08/29/2020 Saturday Colts Practice - Another scrimmage at Lucas Oil Stadium

[aaron11]

37 minutes ago, VaAllDay757 said:

How? Because that's how they're listed on paper? That doesn't mean nothing lol

why are you still quoting me about third string qbs who didnt throw 10 passes combined?

 

you must have a lot of hate for chad in you if you want him to fail that badly.  he has had a pretty good camp for a third string qb.  the interception was tipped, not his fault 

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, dw49 said:

 

For the reason they might like both Colt kickers a lot and figure another team that needs a K could have a higher position in waivers . Or they might like one Colt K more than the other and hope the Colts have them about even and would take either plus the TB draft pick.

 

1 hour ago, richard pallo said:

It's the only way to guarantee that he is on your roster.  If he is cut you might lose out on signing him.  They are obviously looking for one.  So it might make sense to make a trade and get your kicker.

So what do you think a UDFA that has not had a very good showing is worth? 

I am sorry but Blankenship hasn't made any team take a close look at him. 

[richard pallo]

33 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

 

So what do you think a UDFA that has not had a very good showing is worth? 

I am sorry but Blankenship hasn't made any team take a close look at him. 

He out kicked Chase yesterday.  Maybe it's still a close competition.  Who knows?  Maybe Blankenship is the one we keep.  All I know is we have two good kickers and a team just might decide to trade for one.  It's entirely possible. 

[dw49]

53 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

 

So what do you think a UDFA that has not had a very good showing is worth? 

I am sorry but Blankenship hasn't made any team take a close look at him. 

 

1) I only commented on why TB "MIGHT" want to make a trade rather than waiting for cuts. Oh.. and I forgot a reason. Maybe if they didn't make a trade another team would. In any event , I wasn't saying they "would " or even should make such a trade.

2) I haven't watched Blankership kick and I have no idea if a team might be looking at him. I've read the tweets and if I read correctly , he had one bad day and the rest have been good. Didn't he go like 5-5 in the last scrimmage including a 55 yarder ? But you could be correct and maybe he has looked bad . I honestly don't know.

 

3) What is he worth to another team  ? History would tell us these kinds of trades usually bring a 7th or at most a conditional 6th. That's if he looked good in camp. But even if he did how would other teams know that ? 

 

To summarize , I didn't say TB should or would make a trade for him. What I commented on is why they might trade if they liked him rather than just wait for waivers .

[VaAllDay757]

2 hours ago, aaron11 said:

why are you still quoting me about third string qbs who didnt throw 10 passes combined?

 

you must have a lot of hate for chad in you if you want him to fail that badly.  he has had a pretty good camp for a third string qb.  the interception was tipped, not his fault 

Because I can....he only threw that much because that's all the coaches wanted to see at the time so what's your point? I don't have no hate for chad I don't need to hate on chad I'm just pointing out to you how he's been trash lately in practice

[Smoke317]

Finally hearing some good news on Rodgers. His speed is electric. I hope he flashes enough in special teams to make the roster because I think with his speed he could be a playmaker, be it on returns or getting interceptions. 

[CurBeatElite]

23 hours ago, richard pallo said:

The Bucs are bringing in veteran kickers today.  I believe a few other teams are as well.  Reich says we have two NFL kickers.  I would hope Ballard trades the kicker that loses the competition.  It looks like there is a market. This could be an interesting week leading up to cut-downs.  

 

Would definitely be cool if we could get a 6-7 round pick for one of the kickers... that said, both were undrafted and other teams know there is a very small chance of us keeping both of them.  Not sure a team is going to give up a draft pick to get a K from us knowing that one will 99.99% be available as a free agent or waiver claim very soon.

[richard pallo]

45 minutes ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

Would definitely be cool if we could get a 6-7 round pick for one of the kickers... that said, both were undrafted and other teams know there is a very small chance of us keeping both of them.  Not sure a team is going to give up a draft pick to get a K from us knowing that one will 99.99% be available as a free agent or waiver claim very soon.

That's the risk a team takes by not making a trade.  The only way to guarantee you get him is to trade for him.  A 6th or 7th isn't a big deal IMO if you really need a kicker.  Could be for a player too.  We shall see. 

[Dark Superman]

Really wish Julian Blackmon was healthy enough to be out there during these scrimmages.

