OTC's 49ers Draft Grade and Analysis

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

Yes, it was definitely a reach. A luxury pick. Baalke fell in love and had to have him.
It will be interesting to see how this works out. If these Baalke reaches turn out great, we know Baalke is good. If not we know he's not good.

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

I think the only point he's getting at is, if he is ranked among the Top 4 or 5 punters, there's a good chance some team could more easily see him as the top punter in this class. I understand and agree with that point, but can still say I don't see the logic behind using a 5th rounder on a guy like this unless they fully intend on letting Lee walk, or Dawson walk and try to train Pinion as the K instead (seems less likely)...

Age with punters is hardly an issue -- many good ones went well into their late 30s or 40s (see: Feagles, Landeta, Matt Turk) -- so Lee at 32 is not some aging, declining scrub that can't hack it anymore.

Maybe the plan is this: 49ers normally keep 52 on the active roster after final cuts. Perhaps Pinion is kept on in that final spot as a kickoff specialist and maybe is cut and added to the PS after the need arises for another player to be in his spot and the hope is that no other team can take him at that point because they've already rounded out their rosters.

Whatever way you shake it, it's hard to make sense of it.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

I think the only point he's getting at is, if he is ranked among the Top 4 or 5 punters, there's a good chance some team could more easily see him as the top punter in this class. I understand and agree with that point, but can still say I don't see the logic behind using a 5th rounder on a guy like this unless they fully intend on letting Lee walk, or Dawson walk and try to train Pinion as the K instead (seems less likely)...

Age with punters is hardly an issue -- many good ones went well into their late 30s or 40s (see: Feagles, Landeta, Matt Turk) -- so Lee at 32 is not some aging, declining scrub that can't hack it anymore.

Maybe the plan is this: 49ers normally keep 52 on the active roster after final cuts. Perhaps Pinion is kept on in that final spot as a kickoff specialist and maybe is cut and added to the PS after the need arises for another player to be in his spot and the hope is that no other team can take him at that point because they've already rounded out their rosters.

Whatever way you shake it, it's hard to make sense of it.

Pretty much agree with your whole post. Drafting a guy in the 5th rd hoping to sneak him onto the practice squad seems dicey and a waste. Keeping 3 kickers is wasting a roster spot that is badly needed on a team like the 49ers. It is kind of insane to even think of drafting a punter unless you fully expect him to beat out Lee and win the job, especially in the 5th rd. With Lee as your fallback position and nobody of the opinion that this punter is the Ray Guy of his generation it would have made more sense to trade back further and draft him in the 7th rd.

I would have thought they would go for a place kicker before a punter to save significantly more cap space but maybe they didn't see one that they liked.

As far as I could tell no other punters or place kickers were even drafted. A pretty good indicator this punter would be around in the 7th round but certainly with Lee as a fall back you could gamble on it.

I would have liked to see the 49ers at least go after 1 of the top kickers like Manton or Brindza as a UDFA to try and win the job and save us a ton in cap space. They got what , 4 receivers but not 1 kicker?

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

I think the only point he's getting at is, if he is ranked among the Top 4 or 5 punters, there's a good chance some team could more easily see him as the top punter in this class. I understand and agree with that point, but can still say I don't see the logic behind using a 5th rounder on a guy like this unless they fully intend on letting Lee walk, or Dawson walk and try to train Pinion as the K instead (seems less likely)...

Age with punters is hardly an issue -- many good ones went well into their late 30s or 40s (see: Feagles, Landeta, Matt Turk) -- so Lee at 32 is not some aging, declining scrub that can't hack it anymore.

Maybe the plan is this: 49ers normally keep 52 on the active roster after final cuts. Perhaps Pinion is kept on in that final spot as a kickoff specialist and maybe is cut and added to the PS after the need arises for another player to be in his spot and the hope is that no other team can take him at that point because they've already rounded out their rosters.

Whatever way you shake it, it's hard to make sense of it.

Pretty much agree with your whole post. Drafting a guy in the 5th rd hoping to sneak him onto the practice squad seems dicey and a waste. Keeping 3 kickers is wasting a roster spot that is badly needed on a team like the 49ers. It is kind of insane to even think of drafting a punter unless you fully expect him to beat out Lee and win the job, especially in the 5th rd. With Lee as your fallback position and nobody of the opinion that this punter is the Ray Guy of his generation it would have made more sense to trade back further and draft him in the 7th rd.

I would have thought they would go for a place kicker before a punter to save significantly more cap space but maybe they didn't see one that they liked.

As far as I could tell no other punters or place kickers were even drafted. A pretty good indicator this punter would be around in the 7th round but certainly with Lee as a fall back you could gamble on it.

