Matt Bosher's Future With The Falcons Is Cloudy At Best
by Dave Choate on Sep 27, 2011 12:30 PM EDT
in Falcons News
Email
PrintEarlier today, we talked a little bit about how Mike Smith was threatening to shake up the offensive line, even if that isn't particularly likely. What is more likely is that Matt Bosher will be out of a job if he doesn't start punting better.
Bosher's short time as the punter for the Atlanta Falcons has been less than successful. He's blasted a total of 15 punts over three games, thanks to an anemic Falcons offense. Those 15 punts has gone for an average of 35.7 yards per, which is....not great. In fact, it's downright awful.
The Falcons really couldn't afford to keep Michael Koenen around, so it's hard to argue that they erred by replacing him. The question is whether they should have replaced him with Bosher, who was outkicked in the off-season by Ken Parrish.
It's a little late to ask that now, I suppose. Bosher is a great tackler for a punter and actually boomed a few kickoffs in the Buccaneers game, which was encouraging. But his punting has been horrible, and that might be what forces him out of his role.
The fact that he's made it this far tells me what the Falcons think of him. His leg strength was never in question at Miami, and the team invested in him because they saw him as their punter for the next several years. Giving up on him three games into his younger career would be to admit a mistake, and it would also risk missing out on that potential if he gets over his personal version of the kicking yips.
This is all exacerbated by the Falcons' lack of a potent offense, which has forced Bosher to punt way more often than anyone would have liked or expected. I think the Falcons give him a couple more weeks to sort things out and then start looking in earnest. I sincerely hope he can turn it around.
What do you guys think? How short is Bosher's leash?
56 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
One more Game.
I admit that I wanted the training staff to look at least 4 games before they release him. Though we saw some improvement last week, Bosher still needs to go long way. I hope he picks it up fast else we might have to get another Punter.
It's all about Process...
Really depends
Some guys are great right off the bat, others take a while to develop. If the Falcons were playing better as a whole, I think Bosher would be more tolerable.
Sign up for a free account today to join the discussion about all things Atlanta Falcons!
by Dave Choate on Sep 27, 2011 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Granted, he's been terrible so far
But this offense is supposed to be one that doesn’t need the Punter on the field much. Not that we’re going to score on every drive, but we certainly were expecting MORE out of this offense than the anemia we’ve gotten so far.
I think the primary concern should be the offense. Get that fixed, then the failings of the punter will be a minor annoyance at best.
I just hope
That is not all that they are gonna do.I would be very disappointed (tragedy, I know)if thats it.We need to work on line play as they fire the kicker.
by JT131 on Sep 27, 2011 12:49 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Give him more time
Also rely on him less often. That is the real problem. He averaged 44 yards last season on 59 punts. He should get better once he adjusts.
I agree
There are a few positions where development should not be that great.
Punter, Placekicker, Long Snapper, Runningback. Either you have it, or you don’t. This kid doesn’t seem to have it.
For a kicker...
He’s a hell of a blocker…
April 1974 - Tug McGraw, when asked if he preferred grass or AstroTurf: "I don't know. I never smoked AstroTurf."
by Blood_Talon on Sep 27, 2011 5:07 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
We can't blame Bosher
It’s not his fault an NFL team actually drafted him…..
by dirtybirdy84 on Sep 27, 2011 12:50 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs
this staff
has a tendancy to stick with a player way longer than we fans would like. Remember Adam Jennings? JA98? Jason Elam???? I think they work on getting the offense fixed to what we all thought it would be, and that takes some of the pressure off Bosher. They won’t give up on him too quickly seeing they used a draft pick on him, as precious as those are
The 1st two games of the preseason when he was supposedly competing w/Parrish for a job, he averaged over 40 a punt
48.3 and 42.6 to be exact. Pretty damn decent numbers. After Parrish was let go, 35 and 37.7. I know Smitty told him to kick short to give the ST’s work, a lot of good that did, but he wasn’t kicking from the oppositions 45 on all those punts. Some we were backed up and his punts gave them fine field position at or near the 50. I don’t expect him to be Ray Guy but is a net average around 40-42 asking too much? If he averaged 44 in college I’d say that’s an average leg. Not worth a 6th rounder. More concerning is he can’t punt anywhere but up the middle of the field. Yes, directional punting is an art but you’d expect he’d have a smidgen of that ability somewhere. He punted the god damned ball right to Djax at the end of the game! He barely had to drift over for it but he sure as hell had to jog up and get yet another short punt. Punters are a dime a dozen. Freaking Matt Turk is still punting!!! Swallow your pride guys and realize you made a mistake before this becomes Elam part II.