[EastStreet]

14 hours ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

Would definitely be cool if we could get a 6-7 round pick for one of the kickers... that said, both were undrafted and other teams know there is a very small chance of us keeping both of them.  Not sure a team is going to give up a draft pick to get a K from us knowing that one will 99.99% be available as a free agent or waiver claim very soon.

What is strange, is Blank was the highest graded K by most services in the draft, yet went undrafted (while 3 others were drafted). Honestly, we lucked out picking him up as a UDFA. I'm pretty sure he had several options. I would not be surprised at all if we got 6 or 7 for him. At worst, work out a conditional pick deal. Regardless, out of all the guys we're likely to cut, he probably has the most value.

[CurBeatElite]

19 hours ago, richard pallo said:

That's the risk a team takes by not making a trade.  The only way to guarantee you get him is to trade for him.  A 6th or 7th isn't a big deal IMO if you really need a kicker.  Could be for a player too.  We shall see. 

 

I suppose if a team is very desperate for a K it could happen... however, I still think the lack of preseason games and ability to see practices likely results in teams waiting to see what action to take rather than trading.  If I were a GM, I'd want to work a guy out before signing him, etc. especially not having seen his leg in live practice or NFL Preseason games rather than throwing away a draft pick and hoping he works out.  I'm sure scouts and other personnel are looking at our practice notes to see that one of our guys went 4-7 and the other 6-7 in the scrimmage the other day, etc.. but I still find it unlikely either of these guys are trade bait at this point.

 

5 hours ago, EastStreet said:

What is strange, is Blank was the highest graded K by most services in the draft, yet went undrafted (while 3 others were drafted). Honestly, we lucked out picking him up as a UDFA. I'm pretty sure he had several options. I would not be surprised at all if we got 6 or 7 for him. At worst, work out a conditional pick deal. Regardless, out of all the guys we're likely to cut, he probably has the most value.

 

I am sure he had several options as a UDFA as well and I'm glad we were able to scoop him up.  That said, I'm a bit curious as to if his nickname, his rapping skills (https://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-kicker-rodrigo-blanko-blankenship-releases-rap-atd/NRtnkjFE4nJSWqGwKJ8P1L/), him being a fan favorite at UGA and his personal appearance (the Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn glasses) had anything to do with him being ranked the best K by draft services.

 

He was 82% last year, which is less than Justin Rohrwasser's 85% and Sam Sloman's 86.7% (both guys also hit from longer distances than Hot Rod).  He had a worse senior bowl than Tyler Bass.  Hot Rod's 2 big knacks against him coming out of college were (1) he struggled to consistently connect on long kicks, (2) his senior year was his worst year of his collegiate career and (3) he missed multiple kicks in the clutch (including an OT miss from 42 against South Carolina).  

 

I wouldn't rule getting a 7th rounder for him out, but there are multiple kickers out there (or who will be out there very soon) that teams can try out prior to final cuts and if they don't work out can go after whichever K we wind up cutting.  Sounds like Nick Folk is outperforming Rohrwasser in NE.  Tyler Bass won the Buffalo job and they just cut Stephen Hauschka.  It also sounds as though Lirim Hajrullahu is outperforming Sloman in Rams' camp.  

 

[twfish]

25 minutes ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

I suppose if a team is very desperate for a K it could happen... however, I still think the lack of preseason games and ability to see practices likely results in teams waiting to see what action to take rather than trading.  If I were a GM, I'd want to work a guy out before signing him, etc. especially not having seen his leg in live practice or NFL Preseason games rather than throwing away a draft pick and hoping he works out.  I'm sure scouts and other personnel are looking at our practice notes to see that one of our guys went 4-7 and the other 6-7 in the scrimmage the other day, etc.. but I still find it unlikely either of these guys are trade bait at this point.

 

 

I am sure he had several options as a UDFA as well and I'm glad we were able to scoop him up.  That said, I'm a bit curious as to if his nickname, his rapping skills (https://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-kicker-rodrigo-blanko-blankenship-releases-rap-atd/NRtnkjFE4nJSWqGwKJ8P1L/), him being a fan favorite at UGA and his personal appearance (the Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn glasses) had anything to do with him being ranked the best K by draft services.