I would have liked to see the 49ers at least go after 1 of the top kickers like Manton or Brindza as a UDFA to try and win the job and save us a ton in cap space. They got what , 4 receivers but not 1 kicker?

I keep going back and forth on this pick. If he indeed beats out Lee -- and let's be honest, it'd be mostly due to money if he does decent enough in the pre-season -- then this pick goes from being an "F" grade to at least a B+ due to the value a guy like this brings to special teams. Touchbacks, 60+ yard FG ability, and that hang time all are very, very valuable abilities. I wish I had had those capabilities when I was a kicker (yes, I was a kicker once while also playing WR, CB, S, and DE).

Pinion can kick 65+ yard field goals, he is a kickoff specialist who gets a lot of touchbacks, and he was very good at forcing returners to fair catch balls as well as pinning opponents inside the 20. Being a "long field goal" guy and kickoff specialist are things Lee simply can't do. At his salary, he's going to have to hope he dominates in the pre-season AND that Pinion is not very good. (And I hate to say it, but even then, they still may just cut Lee and hope for the best which would be an enormous risk and could be a horrible decision)

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

I think the only point he's getting at is, if he is ranked among the Top 4 or 5 punters, there's a good chance some team could more easily see him as the top punter in this class. I understand and agree with that point, but can still say I don't see the logic behind using a 5th rounder on a guy like this unless they fully intend on letting Lee walk, or Dawson walk and try to train Pinion as the K instead (seems less likely)...

Age with punters is hardly an issue -- many good ones went well into their late 30s or 40s (see: Feagles, Landeta, Matt Turk) -- so Lee at 32 is not some aging, declining scrub that can't hack it anymore.

Maybe the plan is this: 49ers normally keep 52 on the active roster after final cuts. Perhaps Pinion is kept on in that final spot as a kickoff specialist and maybe is cut and added to the PS after the need arises for another player to be in his spot and the hope is that no other team can take him at that point because they've already rounded out their rosters.

Whatever way you shake it, it's hard to make sense of it.

Pretty much agree with your whole post. Drafting a guy in the 5th rd hoping to sneak him onto the practice squad seems dicey and a waste. Keeping 3 kickers is wasting a roster spot that is badly needed on a team like the 49ers. It is kind of insane to even think of drafting a punter unless you fully expect him to beat out Lee and win the job, especially in the 5th rd. With Lee as your fallback position and nobody of the opinion that this punter is the Ray Guy of his generation it would have made more sense to trade back further and draft him in the 7th rd.

I would have thought they would go for a place kicker before a punter to save significantly more cap space but maybe they didn't see one that they liked.

As far as I could tell no other punters or place kickers were even drafted. A pretty good indicator this punter would be around in the 7th round but certainly with Lee as a fall back you could gamble on it.

I would have liked to see the 49ers at least go after 1 of the top kickers like Manton or Brindza as a UDFA to try and win the job and save us a ton in cap space. They got what , 4 receivers but not 1 kicker?

I keep going back and forth on this pick. If he indeed beats out Lee -- and let's be honest, it'd be mostly due to money if he does decent enough in the pre-season -- then this pick goes from being an "F" grade to at least a B+ due to the value a guy like this brings to special teams. Touchbacks, 60+ yard FG ability, and that hang time all are very, very valuable abilities. I wish I had had those capabilities when I was a kicker (yes, I was a kicker once while also playing WR, CB, S, and DE).

Pinion can kick 65+ yard field goals, he is a kickoff specialist who gets a lot of touchbacks, and he was very good at forcing returners to fair catch balls as well as pinning opponents inside the 20. Being a "long field goal" guy and kickoff specialist are things Lee simply can't do. At his salary, he's going to have to hope he dominates in the pre-season AND that Pinion is not very good. (And I hate to say it, but even then, they still may just cut Lee and hope for the best which would be an enormous risk and could be a horrible decision)

I wish we had more info on this guy. He limited return yards but from what I can tell part of that is due to his punts not going very far. When you are punting from your own 20 you don't want a 40 yard punt and fair catch. If he booms 60 + yard punts with great hang time, is good at pinning teams inside the 20, is a kick off specialist and can even try 60+ yard FG's and get it there and give you a shot then it would be worth it. You would think if he could do all that then he would have been rated very high and expected to go in the 4th or 5th round. I guess we will see when preseason rolls around. The big question to me is can he boom the long punts when you really need him to help change field position.

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

I think the only point he's getting at is, if he is ranked among the Top 4 or 5 punters, there's a good chance some team could more easily see him as the top punter in this class. I understand and agree with that point, but can still say I don't see the logic behind using a 5th rounder on a guy like this unless they fully intend on letting Lee walk, or Dawson walk and try to train Pinion as the K instead (seems less likely)...