Are we sure Smitty told him to kick short...
or are we just assuming he did.
Yeah, those PS averages aren’t bad but unfortunately he’s folding so far when it counts!!
Agreed, average leg and not worth a draft pick…at least to this point anyway.
I expect he will be given plenty of room to figure it out…unfortunately!!
April 1974 - Tug McGraw, when asked if he preferred grass or AstroTurf: "I don't know. I never smoked AstroTurf."
by Blood_Talon on Sep 27, 2011 5:18 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Not sure who posted Smitty said that but I read it on the Falcoholic
Don’t know what telling your punter to kick it short when you were on your own 20 yard line does. I’m sure if he kicked it with all his strength the ST’s would still have to make a tackle. Gods, look at all the time we’ve wasted talking about a punter. This position should be invisible!! Go in, kick your 42 yard punt somewhat angled toward the sidelines and go sit back down. Instead we get to wonder how bad his next kick will be and how many guys will miss a tackle until he has to come up and make a play on his 35 yard punt. What a waste of a damn pick.
by aces666high on Sep 27, 2011 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
off with his head!...
seriously..he can barely get it in the endzone on kickoffs.not 2 even mention punting..the whole chicago game i wondered why they kept giving hester opportunities as well as jackson in philly game 2 return a big1 on us..the way he punt why not just go 4it on 4th downs? 4real tho..he needs 2go
Been a falcons fan since the big starter jackets was in style
by turnj35 on Sep 27, 2011 1:19 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
He's pissed people off
with his punting, but the fact that we know he’s a good tacker showcases a huge issue. If the other players were tackling well we wouldn’t know that about Bosher. If the offense was even adequate right now, Bosher wouldn’t be under so much pressure to punt great.
I just don’t think it would be right to boot the rookie (see what I did?), when we actually have much bigger problems. I would say OL and tackling are both #1 problems and after those are addressed get rid of Bosher if he doesn’t improve.
The Problem
We’re asking him to punt like Koenen punted. In other words, high hangtime and shorter yardages. He’s kicking the ball with pretty good hangtime, but the distance is too short to be acceptable. He has to be on a short leash because, well, punting might be a big part of our offense this season.
(I’ll go on record and say that I’ve never cared for the way we punt the ball. I’d rather see the ball kicked deeper, especially if we’re inside our own 30. One thing that contributed to Koenen looking good is that we’d stall out up around midfield and he’d be able to plunk it 35-40 yards for a bunch of punts fair caught or downed inside the 20. Nevertheless, he did what Smitty wanted. Bosher has to figure it out fast.)
by Thrashy Thrashy on Sep 27, 2011 1:27 PM EDT reply actions
Sorry 'bout that.
Being a U fan, that is. :)
"Football has never been just a game to me. Never."
Paul William Bryant
Saw a funny shirt the other day
Since I can’t post the link for some reason, it just said “It sucks to be U.”
Made me laugh.
At this point
the first time a loss can be traced directly back to poor punting and/or field position, he will be gone. He’s had some bad kicks, reaaallly bad kicks.
"Football has never been just a game to me. Never."
Paul William Bryant
Did anyone else watch NO against Houston?
I saw it and what I saw was houston getting five feild goals from not being able to get it in the end zone.I did not see NO beating the Houston team.They won by default .I know that from being a Falcon fan and seeing it so many times.Still a win is a win.
by JT131 on Sep 27, 2011 2:47 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I hate to see a team draft a punter or kicker
but since we did give the kid another game. It’s against Seattle and if ATL looses the game I doubt it will be his fault. If we loose to Seattle we have much bigger problems than Bosher.
I just bought a helmet and a flak jacket, just in case
Sign up for a free account today to join the discussion about all things Atlanta Falcons!
On the flip ride you have to keep in mind matt prater who we but after like 4 kicks, and he turned out to be a pretty good kicker
by shuliem3 on Sep 27, 2011 3:11 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
We won't
Struggle for to much longer. We have the toughest schedule through week 5. Have you guys forgotten about that? Things need to change but the panic button shouldn’t be pushed yet. We need to man handle seattle and go into a slugfest with the packers, somehow win BOTH of those and we are back on track.
by falcons101 on Sep 27, 2011 4:20 PM EDT via iPhone app reply actions
definition of the word "leash" depends on the person using it
if fan trust is measured by dollars, he’s be broke by now. but we know too well how stubborn our coaches can be and deny the obvious. Bosher is plain bad, even though this is an unfortunate coincidence that his poor punts came right when we struggled on offense.