 

He was 82% last year, which is less than Justin Rohrwasser's 85% and Sam Sloman's 86.7% (both guys also hit from longer distances than Hot Rod).  He had a worse senior bowl than Tyler Bass.  Hot Rod's 2 big knacks against him coming out of college were (1) he struggled to consistently connect on long kicks, (2) his senior year was his worst year of his collegiate career and (3) he missed multiple kicks in the clutch (including an OT miss from 42 against South Carolina).  

 

I wouldn't rule getting a 7th rounder for him out, but there are multiple kickers out there (or who will be out there very soon) that teams can try out prior to final cuts and if they don't work out can go after whichever K we wind up cutting.  Sounds like Nick Folk is outperforming Rohrwasser in NE.  Tyler Bass won the Buffalo job and they just cut Stephen Hauschka.  It also sounds as though Lirim Hajrullahu is outperforming Sloman in Rams' camp.  

 

Im actually quite grateful for your insight here. I had honestly not heard alot about this kid outside of the hype from college so it was great to see an actual breakdown with stats for him. Thank you.

[CurBeatElite]

2 hours ago, twfish said:

Im actually quite grateful for your insight here. I had honestly not heard alot about this kid outside of the hype from college so it was great to see an actual breakdown with stats for him. Thank you.

 

Here are his stats:

 

2019 - 27 for 33 on field goals (81.8%) with a long of 50 yards.  46-46 on extra points.  85 kickoffs with 65 touchbacks (76.4% touchback rate - which is essentially the same as Rigoberto Sanchez for us last at 75.9%).  

 

2018 - 19 for 23 (82.6%) on field goals, long of 53. 65-65 on XPs. 82 touchbacks on 96 kickoffs (85.4%).

 

2017 - 20 for 23 (87%) long of 55. 63-63 on XPs. 67 touchbacks on 94 kickoffs (71.2%).

 

2016 - 14 for 18 on field goals (77.8%) with a long of 49 yards, 26-26 on XPs, 20 touchbacks on 55 kickoffs (40%).  **He didn't see action at PK until week 4, he was handling kickoffs from week 1 though.

 

______________________

So his Freshman season was actually his worst statistically, but his long dropped from sophomore year to senior year and his percentage made went down each year after sophomore year.  Also, as a junior he had a touchback rate of >85% and that dropped almost 10% his senior year.  Also of note, he's never missed a FG below 30 yards and made all his collegiate XPs.  Also of note, he had 2 very big misses in college - 1 was in the 2018 SEC Championship Game vs. Alabama he missed a 30 yarder when UGA was up 28-14 (Bama came back and won 35-28, and that missed kick certainly didn't help UGA's momentum) and the other big miss was in a double over time game vs. South Carolina.  At that point in the season UGA was 5-0, and ranked #3 in the country - he missed a kick in regulation and then at the end of the 2nd overtime he missed on a 42 yarder, allowing SC to win 20-17.  Blankenship also missed a 42 yarder in the senior bowl.

 

I think Blankenship will make an NFL roster.  After the last scrimmage, I'd not be shocked at all if he makes our roster.  That said, I think the reason why he was ranked by many draft 'experts' as the top K in college was due to his college hype (heck, at one point Kirby Smart was pushing for UGA to run a 'Hot Rod for Heismann" campaign).  There is a reason why 4 other kickers were chosen in the draft and he went undrafted, though.. and there are a bit of serviceable kickers available in free agency right now.  Without NFL teams seeing Hot Rod in an NFL game (another knock on him coming out of college was most of his kicks are low driving kicks with high susceptibility of being blocked), I doubt we're going to be getting any trade offers for him (or McLaughlin for that matter).

 

 

[EastStreet]

4 hours ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

I suppose if a team is very desperate for a K it could happen... however, I still think the lack of preseason games and ability to see practices likely results in teams waiting to see what action to take rather than trading.  If I were a GM, I'd want to work a guy out before signing him, etc. especially not having seen his leg in live practice or NFL Preseason games rather than throwing away a draft pick and hoping he works out.  I'm sure scouts and other personnel are looking at our practice notes to see that one of our guys went 4-7 and the other 6-7 in the scrimmage the other day, etc.. but I still find it unlikely either of these guys are trade bait at this point.

