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Our Kicking Decision:

claytonduper

claytonduper

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Tonight Franks showed that he belongs. However, will the team take that chance on him?

Another way to make this decision could be who is more likely to remain unemployed once released? If the other guy starts struggles we bring back the other guy?

Personally, we go with Franks. He has a stronger leg and is cheaper. Sturgis is one kick away from hurting his hamstring again.
 
Caleb Sturgis biggest issue is, he has never done ****.

We are seeing strong competition with the punters . . . however at least with Fields you know what you've gotten in the past and with the paycut he took in the offseason, its reasonable to keep him over Darr, even though Darr has impressed.

So yea, I wouldn't be surprised if Franks wins the job . . . hell after tonight, I almost expect it.
 
The difference between the kicking battle and the punting battle is that Sturgis has never been good and Fields has been one of the absolute best, even though he underperformed last year.
 
I have been saying for weeks that we have serious competition for Kicker and Andrew Franks is in with a chance. Franks has the bigger leg which is important on kickoffs and he is also smarter (he is probably one of the smartest guys on the team, based on his academic achievements). Limited opportunities but he looks good. Other possibility is that we continue to roll with Sturgis and put Franks on the Practice Squad (there are now 10 slots) and continue to observe both.
 
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Philbin is too loyal to "his" guys to his own detriment. I really wish there was someone else in charge of who to cut and who to keep.
 
spiketex said:
I have been saying for weeks that we have serious competition for Kicker and Andrew Franks is in with a chance. Franks has the bigger leg which is important on kickoffs and he is also smarter (he is probably one of the smartest guys on the team, based on his academic achievements). Linited opportunities but he looks good. Other possibility is that we continue to roll with Sturgis and put Franks on the Practice Squad (there are now 10 slots) and continue to observe both.
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Beg to differ, I don't think anyone outside of Seabass has a bigger leg than Sturgis, him nailing 50-60 yarders with ease early on as a rookie is why he won the job. The problem is after he tanked his first one, he became one of the most inaccurate kickers in the league. He's not accurate long because he is not accurate short.

---------- Post added at 10:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:39 PM ----------
Sherif said:
Philbin is too loyal to "his" guys to his own detriment. I really wish there was someone else in charge of who to cut and who to keep.
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Like he was loyal to Carpenter.
 
I've been saying it for a few weeks, I really hope we make the decision to go with Franks. Caleb is shot, his confidence, his leg, he's just bad. Let franks become a solid kicker for us. Seemed like he did okay tonight?
 
I like this Frank guy..its been a while that I've seen a Dolphins kicker made a 50yrder

.it sure feels good.
 
At this point I am hoping for Franks, although I think it will be a little hard for this staff to make the decision and move on form Sturgis , but I hope they do.

Either way with the punter situation I can see them staying with Fields because like it's been said, we have seen him be effective. Although going younger and cheaper has to be a consideration.
 
Adam Beasley ‏@AdamHBeasley
My understanding of the kicking competition: Sturgis will probably win it, but Dolphins would like to find a way to keep Franks around too.

Adam Beasley ‏@AdamHBeasley
Also, the team is high on both Brandon Fields and Matt Darr. Could be anxious week for Brandon; going with Darr would free up cap space.
 
Daytona Fin said:
Adam Beasley ‏@AdamHBeasley
My understanding of the kicking competition: Sturgis will probably win it, but Dolphins would like to find a way to keep Franks around too.

Adam Beasley ‏@AdamHBeasley
Also, the team is high on both Brandon Fields and Matt Darr. Could be anxious week for Brandon; going with Darr would free up cap space.
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Brandon Fields is a better punter than Matt Darr in 2015. I don't think there is much of an argument to be made there. Also the cap hit this year really isn't anything worth getting excited about. But next year, Fields salary jumps from 1.6 million to 3.6 million . . . . where Darr is still only going to be making 500,000 or so. So if you really like Darr and feel like he's your future, you could make the move now and be done with it . . . . but there is no question you will be taking a step back and will be "downgrading" the punter position for 2015 at least. Darr may never be as good as Fields.

It's easy for us fans to play this game with the salary . . . . I saw in a thread last night where somebody said "Why do we have John Denney" (after the bad snap in the rain), and of course people are complaining about Matt Moore . . . . when the impact is minimal on the cap, the guy behind those guys better clearly outperform the incumbent . . . or else I'm sticking with that incumbent if for nothing else these guys serve as "glue guys".

The only guy I make this exception for is Franks/Sturgis . . . because Sturgis has never been consistent as a Miami Dolphin and Franks came out last night and blasted a 50 yard FG in bad conditions and kickoffs through the endzone . . . that is impressive . . . don't think I've seen Sturgis really do either.
 
Not sure what more Franks could do to win the spot to be honest. The problem with Sturgis besides the inconsistency is he seems to have a hard time staying healthy.
 
Kdawg954 said:
Brandon Fields is a better punter than Matt Darr in 2015. I don't think there is much of an argument to be made there. Also the cap hit this year really isn't anything worth getting excited about. But next year, Fields salary jumps from 1.6 million to 3.6 million . . . . where Darr is still only going to be making 500,000 or so. So if you really like Darr and feel like he's your future, you could make the move now and be done with it . . . . but there is no question you will be taking a step back and will be "downgrading" the punter position for 2015 at least. Darr may never be as good as Fields.
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Brandon Fields has been a great Dolphin for many years (both on and off the field) but his punting for much of last season was surprisingly below average and occasionally poor. I'm interested if there is a valid reason or if the regression is because he's just getting a little long in the tooth. At Training Camp I saw Matt Darr kicking consistently over 60 yards but that was with no pressure of a game and pretty favorable conditions. I wouldn't make a change. However, if Fields has statistically lost significant yardage in recent years, I would like to understand why. It could be the beginning of the end.
Full marks to Hickey and his team for finding both Darr and Franks to provide competition for the incumbents.
 
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