldn't have played. But he played, so sounds like he was just hurt. He still had the power & distance, it was the consistent hooks so I'm not sure I buy the injury. Again, that's why I would like to see Wall at least get an opportunity in St. Pete & whether he's tough enough to win the job. Wall or the punter with the long last name. Someone, anyone, other than Graves needs to be given the chance to create competition b/c make no mistake, we need a reliable FG kicker within 40 yards to win next year.

The problem with this "first chance" logic equates to him getting quadruple opportunities instead of someone else's single opportunity. We've seen this the last 4 years with smaller, more tenured RBs in the backfield & it has consistently cost us 2+ wins a season. Namely, losing to LSU last two years. You could say the same thing about Graves two years ago. There was no justifiable reason that Bell should've gotten to kick the game winner vs LSU over Graves. NONE. Bell lost his edge. Kind of like how Graves has now lost his edge. Graves needs competition and he should not be given the first chance. He had it and lost it. If he wants it back, he needs to work his way back up to it..not have it given to him.

There's no coincidence that the same coach responsible for RBs coaches STs.

If Wall fails, I'll be the first to eat crow.

[Really Clark?]

I think to Todd's point is that a healthy Graves hit over 80% the year before. If he is back and healthy he could still be the best option on the team. Not that we are not pursuing kickers this recruiting cycle but Graves has been good and he was right at 80% this year through the middle of the year. He hit 6 straight after the USA game

[justwin]

I think to Todd's point is that a healthy Graves hit over 80% the year before. If he is back and healthy he could still be the best option on the team. Not that we are not pursuing kickers this recruiting cycle but Graves has been good and he was right at 80% this year through the middle of the year. He hit 6 straight after the USA game

Fair. But you can't discount how bad he was last 7 games of the season. To me, you have to plan on him not being healthy.

[Really Clark?]

Fair. But you can't discount how bad he was last 7 games of the season. To me, you have to plan on him not being healthy.

Don't disagree and why I said they are not staying pat with what we got.

[IMissJack]

He was playing injured all year. 2 bulging disks in his back I believe???

Well then it makes even less sense to keep sending an injured player out...

[whosyourdawgy]

Serious question for this. Ok. These kids practice what, every day? And the coaches watch and coach during these practices correct? Do you honestly think that if Wall is outperforming Graves in practice that he wouldn't be given the chance in a game to kick a field goal? There is a reason Graves is out there kicking w bulging discs. I mean really? Dan is so loyal to his upper class men that he is gonna send them out come hell or high water, even if it means losing games Does that make sense to anyone? Me either. What this tells me is that Weston Graves is still performing the best in practices and the coaches feel he is our best chance at making field goals during the games. He hasn't performed well during games this season for certain but that tells me all I need to know about Wall or any other kicker we have on campus.

[mparkerfd20]

As long as he is healthy Graves should get the first chance to be the kicker next year.

Could not disagree more. That ship has sailed. Healthy or not, he has lost the fanbase.

[Really Clark?]

Could not disagree more. That ship has sailed. Healthy or not, he has lost the fanbase.

Lost the fanbase? Sobesik hit 50% in 2013 and the majority of fans didn't even realize how good he was kicking in 2014 until late in the year. They were complaining about our horrible kicker when he had only missed one FG all year until the EB. Many started paying attention late in the year when he was at 90% and finished the year at 85.7% and then the fans cried about him leaving early to go to grad school. Fans are fickle and can turn either direction.