 

 

I am sure he had several options as a UDFA as well and I'm glad we were able to scoop him up.  That said, I'm a bit curious as to if his nickname, his rapping skills (https://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-kicker-rodrigo-blanko-blankenship-releases-rap-atd/NRtnkjFE4nJSWqGwKJ8P1L/), him being a fan favorite at UGA and his personal appearance (the Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn glasses) had anything to do with him being ranked the best K by draft services.

 

He was 82% last year, which is less than Justin Rohrwasser's 85% and Sam Sloman's 86.7% (both guys also hit from longer distances than Hot Rod).  He had a worse senior bowl than Tyler Bass.  Hot Rod's 2 big knacks against him coming out of college were (1) he struggled to consistently connect on long kicks, (2) his senior year was his worst year of his collegiate career and (3) he missed multiple kicks in the clutch (including an OT miss from 42 against South Carolina).  

 

I wouldn't rule getting a 7th rounder for him out, but there are multiple kickers out there (or who will be out there very soon) that teams can try out prior to final cuts and if they don't work out can go after whichever K we wind up cutting.  Sounds like Nick Folk is outperforming Rohrwasser in NE.  Tyler Bass won the Buffalo job and they just cut Stephen Hauschka.  It also sounds as though Lirim Hajrullahu is outperforming Sloman in Rams' camp.  

 

Blank IIRC was considered one of the best going into the 2019 season. I watch all the UGA (and Tenn) games so long as they're not on at the same time as ND, so I'm aware of his flubs last year. A lot of my UGA buddies were not big fans. The students loved him simply because of his nerdiness. 

[CurBeatElite]

3 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

Blank IIRC was considered one of the best going into the 2019 season. I watch all the UGA (and Tenn) games so long as they're not on at the same time as ND, so I'm aware of his flubs last year. A lot of my UGA buddies were not big fans. The students loved him simply because of his nerdiness. 

 

Yes, he was a preseason first-team all SEC before his junior year (wound up 2nd team all SEC after the season) and then he had a lot of hype around him going into his senior year (2019 season).  He made first team all SEC as a senior and also won the Lou Groza Award (the collegiate award for best place kicker).  However, there were multiple other kickers who had (at least statistically) better seasons.  

 

I think you're right with students loving him because of his nerdiness.  Those glasses got him mentioned on the Jimmy Kimmell Show, the students at UGA had a 'Hot Rod for Heismann' campaign on instagram which Kirby Smart talked about in live interviews, etc..  I don't think he's a bad kicker by any means, but I think I understand why 4 kickers got drafted an he went unsigned.  I hope he works out for us (or at least does OK for himself in the NFL as he seems like a nice kid).. I just have a hard time picturing the Colts being able to use him as trade bait before rosters are cut, especially with multiple veteran FAs on the market already.

 

For what it's worth, I looked at the Lou Groza Award winners list... certainly doesn't appear that winning that award is highly correlated with solid professional careers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Groza_Award

[EastStreet]

1 minute ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

Yes, he was a preseason first-team all SEC before his junior year (wound up 2nd team all SEC after the season) and then he had a lot of hype around him going into his senior year (2019 season).  He made first team all SEC as a senior and also won the Lou Groza Award (the collegiate award for best place kicker).  However, there were multiple other kickers who had (at least statistically) better seasons.  

 

I think you're right with students loving him because of his nerdiness.  Those glasses got him mentioned on the Jimmy Kimmell Show, the students at UGA had a 'Hot Rod for Heismann' campaign on instagram which Kirby Smart talked about in live interviews, etc..  I don't think he's a bad kicker by any means, but I think I understand why 4 kickers got drafted an he went unsigned.  I hope he works out for us (or at least does OK for himself in the NFL as he seems like a nice kid).. I just have a hard time picturing the Colts being able to use him as trade bait before rosters are cut, especially with multiple veteran FAs on the market already.

 

For what it's worth, I looked at the Lou Groza Award winners list... certainly doesn't appear that winning that award is highly correlated with solid professional careers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Groza_Award

While he did not perform statistically as well as a few, I will give him this. Given the big school environment of the SEC, mixed with the style of play by UGA, the kid was absolutely relied upon more than most on a huge stage. Kers from smaller schools don't experience that most of the time.

 

Personally, I hope we stick with Chase though.

[krunk]

I said this exact thing when Taylor was drafted as well. 

 

 

 

Mike Wells

@MikeWellsNFL

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