Age with punters is hardly an issue -- many good ones went well into their late 30s or 40s (see: Feagles, Landeta, Matt Turk) -- so Lee at 32 is not some aging, declining scrub that can't hack it anymore.

Maybe the plan is this: 49ers normally keep 52 on the active roster after final cuts. Perhaps Pinion is kept on in that final spot as a kickoff specialist and maybe is cut and added to the PS after the need arises for another player to be in his spot and the hope is that no other team can take him at that point because they've already rounded out their rosters.

Whatever way you shake it, it's hard to make sense of it.

Pretty much agree with your whole post. Drafting a guy in the 5th rd hoping to sneak him onto the practice squad seems dicey and a waste. Keeping 3 kickers is wasting a roster spot that is badly needed on a team like the 49ers. It is kind of insane to even think of drafting a punter unless you fully expect him to beat out Lee and win the job, especially in the 5th rd. With Lee as your fallback position and nobody of the opinion that this punter is the Ray Guy of his generation it would have made more sense to trade back further and draft him in the 7th rd.

I would have thought they would go for a place kicker before a punter to save significantly more cap space but maybe they didn't see one that they liked.

As far as I could tell no other punters or place kickers were even drafted. A pretty good indicator this punter would be around in the 7th round but certainly with Lee as a fall back you could gamble on it.

I would have liked to see the 49ers at least go after 1 of the top kickers like Manton or Brindza as a UDFA to try and win the job and save us a ton in cap space. They got what , 4 receivers but not 1 kicker?

I keep going back and forth on this pick. If he indeed beats out Lee -- and let's be honest, it'd be mostly due to money if he does decent enough in the pre-season -- then this pick goes from being an "F" grade to at least a B+ due to the value a guy like this brings to special teams. Touchbacks, 60+ yard FG ability, and that hang time all are very, very valuable abilities. I wish I had had those capabilities when I was a kicker (yes, I was a kicker once while also playing WR, CB, S, and DE).

Pinion can kick 65+ yard field goals, he is a kickoff specialist who gets a lot of touchbacks, and he was very good at forcing returners to fair catch balls as well as pinning opponents inside the 20. Being a "long field goal" guy and kickoff specialist are things Lee simply can't do. At his salary, he's going to have to hope he dominates in the pre-season AND that Pinion is not very good. (And I hate to say it, but even then, they still may just cut Lee and hope for the best which would be an enormous risk and could be a horrible decision)

I wish we had more info on this guy. He limited return yards but from what I can tell part of that is due to his punts not going very far. When you are punting from your own 20 you don't want a 40 yard punt and fair catch. If he booms 60 + yard punts with great hang time, is good at pinning teams inside the 20, is a kick off specialist and can even try 60+ yard FG's and get it there and give you a shot then it would be worth it. You would think if he could do all that then he would have been rated very high and expected to go in the 4th or 5th round. I guess we will see when preseason rolls around. The big question to me is can he boom the long punts when you really need him to help change field position.

My thought is this: If he can drill 65+ yard field goals and is able to have 4.98 second hang times on punts, that evidence definitely suggest he can punt 60+ yards -- at the very least with "punting trajectory" coaching.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
. I don't think any other punters were drafted and he wasn't rated as a top ten at his position

But he was. Do you really think many of these writers sit around looking at gametape of punters? They look at the stats and arrange them however they see fit. If McGaughey was impressed enough by Pinion for the team to take him in the 5th, I give that far more credibility compared to what what most pundits who likely never even watched the guy play had him ranked as.


Scouts Inc which I find that year by year tends to be one of the most accurate of all the draft services, had him as the 4th ranked punter in the class which is definitely in the ballpark.

Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

I think the only point he's getting at is, if he is ranked among the Top 4 or 5 punters, there's a good chance some team could more easily see him as the top punter in this class. I understand and agree with that point, but can still say I don't see the logic behind using a 5th rounder on a guy like this unless they fully intend on letting Lee walk, or Dawson walk and try to train Pinion as the K instead (seems less likely)...

Age with punters is hardly an issue -- many good ones went well into their late 30s or 40s (see: Feagles, Landeta, Matt Turk) -- so Lee at 32 is not some aging, declining scrub that can't hack it anymore.

Maybe the plan is this: 49ers normally keep 52 on the active roster after final cuts. Perhaps Pinion is kept on in that final spot as a kickoff specialist and maybe is cut and added to the PS after the need arises for another player to be in his spot and the hope is that no other team can take him at that point because they've already rounded out their rosters.

Whatever way you shake it, it's hard to make sense of it.