I thought we had more than 15 punts over these 3 games, I felt more like 20-25. Maybe the fact we had so many turnovers (how many – 4 INTs and about the same number of fumbles?) made it actually easier on the punter.
Atlanta Falcons fan in Moscow, Russia
I tell you who's future is cloudy:
The rest of the falcoholic FF league. Me and over dwayne bowe are gonna murder some folks.
Rule #1: Double tap.
by Ball Hawk on Sep 27, 2011 4:46 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
lol
Follow me on Twitter! twitter.com/FalcoholicZippo
If you're a fan of the Falcons, or if you want to chat it up with some Falcons fans, sign up here, share your opinion, and get to know some great fans of the Falcons!
by Caleb Rutherford on Sep 27, 2011 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions
One more game to be at least average
If he shanks another punt or keeps failing to reach the back of the endzone, they will at least bring in another punter to challenge him.
I remember when Schuerholz would never spend money or effort on middle relievers because he didn’t think they were important. Seems like Dimitroff feels the same thing about specialists.
Problem is they ARE important. Sunday’s game came down to one possession. A punt could have been the difference.
We kept Elam too long, hopefully they learned from that.
The fact that the FO used a draft pick for him...
Demonstrates that they do believe in the importance of the position.
When we first signed Koenen, we used him as P and PK through the preseason, and he was fine. When the regular season started, he completely lost the ability to kick anything through the uprights. I don’t remember how long he lasted before we signed Morten again to handle to job, but it was about 3 games.
It’s all in Bosher’s head – not in his leg; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been a Div I punter. However, if he can’t overcome whatever mental block he has, he is too great a liability.
Maybe he's tired from
having to punt so often in games
Seriously though,
I’d give him to the bye. If he hasn’t straightened it out by then… bye bye bosher
With an average of 35.7
Bosher ranks 33rd among NFL punters. Interesting, considering there are only 32 teams. Someone’s holding out…one team has TWO punters better than ours…
LO fackin' L
Rule #1: Double tap.
by Ball Hawk on Sep 27, 2011 8:18 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Because we drafted him
maybe we give him another game. I’d at least have an alternative on the active roster for the next game, though. Since he kicked better when pushed, start bringing in guys to try out. If the threat of being replaced doesn’t work then you have to go ahead and replace him. We’re not talking about a position like QB, WR, etc. We’re talking about a punter-comparable to a long snapper. If you can’t do it, goodbye. There’s a bigger talent pool available than any other position.
Hate to say I told you so...
But I commented during pre-season that Boscher looked weak. I understand the salary thing with Koenen (didn’t like it though), but don’t agree with the notion that punters/kickers are second-class. Look at it as the last line of defense…putting the opposing offence in the worst position possible. Koenen did that for us, year after year, way before Smitty, if you recall, when we really needed it. I think we got spoiled and forgot how vital that ability is. True the defense has stepped up a bit over the years, but you really need good kicking to seal the deal.
Even in preseason, Bosher looked like he couldn’t make it to the endzone on kickoffs…this in the new era of spotting the ball five yards closer. It would be nice to at least have the option of placing your opponent at the 20…looks like we don’t even have that.
by williamandrews31 on Sep 27, 2011 7:50 PM EDT reply actions
If TD wants to save face, put him on the practice squad.
We can move up Valdez for OL depth and put Bosher in his place, then sign the best FA punter we can find. We will lose a game because of this kid if we don’t nip this in the bud soon.
Who would punt?
And didn’t Valdez take meaningful snaps last year?
Rule #1: Double tap.
by Ball Hawk on Sep 27, 2011 8:21 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Falcoholic
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
- Former high-school star Brian Banks does serious time on trumped-up charge, now hopes for an NFL shot
- Former ‘idiot kicker’ Mike Vanderjagt in trouble after accosting junior-high heckler
- Adrian Peterson blows teammates away in footraces; appears to be on the mend
- UPDATE: Charlie Sheen didn’t buy Lawrence Taylor’s Super Bowl ring
- Alex Smith gets blown up by Jon Beason over Cam Newton comments
