Saints sign Kicker Billy Cundiff (Merged and merged) (1 Viewer)

[CitySaint]

Isn't it interesting that the Saints are making all of these moves to improve special teams? With all the focus on special teams I'm looking for another big game by them against Atlanta.

 

[FWtex]

This makes no sense. Cundiff was average at best and did not have a big leg on Kickoffs. If its for Kickoffs I would think there are about 100 guys out there with a booming leg who would play for cheap cheap.

Something tells me there is something wrong with Carney they are keeping quiet about. A guy just does not lose that much leg overnight.

 

[keepoursaints]

Is your avatar a joke??

Unless he's changed it since you posted this.. his avatar is a picture of St. Frank, a SR member who recently passed away.

 

[OneSaintsFan]

Pulling up the stats for both kickers there really isn't much difference as far as kickoffs are concerned. This year Carney averages 60.5 yards on kickoffs or the 9.5 yard line. Cundiff last year in 6 games averaged 63.2 or the 6.8 yard line. In fact Carney has 5 touchbacks this year. Last year Cundiff in 6 games had 1. The year before that, Cundiff had only 3 touchbacks. The average return on Carney's kickoffs this year is 20.5 which brings average starting field position to the 30 yard line. The average return on Cundiff's kickoffs last year was 22.4 bringing the average starting field postion to the 29.2 yard line. Very little difference if you ask me. However the year before the Cowboys only allowed 17.5 yards per kickoff return which gave the average starting field postion that year (he kicked for an average of 63.3 yard then) to the 24.2 yard line.

So I'll reserve judgement here on the kickoff duties panning out. I think the re signing of Freddie Mac will do a whole lot more for the kickoff team than Cundiff will. But Cundiff will be beneficial on long field goals for sure.

BTW, has anyone considered the fact that the Saints offense by scoring so many points are perhaps tiring out Carney's leg?


Just my 2 cents.

Chef, I saw your signature line and swore it said "MORE CONWELL!", and was disappointed to see upon a second look that it didn't

 

[Saintsfan321]

Have we tried Weatherford on kickoffs? I can't remember. He obviously has a strong leg

 

[dninc]

Now it's confirmed on other sources.. So it's official

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/player?statsId=6154

 

[Danchrism]

Have we tried Weatherford on kickoffs? I can't remember. He obviously has a strong leg

I'd assume that we tried him out in practice or whatever, given that Payton went out-of-house to address a glaring concern.

 

[Frank The Rat]

having the opponents starting around the 40 it seemed on every kickoff was killing us. this is a good move and if it helps us with longer field goals as well that would be good to, but I would rather score touchdowns, not field goals.

 

[longtime lurker]

A good move by the Saints.....enough with the bad kickoffs.

 

[Pure Energy]

Here is more confirmation from Rotoword.com as well as an obvious observation fron John Clayton.

Saints signed kicker Billy Cundiff.

He is expected to take over kickoffs and long field goals from 43-year-old John Carney, but is unlikely to be a fantasy option in New Orleans
ESPN's John Clayton reports Saints placekicker John Carney is expected to lose long field goals and kickoffs to Billy Cundiff.

We'd drop Carney in fantasy league immediately. Cundiff has a chance to eventually take over the starting job full time.
Source: ESPN Insider

I'm not so sure I agree with ESPN. Based on the dismal performance in the Red Zone over the past few weeks, my thought is the Saints will become more conservative and value a FG over a potential turnover. I'm betting Carney's FG production goes up over the next few weeks and I don't think Cundiff is going to be kicking anything shorter than 53 yards.

But what do I know....?

 

[NCSaint]

This is what I like about Sean Payton. He sees a problem and he addresses it. It shows that he wants to get better now rather than later.

Agree completely. He realizes how short a window you have to make each game count during the season. Keeps everyone on their toes as well.

 

[Saint Tex]

This is what I like about Sean Payton. He sees a problem and he addresses it. It shows that he wants to get better now rather than later.

Agreed. Before we would have a consistent problem in one area and hear how we're working on it and it will be all right and we'll go with the people we've got. Payton showed in pre-season that he wasn't going to put up with lack of improvement--we kept adding linebackers because the ones we had weren't getting the job done. What is really heartening to me is that the mindset where we improve with the players we have or get another player continues even after the season is half over.

Carney's kickoffs were good at the first of the year, but the last couple of weeks, it's evident that we are giving up a lot of yardage. If Cundiff can kick off to between the 5 and 10, we'll improve, especially with Beerman and Freddie Mac as gunners.

Like ThibodauxSaint says, Payton sees a problem and addresses it. The fact that he continues to do so is to me the best part of the news about signing a KOS.

 

[JvilleJoe]

I like the move as John Carney has struggled with kickoffs the last few weeks. The only thing I am concerned with is who we had to cut to get him to the active roster! I have not see who that was yet!
Special teams can be the difference as we go into playoff mode and the addition of Freddie and Cundiff can make a difference.

 

[Marlboro Man]

The kick offs from Carney in the Pittsburg game were the worst I've seen. I also think Carney's time here is coming to an end. Carney misses the easiest kicks and they usually end up costing us the game. In last week's loss, that blocked PAT was inexcusable. If you watched it, he was very lackadasical and late in his approach to the ball. How many of you remember the missed kick and loss of the game against Philly after the "River City Relay"? I have no problem letting Carney go.

 

[Lustmord]

good signing-might be good for uber long fg's also