Pretty much agree with your whole post. Drafting a guy in the 5th rd hoping to sneak him onto the practice squad seems dicey and a waste. Keeping 3 kickers is wasting a roster spot that is badly needed on a team like the 49ers. It is kind of insane to even think of drafting a punter unless you fully expect him to beat out Lee and win the job, especially in the 5th rd. With Lee as your fallback position and nobody of the opinion that this punter is the Ray Guy of his generation it would have made more sense to trade back further and draft him in the 7th rd.

I would have thought they would go for a place kicker before a punter to save significantly more cap space but maybe they didn't see one that they liked.

As far as I could tell no other punters or place kickers were even drafted. A pretty good indicator this punter would be around in the 7th round but certainly with Lee as a fall back you could gamble on it.

I would have liked to see the 49ers at least go after 1 of the top kickers like Manton or Brindza as a UDFA to try and win the job and save us a ton in cap space. They got what , 4 receivers but not 1 kicker?

I keep going back and forth on this pick. If he indeed beats out Lee -- and let's be honest, it'd be mostly due to money if he does decent enough in the pre-season -- then this pick goes from being an "F" grade to at least a B+ due to the value a guy like this brings to special teams. Touchbacks, 60+ yard FG ability, and that hang time all are very, very valuable abilities. I wish I had had those capabilities when I was a kicker (yes, I was a kicker once while also playing WR, CB, S, and DE).

Pinion can kick 65+ yard field goals, he is a kickoff specialist who gets a lot of touchbacks, and he was very good at forcing returners to fair catch balls as well as pinning opponents inside the 20. Being a "long field goal" guy and kickoff specialist are things Lee simply can't do. At his salary, he's going to have to hope he dominates in the pre-season AND that Pinion is not very good. (And I hate to say it, but even then, they still may just cut Lee and hope for the best which would be an enormous risk and could be a horrible decision)

I wish we had more info on this guy. He limited return yards but from what I can tell part of that is due to his punts not going very far. When you are punting from your own 20 you don't want a 40 yard punt and fair catch. If he booms 60 + yard punts with great hang time, is good at pinning teams inside the 20, is a kick off specialist and can even try 60+ yard FG's and get it there and give you a shot then it would be worth it. You would think if he could do all that then he would have been rated very high and expected to go in the 4th or 5th round. I guess we will see when preseason rolls around. The big question to me is can he boom the long punts when you really need him to help change field position.

My thought is this: If he can drill 65+ yard field goals and is able to have 4.98 second hang times on punts, that evidence definitely suggest he can punt 60+ yards -- at the very least with "punting trajectory" coaching.

We will see. If he can do all that then you would have thought he would have been ranked #1. It would seem to me the easiest players to scout are kickers and punters. That doesn't mean that the pundits who make up their rankings predraft actually do their homework on them. lets just hope Baalke is right and this kid is a steal in the 5th round.

Being that he declared early Id imagine he submitted his paperwork to the advisory committee. Someone had to have told him he was well thought of in NFL circles.

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
Even if we go with "the 4th best ranking" do you spend a pick on a guy when the top 3 are still on the board? Talk about the perfect time to gamble on your guy still being there later in the draft and moving back.

1. There are 3 (if not more) higher rated players at that position still on the board and all of them would be considered a reach in the 5th round.

2. It is extremely unlikely he will be the 1st punter drafted so there is little to worry about until you see at least 1 of them come off the board.

3. If by some case of bad luck you move back and someone else drafts him your worse case scenario is you already have a probowler on the roster in Andy lee as your fallback position.

There just doesn't seem to be much logic behind drafting him in the 5th round.

As for your #1, many times that is subjective to what we look for in a talent and what you look for in a talent. They like his all around game, they probably rated him high for his all around game. Not just the distance and the net. Things like how the hang time and distance correlation, the number of touchbacks. The fact that he can kickoff and has a strong leg. Has kicked FG.

#2 again that is based on what a team rates a guy. I do think though, that they could have waited till the 7th or at the earliest 6, unless they heard someone was going to snatcg him up between 5 and 6. IDK.

#3 I think they look at andy, as having a bad year last year and that he is getting older as well as cap space, thkicker ey might know something about andy's injury that we don't know. I do know that if a kicker's leg, once injured, is hard to be the same and will only decline. Bill Walsh always got rid of players before they declined. In the past they got rid of people that could still play like Lott, Rice and Montana, etc, heady names, in that vane, who is andy lee to be immune.

Well at least he has a great name for a punter. That's a start.

If they like Pinion, they may trade lee, although he has a huge salary that might get in the way. He is still under contract for several years and if there is a team that has ample room and has field position mentality with a good defense they MIGHT bite. However the best they probably could get is 7. Better than nothing though.

The Steelers tried to sign him a couple years ago, I think we can still get a 7th that can become 6th IMO..

"Pin-Um" Back ..Pinion