How Should the 49ers Address the Kicker Position?

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by BayArea:
The odd thing was that Akers looked excellent in the superbowl. I really want to stick with him. However I think we need to draft a backup in a hurry because when he isn't on he is terrible.

Pretty sure you're forgetting the field goal he shanked....but was saved by an iffy roughing the kicker penalty.

wasn't iffy, his leg was still in the air should have been a better call and a first down.

Originally posted by BayArea:
The odd thing was that Akers looked excellent in the superbowl. I really want to stick with him. However I think we need to draft a backup in a hurry because when he isn't on he is terrible.

He missed a FG. They got a penalty and retried and he made it from a shorter distance.....

Bring back Ray Wershing.

$3 mil for a FG kicker who has had ups and downs, more downs lately, just isn't doable...actually not tolerable. I got no idea which of the two really great picks noted above is better but definitely like the idea of bringing in a 7th rd or UDFA as competition for the higher pick. And yes, the Kaeding non deal was a GM/HC screwup...but that is just an opinion.

Honestly?

We went that far into the playoffs and Super Bowl, and in the end, our kicker did not make or break our season. We're just that good of a football team, and because of how explosive our offense is... we're not going to kick that many field goals anyway... seriously. Akers was only a few missed field goals away from setting the NFL record right?... and yet. It didn't really matter.

Find the cheapest guy possible who can get decent accuracy from 45+ and just load up on other positions, haha.

Put this in the draft thread for kickers:

Akers will probably be cut to save 3 million. I think we could look towards free agency. Not sure we will trust a rookie kicker but if we had to since we have so many picks we can afford to spend one earlier than most on a kicker. Could take Sturgis or Hopkins in rounds 5 or 6. I'd prefer to go after Phil Dawson or Rob Bironas if went the free agent route. I think even though we would prefer a FA our cap situation might mean we have to go with a rookie. Those guys might cost 3 million a year compared to a rookie at 4 years, 2-2.5 million total.Like Wubbie said though we did pretty good this year with Akers being horrible. Our offense is becoming more explosive so many we can live with a cheap rookie or FA only making 75%. We don't necessarily need a 3 mil a year guy like we did when our offense couldn't score TDs ever. If we do go with the rookie we just have to hope he misses when it matters least and not in critical moments. Missing up 14, 17 is one thing... in the playoffs or when you are down is another.

this f**kin guy. come on.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by BayArea:
The odd thing was that Akers looked excellent in the superbowl. I really want to stick with him. However I think we need to draft a backup in a hurry because when he isn't on he is terrible.

He missed a FG. They got a penalty and retried and he made it from a shorter distance.....

Wasn't it like a 38 yarder that he missed? Dude's FG kicking has went to hell. All of a sudden he is the worst in the league.

Wubbie, much as I would like a money guy like Jankowski, or (pick your favorite), there is no question that having akers not being dependable unless inside the 20 made JH take stock of his coaching and game planning...and this was a good thing. Sure I want a money FG kicker, and I want him to boom all K.Os into endzone. But it was interesting to see how JH had to think what he was going to do on 4th and 4 on the 40. It gave him better perspective about going for it, and not just by rote. Now he actually thinks about it, and ultimately, that will pan out for us. Meantime we need a better kicker for way less than 3 mil. Just bring in your favorite prospect via draft, then bring in some UDFA and let them compete with Akers...or maybe just let akers go, which with our cap space, we need to do anyway. At least this way, we aren't losing an integral piece of the puzzle. Rather akers became part of the puzzle. Time to move on.

I say we draft that kid from FSU. He's money from long distance

Originally posted by English:
Draft. Or see if Akers heals over Summer and will reneg the contract.

So draft, probably!

this

Draft Hopkins.

Set it and Foget it.

Yeah, draft one. Perferably, Hopkins or Sturgis.

Originally posted by mayo49:
Yeah, draft one. Perferably, Hopkins or Sturgis.

Exactly. This should be a no-brainer. At least one of them will be there in the fifth or sixth and both of them are accurate kickers who can hit from the mid fifties.

Yep, save money that can be spent on other positions by drafting a solid college prospect in the later rounds.