and that punt by Colquitt as sick. Seriously, sick! And what team doesn’t need a “drunk kicker”? Just kidding…

Prater was awesome in September of 2008, but he got substantially worse as the season progressed. He made just 12 of his final 20 FG attempts and he missed back to back PATs vs San Diego in week 17 (a false gave him a 2nd chance to blow that gimme twice). His % beyond 50 was great, but his % of makes between 40-49% was disastrous.

Furthermore, his kickoffs were shorter and shorter as the year wore on.

Then we get to the off-season and the guy starts with the excuses that his leg was tired?

Other guys are playing real football with broken bones (Elvis), torn ligaments (DJ), diabetes (Cutler) and a really messed up hip (Marshall) yet Prater is crying about a tired leg from having to kick the ball too many times. Save it NANCY.

It would surprise me not one bit if Prater loses a game or two for Denver in 2009 before he is replaced.

And comparing Elam or Morton Anderson’s stats to Praters is not apples to apples. Kickers have become much more accurate in the past decade. Praters 60% percentage on his final 20 kicks in 2008 is not average for a kicker in today’s NFL, it’s terrible.

As this write-up suggests, Kern was pretty good in 2008, yet he is competing for his job with a talented, but flaky rookie. IMO, it was criminally negligent for The Coach not to bring in someone to push Prater (not nearly as solid as Kern) for a roster spot. The Coach stresses competition so why he didn’t bring in someone to challenge a kicker that proved to have a weak stomach in 2008. The Coach is being inconsistent here and it’s mystifying.

I’m sorry, but this write-up gave Matt Prater the kid gloves treatment?

The kicking game was suspect in the late season and I wondered where did we get these retards. I have a different perspective now.

As far as Britt and the other two “kickers” and what we have seen with the new HC. You will play for the team. I see HC in “their collective faces” if they have problems on or off the field.

I liked Mike for what he did, but I am also looking forward to next season, which I could not do for the past 5 years.

McDaniels has said that he doesn’t bring people in unless he feels they can compete and contribute to the team. I think there is definitely a competition to the punting game and it sounds like Kern realizes it and is working hard to improve his game.

In the end, I think we will have a real decent punter because of the process. Do you get the feeling that every player is actually being coached this year, from top to bottom with people who will make them better?

Those those who wonder what happened to Prater later in the season, I suggest that you read Stephan Fatsis’ "A Few Seconds of Panic. In it, he makes a point that is common knowledge among kickers, but which eludes fans.

Jason Elam barely worked on his kicking, from many people’s viewpoint. That’s wasn’t because he was so good – in part, he was that good because of it. You hear regular comments along the lines of kickers not being ‘real’ football players, but that’s based in a lack of medical understanding. Constant over-repetition of the kicking motion, which is unnatural at best, is the single best way to create repetitive injury problems with the joints in the hips and legs. Once that damage is done, the necessary training – only a few reps per day – of the kicking motion is enough to increase the damage to the ligaments and joints. The problem is cyclic, and it is often severe. It is extremely painful and very tough to kick through

A first year kicker, in his quest to get and keep his job, is very likely to overtrain early in the year, first to win his job and then in a well-meaning but misguided attempt to keep it. Once that damage is done, the second half of the season will be painful at best. Accuracy will suffer. although I have no doubts that Prater also experienced issues with the mental aspect of his game – like a master golfer, a kicker cannon overestimate the importance of his cognitive state while kicking – Prater’s experience is common among kickers. His single biggest opponent was most likely his own early-season training schedule

The number of kicking specialists in the coaching ranks is small. As a result, what they are trying to achieve and how they should best go about doing so is not widely taught, at least according to what I’ve read in Fatsis’ text and elsewhere. As he understand that he does not have to train that hard and recognizes what he will have to do to get through an entire season of kicking, I’d look for his numbers to improve this year. After all – his numbers, and those of Elam in his first year, were very similar and I didn’t hear anyone arguing that Elam should be tossed.

I’m still irked about the Elam trade. That was the last SB Bronco to my knowledge. Not that it makes any difference, but Elam was always a safe bet. You knew that if you absolutely needed it, he would sink a 55 yarder with plenty of room for you. Aside from that, in 07 (his last season), he won Denver 2 games. If he weren’t here, we would have been 5-11 in 2007. How’s that for reality?

Elam was not traded, he left as an UFA.

Nalen is the last Super Bowl Bronco and he retired this offseason.

