Ottawa Redblacks Thread

[jerrym]

Lewis Ward continued to add to his professional football record number of FGs, kicking his 46th against Hamilton, making 49/50 overall on the season.

[OV Argo]

Lewis Ward continued to add to his professional football record number of FGs, kicking his 46th against Hamilton, making 49/50 overall on the season.

A couple of casual CFL fans i know asked me if I thought Ward would merit an NFL shot based on his outright incredible FG kicking accuracy thus far this season; sure- and pigs might be flying over the Olympic Stadium again as I witnessed back in 77. ;o) He's no FG kicking superstar talent like an Adam Vinateri, that's for sure.

[AngeloV]

A couple of casual CFL fans i know asked me if I thought Ward would merit an NFL shot based on his outright incredible FG kicking accuracy thus far this season; sure- and pigs might be flying over the Olympic Stadium again as I witnessed back in 77. ;o) He's no FG kicking superstar talent like an Adam Vinateri, that's for sure.

He also has never kicked FG's without benefit of a tee. IMO, his leg is nowhere near strong enough to merit consideration. But he's had an absolutely amazing season.

[jerrym]

No surprise with first place locked up.

Rick Campbell says Trevor Harris will not play Friday. Powell, Ellingson, Sinopoli, Rogers, Spencer some of the others sitting out. Dominique Davis will play the 1st half at QB. Danny Collins the 2nd.

— AJ Jakubec (@AJonSports) October 30, 2018

[OV Argo]

He also has never kicked FG's without benefit of a tee. IMO, his leg is nowhere near strong enough to merit consideration. But he's had an absolutely amazing season.

And he has also been kicking on a Canadian field with the hash marks wider apart, making for some tougher angles, as opposed to right down the pipe kicks on an NFL field.


And funny, i thought outstanding accuracy & consistency was the hallmark of a great FG kicker and not just leg strength (otherwise some would consider Boris Bede the best kicker in the CFL); all sorts o NFL teams feature FG kickers with weak or poor accuracy when it comes to nailing makeable FGs consistently, but maybe accurate FG kicking is not a big concern down there ? And NFL rosters are easily big enough to feature an extra place kicker who has the stronger leg and might handle kick-off duties plus be called on for the 55+ yard type long range / desperation time kicks, with your main kicker handling all other FG attempts.

Brett Lauther for the Riders is having an outstanding kicking season as well - not only accurate, but nailing lots of 50+ yard attempts.

The NFL "scouts" (LOL) are sure to be all over these guys. ;o)

[AngeloV]

And he has also been kicking on a Canadian field with the hash marks wider apart, making for some tougher angles, as opposed to right down the pipe kicks on an NFL field.


And funny, i thought outstanding accuracy & consistency was the hallmark of a great FG kicker and not just leg strength (otherwise some would consider Boris Bede the best kicker in the CFL); all sorts o NFL teams feature FG kickers with weak or poor accuracy when it comes to nailing makeable FGs consistently, but maybe accurate FG kicking is not a big concern down there ? And NFL rosters are easily big enough to feature an extra place kicker who has the stronger leg and might handle kick-off duties plus be called on for the 55+ yard type long range / desperation time kicks, with your main kicker handling all other FG attempts.

Brett Lauther for the Riders is having an outstanding kicking season as well - not only accurate, but nailing lots of 50+ yard attempts.

The NFL "scouts" (LOL) are sure to be all over these guys. ;o)

He doesn’t get nearly enough height on his longer kicks to succeed in the NFL. Take away the tee, and he would get even less lift. All his longer kicks are line drive. I take nothing away from him. He is money. But he would have longer kicks blocked in the NFL, or come up short. NFL kickers are making 55 yarders on a regular basis now. Vanderjagt and now Maher, never used a tee in the CFL. The tee for those that have always used it, makes a huge difference in place kicking. By the way, all these NFL kickers had the wide hash marks in college ball. It isn’t a big deal for a good kicker. The fact is, NFL teams expect to be in FG range as soon as the cross the 40 yard line now. There's a reason Ward has only attempted 1 kick beyond 50 yards this year, and that was last week with a huge wind at his back.

To me, Lauther would have a better chance in the NFL.

[OV Argo]

He doesn’t get nearly enough height on his longer kicks to succeed in the NFL. Take away the tee, and he would get even less lift. All his longer kicks are line drive. I take nothing away from him. He is money. But he would have longer kicks blocked in the NFL, or come up short. NFL kickers are making 55 yarders on a regular basis now. Vanderjagt and now Maher, never used a tee in the CFL. The tee for those that have always used it, makes a huge difference in place kicking. By the way, all these NFL kickers had the wide hash marks in college ball. It isn’t a big deal for a good kicker. The fact is, NFL teams expect to be in FG range as soon as the cross the 40 yard line now. There's a reason Ward has only attempted 1 kick beyond 50 yards this year, and that was last week with a huge wind at his back.

To me, Lauther would have a better chance in the NFL.

Doug Flutie - the little midget QB - would never do anything in the NFL either; way too short and not enough "arm strength" ; 90% of his NFL pass attempts would be swatted down by the D-linemen there who are all 6 foot, eight" plus and way more athletic than the scrubs Flutie faced in the CFL. Yadda, yadda, yadda ;o)

[AngeloV]

Doug Flutie - the little midget QB - would never do anything in the NFL either; way too short and not enough "arm strength" ; 90% of his NFL pass attempts would be swatted down by the D-linemen there who are all 6 foot, eight" plus and way more athletic than the scrubs Flutie faced in the CFL. Yadda, yadda, yadda ;o)

You just don’t get it. I’ll leave it at that.

[Antwon]

A couple of casual CFL fans i know asked me if I thought Ward would merit an NFL shot based on his outright incredible FG kicking accuracy thus far this season; sure- and pigs might be flying over the Olympic Stadium again as I witnessed back in 77. ;o) He's no FG kicking superstar talent like an Adam Vinateri, that's for sure.

He could get a sniff from the NFL. But considering it's his rookie year, if he follows up with another great year, he'd have a few teams giving him a shot.

[OV Argo]

He could get a sniff from the NFL. But considering it's his rookie year, if he follows up with another great year, he'd have a few teams giving him a shot.

Dave Ridgway, Lui Passaglia and Mark McLoughlin all got zero NFL call in their CFL primes either and they were way better FG kickers than some of the average joes who had NFL jobs at the time; but CFL average joe kickers like Dean Dorsey and Jerry Kauric did get NFL looks and play there some. Trying to make sense of NFL "scouting" of CFL players is a waste of time.

Thank gawd - for CFL teams & fans - that the NFL super experts are often so clueless or ignorant or dismissive of CFL talent or CFL teams would be raided of way more players every year.