Saints PK Wil Lutz had 'probably the best kicking workout' Sean Payton has seen (1 Viewer)

[St.Dan]

I'm wondering what Bum Phillips would have said about Morten Andersen's first workout, had in 1982 we lived in a world with instant communication due to technology and a 24-hour news cycle.

For Lutz's sake, I hope he can come in and be something close to Mr. Automatic with Payton's quote floating through cyberspace like that. Can he handle this hype? I sure as shootin' hope so.

 

[mjf504]

All I ask from SP is give the kid a chance. Let him kick the entire year without the stress of being cut after the first miss. There is enough pressure for a guy that sits cold on the bench the entire game to have to come into a full loud stadium with a single job to do.

If you think opposite then why isn't SP or DB fired from the job for running numbskull plays at the worst times?

 

[DongoJunior]

Dream

I had a dream, an awesome dream. Lutz ices the game with a 54 yard field goal to secure a Saints victory. Final score 20-17.

 

[jayd265]

i hope our defense holds a team to 17. and that we win. and that our kicker wins it.

i'd prefer 38-17 like the last time we faced in the regular season. 2 ints, 3 sacks

 

[kcirdor]

Well so far Payton can't evaluate Kickers to save his life, so RIP Sean, you will be missed.

 

[Quiet Storm]

I guess we'll see how he is in game situations. I'm hoping to have trust, again.

 

[HouseCall]

Payton's comments about Lutz's workout say one thing to me...powerful leg. And that's definitely a good thing but we all know that leg is just one component of a competent, successful FG kicker.

Unfortunately, we have seen multiple times in Payton's tenure kickers with physical promise wilt under the Dome lights and the scrutinizing scowl of the coach. Mehlhaff comes to mind as does Hocker, more recently. Those guys had strong legs and did well in practices and preseason, but both had poor showings when the games counted.

 

[OldSaintFan]

Saints PK Wil Lutz had 'probably the best kicking workout' Sean Payton has seen | NOLA.com

This explains a lot why the change was made. Seems to have a ton of upside and could be our kicker for the next decade or more.

Go to You Tube and type in his name. He puts on quite a show.

 

[Bill]

Bold move. I kinda like the moxie. And it wasn't like I felt comfortable with Forbath or Barth (well, a little more with Barth). Either way, I was going to be fretting kicks anyway.

I don't think Saints fans will ever again feel as they did when Morten Andersen trotted out on the field to do the job. I doubt seriously that Forbath or Barth would have ever given us flashbacks of the Great Dane either. And the reason is simple. You can teach a kid good technique, but you can't teach them leg strength. The fact that Coach Payton made such a noteworthy comment about Lutz's strong leg tells me that he didn't see anything close to this kid's leg in either Forbath or Barth, and thus could only base his decision regarding who to keep on accuracy and experience.

There are only three aspects of the American game that puts the 'foot' in football... placekicking (fieldgoals & extra points), punting, and kickoffs. By all means, since placekicking involves putting points on the board, a coach has to be sure that he employs a kid who can split the uprights when they call his number. All NFL kickers should have enough leg to reach the crossbar anytime the L.O.S. is inside the 30 yard line. But how many coaches get to drool over having a kid who is a legitimate threat to make a fieldgoal when it is spotted between the 45-50 yard lines? (Especially if it is an attempt that ends either half of the game.) Payton obviously sees this kind of potential in Lutz.

But there's more. Goodell's attempt to eliminate kickoffs altogether has actually backfired on him. His dream was that every one of these score-ensuing kicks would uneventfully land somewhere around the P.A.T. net behind the goalposts. He should have known that NFL coaches don't think that way. Instead, coaches know that they will have the upper hand on defense if they can pin the receiving team somewhere closer to their own goal line. Thus teams are employing kids who have the kind of leg that can produce the 'sky kicks' with big hang time and better kick coverage. Neither Forbath nor Barth seemed to do well at that skill. From what I saw, when there was an attempt to kickoff through the endzone, it was a low, line drive type of kick that didn't always send the receiver very deep. With so much open field ahead, it was not unusual for the returner to run beyond the 25 yard line. The few times that I saw obvious attempts by either of our kickers to drop one inside the 5 yard line, it was usually much closer to the 10 and the coverage by our special team was not much better because the hang time just wasn't there. Teams with good strong-legged kickers who can kick the football very high and land it around the goal line will almost always force a returner to make a great run just to get past the 20 yard line.

Thus, I think that Coach Payton is looking beyond field goal percentage (for now) in the hopes that Lutz will help him in the 'field position' aspect of the game. There also is an advantage to having a 'second' punter available in the event Morestead is unable to answer the call for any reason. Obviously the lack of experience is what makes this decision a true roll of the dice. But if this kid can build some confidence early on by keeping his percentages up on FGs and PATs, somebody is going to look like a real genius for making this bold move when he had the chance to do so.

Either that,... or Forbath will be kicking winning fieldgoals at some NFL stadium soon in order to make us all do this:

 

[Saint Poppa]

Well, if it makes anyone feel better...Ravens scouting found this kid, not coach Payton.
Maybe he had a hitch in his motion that Tucker helped him with. I'm all for giving him a shot.
FWIW, before the game last Thurs. I saw Greg McMahon talking to Justin Tucker and the Ravens punter for a good while. It was definitely more than just a "hello how ya doin" deal.
I wonder if they were talkin about this kid then?

 

[Muerte33]

I like the idea of having a backup for Morstead too.

 

[Taker597]

When he misses his first kick half the board will turn on him

Isn't the typical Kicker cycle is that they will have an amazing game and then fall in to the dark abyss?

 

[VPCajun]

.

Practice?

They were impressed with PRACTICE?

And they signed him after one PRACTICE?

SMH

.

(Yeah, I know it was a Try Out and not a "Practice", but still...)

.

 

[meily]

I had a dream, an awesome dream. Lutz ices the game with a 54 yard field goal to secure a Saints victory. Final score 20-17.

....you had a dream the Saints scored 17pts.

 

[longtime lurker]

Well, if it makes anyone feel better...Ravens scouting found this kid, not coach Payton.
Maybe he had a hitch in his motion that Tucker helped him with. I'm all for giving him a shot.
FWIW, before the game last Thurs. I saw Greg McMahon talking to Justin Tucker and the Ravens punter for a good while. It was definitely more than just a "hello how ya doin" deal.
I wonder if they were talkin about this kid then?

Maybe they were.

Having the Ravens speak well of him does look good in his favor to me. I respect their scouts and front office. I watched his practice and game day kicks on YouTube. He has a smooth kicking style and it looks like a really decent straight on kick. No curves or anything like that. Fingers crossed.