Bullock isn't an isolated case; he's simply the latest to fall into BOB's doghouse. Look, this is their livelihood; think about your livelihood - no one wants a hatchet man running up and down the hallways axing every employee that makes the tiniest mistake. You have to find the proper balance. BOB (hopefully) knows the pulse of that locker room. And accountability is a good thing. But no one is perfect - and the fruitless pursuit of it can sometimes be a detriment.
We'll see. BOB's talent evaluation has been really hit or miss so it's hard to just assume that the guy who picks up the worst kickoff kicker in the league last year is doing the right thing after picking Hoyer over Mallett to start the year. That decision cost us a game, and this one could as well.
Pretty sure there's more than one player in that locker-room who didn't appreciate a kicker that can't consistently make extra points. There's also more than one player who really doesn't consider the kicker/punter to be a significant enough part of the team to begin with... I think they'll be fine in the locker room.
Talent evaluation? We're talking about a freaking kicker who's made mistake after mistake with concerns about his confidence and mental makeup. Kickers lose their jobs every year... most of them a lot more accomplished/talented than Randy. This should be a blip on the radar type move.
There's a reason Novak didn't have a job and both Shaybe Graham and Kris Brown aren't on a roster. Maybe FGs do matter more, but the trend in the NFL has been to get guys who can do kickoffs.
But those guys can also kick FG's as well. There is absolutely no trend to get kickers who are good at touchbacks but mediocre to bad at middle-range FG's (with questionable confidence issues as well).
And we're talking about replacing him with someone off the couch who couldn't kick the ball in the end zone last year to save his life on the basis of one tryout.....so yes, talent evaluation comes into play.
Most kickers who get replaced every year are done-so with either veterans off the couch or rookies. And even if we exclude reports of him being 6/7 in touchbacks... and even if his kicks barely reach the goal-line... the average starting position he gave up was the 24 yard line. I'm guessing the avg. texans opponent starting position this year is somewhere between 20-24. Lastly, if we're kicking off THAT much... that means we're scoring a helluva lot of points... again, I'll take that tradeoff.
Yes.... basically we're arguing about field position, which is equivalent to complaining about a punter. Except the difference here is that a punter is only on the field when the offense has stalled... a kickoff usually occurs after the offense has scored.
Fair enough, but remember this when the Texans lose a game due to a kickoff return for a TD. Our special teams coverage is tragic, picking up a noodle legged kicker that can't reach the end zone regularly just increases the number of times they'll have to make a play, increasing the odds of the other team scoring. If it ends up not being an issue, then great, we'll draft a kicker in the off-season and it won't matter, but it's something that should be of concern IMO
I will... thanks. There should be no special teams unit that bad that would be a threat to give up a TD on every ball not kicked well out of the end zone. Likewise, even the best special team units will at some point give up a kickoff return for a TD. Hell... more returns does also open the possibility that the opposing team will turn the ball over, and like I said...more kickoffs by us usually means we've put more points on the board. It all evens out in the end... I've never heard of a team losing due to not enough touchbacks, and they were willing to trade missed extra points and FG's to get them.
Why are we worried about kickoffs? We barely score points to get any so who cares. Kickoffs should be on the bottom 25% for the list of problems that need to be addressed for this team.
I think most can't forget Bullock's first year when he started off really bad. He has been average to above-average since then. Nowhere near the worst in the league (see the Buc's kicker on Sunday). But every time he missed a field goal, he is fat Randy all over again. I'm sure if Novak misses his extra point, we'll hear "give him some time, he's rusty". Except you're expecting him to kick at 99%, the improvement cannot be that much. He can't be that much worse either. I feel like this has more to do than just missing 2 extra points and a couple field goals. Oh if only Hard Knocks continued into the season.
If "we" barely score points then why are "we" worried about extra points? Those only come after a touchdown.
