Any kickers worth drafting?

Because I think we all know Akers can't be the Niner's kicker next year, and with all those draft picks they might as well pick one up.

Dustin Hopkins, FSU
Caleb Sturgis, Florida
Zach Brown, Portland State (though he did miss a FG in the East West Shrine game)
Brett Maher, Nebraska

Those are the 4 I can think of.

Hopkins and Sturgis

Originally posted by jreff22:
Hopkins and Sturgis

Yep. Have to get one of these 2

There's some decent talent in FA.. Bioronas would be a welcome addition

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/mobile/index.php?num=169861

Originally posted by nj9er:
There's some decent talent in FA.. Bioronas would be a welcome addition

Niners would be much better suited drafting Dustin Hopkins in the 5th rd.

Originally posted by nj9er:
There's some decent talent in FA.. Bioronas would be a welcome addition

shayne graham also

There's no absolute knock-out type guys like Alex Henery of the Eagles. None of these guys worth more than a 6th round pick. I would say Hopkins, Sturgis and Maher are the top 3 of whats available. A guy like Hopkins is getting a lot of hype, but his total accuracy in college is still under 80%, compared with Henery who was above 90%, strong leg but has been shaky at times throughout his career. Sturgis has been pretty good in the clutch, he seems to be a big moment kicker and could be had in the 6th Round.. Maher replaced Henery, nothing amazing, but fundamentally sound for the most part, he could be had in the 7th.





There's also Giorgio Tavecchio who the 49ers brought in as a UDFA in the preseason.

http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/matt-maiocco/david-akers-finds-his-mini-me-tavecchio



Beyond that are free agents, like possibly Kaeding if he doesn't return to Miami, not sure how long he signed with them for but I liked him as a potential signing earlier in the season, pretty ridiculous career accuracy in the regular season...in the playoffs....its a bit of a different story.

Hopkins, Sturgis, and Maher

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
There's no absolute knock-out type guys like Alex Henery of the Eagles. None of these guys worth more than a 6th round pick. I would say Hopkins, Sturgis and Maher are the top 3 of whats available. A guy like Hopkins is getting a lot of hype, but his total accuracy in college is still under 80%, compared with Henery who was above 90%, strong leg but has been shaky at times throughout his career. Sturgis has been pretty good in the clutch, he seems to be a big moment kicker and could be had in the 6th Round.. Maher replaced Henery, nothing amazing, but fundamentally sound for the most part, he could be had in the 7th.





There's also Giorgio Tavecchio who the 49ers brought in as a UDFA in the preseason.

http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/matt-maiocco/david-akers-finds-his-mini-me-tavecchio



Beyond that are free agents, like possibly Kaeding if he doesn't return to Miami, not sure how long he signed with them for but I liked him as a potential signing earlier in the season, pretty ridiculous career accuracy in the regular season...in the playoffs....its a bit of a different story.

Blair Walsh and Greg Zuerlein were 6th round picks last year.

Sturgis > Hopkins

Originally posted by Jcool:
Blair Walsh and Greg Zuerlein were 6th round picks last year.

Walsh was a very nice find indeed. Zuerlein missed a lot of FG's this year, not sure if you want to use him as an example of success, he was 2nd to last in accuracy just ahead of Akers. Big leg with iffy accuracy.



I'm not saying these guys are worthless, just that they don't have higher draft value than 6th or 7th round. As far as overall accuracy goes, Quinn Sharp has been the best out of the major prospects available this year.

One of my favorites as a UDFA is Brett Baer of Louisiana-Lafayette, who showed very good accuracy the past 2 seasons.

Originally posted by captveg:
Because I think we all know Akers can't be the Niner's kicker next year, and with all those draft picks they might as well pick one up.

Why not? He's getting over a double hernia....we've made it through the worst of it...should be GTG next season. We should have IRed him this season early on.

How about Brett Baer of Louisiana Laffayette?

20-29 Range: 7-8
30-39 Range:5-5
40-49 Range:6-8
50+ Range:2-2

Not the strongest leg but he has been pretty accurate.