The guy’s made serious efforts to close that chapter of his life since that last arrest, and all indications are that it’s sticking. The reason that the Broncos felt comfortable bringing him in is because, during the combine, he was very candid about his mistakes and about what he’s done to correct himself since then.

But something else that’s not often mentioned is that he kicks the ball away quickly. He’s awfully hard to block and, as you noted, can put up some serious hangtime.

If you give the guy a chance to show you what he’s like as a person today, and to show you what he can do on the field, I think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised on both fronts.

Which would be less leg movement for Prater if need be.

and a really good discussion. I think McGeorges point on competition as very valid. No player should be handed a job in the NFL. As for the tired leg, I was going to mention the Fatsis book. I’m almost finished reading it, and there are some enlightening things told in it. As for the confidence thing, his job IS about confidence and has a lot of performance pressure. That’s in the job description. If you ain’t got it, you don’t qualify, and Hasta La Bye Bye.

Nice writeup Z but I think you are misreading Kern’s stats. As I read them, he had 46 punts – 23 of which were not returned (9 downed between the 10-20, 4 downed inside the 10, 4 touchbacks, & 6 fair catches). I believe a 50% non-return rate was the best in the NFL.

Of course that makes our 11.8 yards per return really bad.

I didn’t read the above comments, so it may have already been said, but another factor in the signing of Colquitt, I would imagine, is the fact that Mike Preifer is the special teams coach. He came from Kansas City, so he knows the Colquitt family well, I would imagine, being that Dustin Colquitt is in KC.

whether the best way to improve your kicker’s performance is to bring in someone to compete with him, or give him the vote of confidence of handing him the job. Kickers and punters are different from other positions in the sense that if a kicker’s going badly, it’s possible to bring in a replacement for him late in camp or even mid-season. If Prater stinks it up in camp, you can bet that someone else will be brought in, but I suspect that McDaniels felt that he had too many other priorities during free agency and figured he’d roll the dice with Prater—for now at least…. Hopefully giving him the vote of confidence, a shiny new snapper, and the experience taking care of his kicking leg that comes from a year’s experience will turn him into a solid NFL kicker.

But why bring in a punter then.

Does anyone disagree that Kern had a better year than Prater? Probably not.

I believe Matt Stover is still a FA, and there were some good college kickes that went undrafted. It was inconsistent for McD to GIVE the job to Prater when Kern has to earn it like just about every other player on the roster.

But you’re right. It’s not like a kicker has to learn the playbook or anything. If Prater stinks it up again, we can cut him and pick up some scrap heap kicker any Monday week 1 thru 17.

McGeorge is raising a valid point. “No one should be” a second guesser?? We’re all second guessers, and scrutinizers, and analyzers and re-analyzers. Many of us may end up on the rosy side of the street more often than not. I do. But McGeorge’s skepticism here is not out of line. I think McD is taking a calculated risk with Prater. But could it backfire? Sure….

I think competition is designed to bring out additional and more quality effort. The idea is to get people to try harder.

Kicking is more mental and trying to hard while in a finesse position can actually be detrimental. Hence the lack of competition. If he has the right tools, and he does, why push the envelope when all he needs is confidence. Its not like it was an effort problem.

You can argue punting is a finesse position too, but I do think effort is more of a factor in punting than it is in kicking field goals. Keeping your distance average ahead of the new hotshot rookie will force you to give it your all every single time. But keeping your made percentage up against the new hot shot rookie will magnify your mistakes and lower your confidence.

And McDaniels is consistent. When he feels he’s getting 100% from you 100% of the time and that you have the skill level required he makes it clear that you’re his guy. Look at Orton. And look at Cutler. I liked Cutler – even had a $300 jersey with his name on it – but he always rubbed me as the kind of guy that gave the minimum effort required because he was that good.

Orton is known for his effort – first guy in last guy out. And now he’s our quarterback.

I agree with you, I am somewhat surprised at signing another punter, I thought Kern had a very good year, he made several plays on bad snaps in New York to save the game, I can forgive him out kicking the coverage, it is bound to happen at Mile High, I think we had more issues with kickoff coverage and Prater wearing down at the end of the year, there is no reason that Prater shouldn’t be kicking the ball out of the end zone every time in Mile High, there is no reason any guy should even attempt a return in Mile High. That is the bigger concern for me with Prater versus the FG accuracy, I agree that should improve, but I hate when we need a KO specialist when we play half our games at altitude.