Colts will sign Kicker Matt Gay

[crazycolt1]

2 hours ago, Boondoggle said:

Looks like a good signing as Gay's been money of late.  But kickers are weird so you never know.  This is the same guy who lost his nerve with the Bucs and ended up on a PS in the first place.

Lost his nerve? I need an explanation please. 

[Boondoggle]

23 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Lost his nerve? I need an explanation please. 

Bucs drafted him and he showed that leg but couldn't be trusted to put it through the uprights.  I'm sure the Bucs regret cutting him but he was really bad.  I say "lost his nerve" because he wasn't just missing long FGs they asked him to kick, but short ones and extra points.

 

Guy bounced back nicely to his credit.  But again was just observing that kickers are weird.  I don't know that there's ever a sure thing when it comes to them.  

[crazycolt1]

4 hours ago, Boondoggle said:

Bucs drafted him and he showed that leg but couldn't be trusted to put it through the uprights.  I'm sure the Bucs regret cutting him but he was really bad.  I say "lost his nerve" because he wasn't just missing long FGs they asked him to kick, but short ones and extra points.

 

Guy bounced back nicely to his credit.  But again was just observing that kickers are weird.  I don't know that there's ever a sure thing when it comes to them.  

I would say losing his confidence is more in line than saying he lost his nerve.  

[Boondoggle]

22 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

I would say losing his confidence is more in line than saying he lost his nerve.  

Is there a difference.  Seems to me you're splitting some serious hairs on that.

 

Either way I don't hate the signing.  Just not gonna get too up about it because I don't trust kickers in general.

[JPPT1974]

I think that Gay will handle both kickoffs and FG's/XP's but really Sanchez needs to focus on just punting and holding.

[GoColts8818]

On 7/14/2023 at 3:53 AM, JPPT1974 said:

I think that Gay will handle both kickoffs and FG's/XP's but really Sanchez needs to focus on just punting and holding.

Sanchez is one of the best kickoff men in the league.

[Blueblood23]

1 hour ago, GoColts8818 said:

Sanchez is one of the best kickoff men in the league.

It might come down to the better hitter. 
 

[GoColts8818]

1 hour ago, Blueblood23 said:

It might come down to the better hitter. 
 

Part of what they like Sanchez is his placement that lets them pin the other team deep and lets their special teams make plays.  They don’t want to just bang it out of the back of the endzone.

[JPPT1974]

On 7/15/2023 at 8:13 PM, GoColts8818 said:

Part of what they like Sanchez is his placement that lets them pin the other team deep and lets their special teams make plays.  They don’t want to just bang it out of the back of the endzone.

True but think that he is coming off his injury and though he landed on his plant foot than his kicking and punting foot. Sanchez has 61% TB rate but Gay has like an 71% TB rate. Maybe if they needed to have placement to pin other teams deep they will use Sanchez but it is leaning towards Gay.

[dw49]

On 7/15/2023 at 5:13 PM, GoColts8818 said:

Part of what they like Sanchez is his placement that lets them pin the other team deep and lets their special teams make plays.  They don’t want to just bang it out of the back of the endzone.

 

 

The new rule pretty much kills that strategy .Teams now get the ball placed at the 25 yard

line if they FC the kickoff inside their 25. It's pretty obvious they think the kickoff play is too dangerous. 

[GoColts8818]

3 hours ago, JPPT1974 said:

True but think that he is coming off his injury and though he landed on his plant foot than his kicking and punting foot. Sanchez has 61% TB rate but Gay has like an 71% TB rate. Maybe if they needed to have placement to pin other teams deep they will use Sanchez but it is leaning towards Gay.

Again, with the Colts they don’t always want touchbacks,  they like where Sanchez puts the ball so the special teams unit can make plays and either force turnovers or put them behind the 25 yard line.  If he’s healed from his injury, and there is nothing saying he isn’t, I don’t think the Colts are going to be that concerned about the extra strain that comes from kicking off. 

[NewColtsFan]

4 hours ago, JPPT1974 said:

True but think that he is coming off his injury and though he landed on his plant foot than his kicking and punting foot. Sanchez has 61% TB rate but Gay has like an 71% TB rate. Maybe if they needed to have placement to pin other teams deep they will use Sanchez but it is leaning towards Gay.

To be clear….

 

The Colts don’t want a high touchback rate.    They want the ball kicked somewhere between the 5 and the goal line.   The Colts want to force a return.  They believe they can stop the return before the 25 yard line and gain a competitive advantage — even if it seems slight.   And before his injury, Sanchez was really good at placing the ball where the opponents were forced to return.   We’ll soon find out if he has that gift. 

[jvan1973]

7 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

To be clear….

 

The Colts don’t want a high touchback rate.    They want the ball kicked somewhere between the 5 and the goal line.   The Colts want to force a return.  They believe they can stop the return before the 25 yard line and gain a competitive advantage — even if it seems slight.   And before his injury, Sanchez was really good at placing the ball where the opponents were forced to return.   We’ll soon find out if he has that gift. 

They might not subscribe to that philosophy with the new fair catch rule.  We will see 

[GoColts8818]

7 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

They might not subscribe to that philosophy with the new fair catch rule.  We will see 

That is a good point and something I had not thought of.

[Superman]

14 hours ago, dw49 said:

 

 

The new rule pretty much kills that strategy .Teams now get the ball placed at the 25 yard

line if they FC the kickoff inside their 25. It's pretty obvious they think the kickoff play is too dangerous. 

 

That raises a question, though. What's the difference between kicking it short, and kicking it through the end zone? You kick it through the end zone, the play is over. If you kick it short, maybe the returner muffs it, maybe he still tries to return it and you stop him inside the 15... also maybe you blow your coverage and give up a big return.

 

I think we'll still see some returners trying to make plays on shorter kicks. If so, placement is still going to be relevant.

 

Specific to the Colts, I haven't heard anything meaningful about Sanchez's return. If he's 100% and still on his game, then I'd like to see him handle directional kickoffs. It might net some positive results for us in field position. But if everyone is fair catching everything, then it's irrelevant.

[dw49]

38 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

That raises a question, though. What's the difference between kicking it short, and kicking it through the end zone? You kick it through the end zone, the play is over. If you kick it short, maybe the returner muffs it, maybe he still tries to return it and you stop him inside the 15... also maybe you blow your coverage and give up a big return.

 

I think we'll still see some returners trying to make plays on shorter kicks. If so, placement is still going to be relevant.

 

Specific to the Colts, I haven't heard anything meaningful about Sanchez's return. If he's 100% and still on his game, then I'd like to see him handle directional kickoffs. It might net some positive results for us in field position. But if everyone is fair catching everything, then it's irrelevant.

 

True