Will Stephen Gostkowski still be Pats' Kicker next year?

[Italian Patriot]

I'm a great fan of our Kicker..

BUT...

There's a problem. In this season Gost isn't playing as an Elite Kicker.

My question is: Will he still be on this team next year?

Just your opinion at THIS POINT of the season.

 

[JackBauer]

Where's the 'of course' option?

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

He'll have to earn it like every other starter. Saying yes or no either way is tough to do right now, there's a quarter season to go, hopefully a long postseason, and an offseason where there will be competition for the spot.

In his defense, despite his struggles this year, he's yet to be anything but dependable in the postseason. But there hasn't really been any high pressure kicks in playoff games since the injury in 2010 after which he's been an average kicker last year and a below average kicker this year percentage wise.

 

[YearbookCurfew]

He's in a slump, but he'll snap out of it.

 

[PatsDeb]

I think he will be, just because there isn't much better out there, and I imagine BB would not want to start again with a rookie kicker. I can see the Pats asking him to take a pay cut during the offseason, though, based on his performance this year. Whether he'll take it or not remains to be seen.

 

[jah]

With the success rookie kickers have had this year, I think BB will at least bring one in to compete this offseason.

 

[resdubwhite]

he's earning a lot of money for a kicker next year. i think he'll be here personally but you never know

 

[Steve102]

he's earning a lot of money for a kicker next year. i think he'll be here personally but you never know

Top shelf contracts need to have performance to match. it would not surprise me to see them go in another direction.

 

[Big-T]

If it isn't Gost then I put forward...Caleb Sturgis of Florida.

67/84 for Sturgis is actually not as good as I thought he was.

 

[Rob0729]

People forget that even the greatest kickers including Vinatieri have bad years in their career. Not including this year, Vinatieri only completed 80% or less of his field goals in eight different seasons. And he is likely to go to the Hall of Fame. Gostkowski is at 80% right now.

Gostkowski will be given another shot next year. He may have competition in camp, but he has been good enough throughout his career to earn another shot.

 

[warx]

I hope not.

 

[ausbacker]

People forget that even the greatest kickers including Vinatieri have bad years in their career. Not including this year, Vinatieri only completed 80% or less of his field goals in eight different seasons. And he is likely to go to the Hall of Fame. Gostkowski is at 80% right now.

Gostkowski will be given another shot next year. He may have competition in camp, but he has been good enough throughout his career to earn another shot.

People have selective memories. When you combine that with the what have you done for me lately mentality, you know what you get.

Matt Prater is going through the yips with Denver. It happens.

 

[Finnishfan]

I think he will be, just because there isn't much better out there, and I imagine BB would not want to start again with a rookie kicker. I can see the Pats asking him to take a pay cut during the offseason, though, based on his performance this year. Whether he'll take it or not remains to be seen.

Yeah this is the key here.

He is one of the most expensive kickers in the NFL (5th most expensive, making 3x league average for kicker/punter), and right now his production on the FG kicking department isn't matching his pay. BB has always been about efficient use of the $$$ and he is not sentimental in going away from overpaid players.

Although I do have to point out that his kickoff numbers are great throughout the board (50% TB rate, 65 yds average depth, 20.7 yds return avg). But when taking into account the FG aspect then he just isn't the top 5 kicker we pay him to be this season.

All things considered, I think as it stands, he has a lot of leash remaining. But if and when the Patriots ask him to take a paycut, if Ghost refuses then they will surely look for other options who give them more value for the buck. Whether he stays or goes, IMO depends on the possible paycut and kicker availability during the offseason.

 

[DaBruinz]

I think he will be, just because there isn't much better out there, and I imagine BB would not want to start again with a rookie kicker. I can see the Pats asking him to take a pay cut during the offseason, though, based on his performance this year. Whether he'll take it or not remains to be seen.

The Pats will not touch Gostkowski's contract. There is no need to. You're acting like Gostkowski is only kicking at a 65% pace. That all 3 games were lost because of his field goal kicking and that he's not doing his job on kick-offs.

The reality is that he's doing outstanding on kick-offs. He's got more touchbacks this year after 12 games than he did last year after 16. And the average return against him is down to 20.7 from 21.6.

Yes, he has 6 misses on FGs. He's 8 of 10 from 30-39 yards and 7 of 11 from 40-49 yards..

Let's recap those misses:
42 yard FG against Arizona
49 yard FG against Buffalo
42 yard FG against Buffalo
36 yard FG against Indy
39 yard FG against the Jets.
49 yard FG against Miami.

I think everyone has pretty much agreed that 49 yarders are not gimmees by any stretch of the imagination. So, all you people are making a fuss over 4 missed FGs. Of which, only 1 of them would have had any bearing on the result of the game..

Think about that for awhile..

 

[doesntmatter1]

I say yes, he will be our kicker for years to come. Im still not against him. Last special teamer i was against was old punter hanson(i never hated a punter til him). Besides, at the moment i don't think you can say for certain we could actually find an upgrade.

The one thing i don't get about gostoski is he was booming kicks into the endzone before they moved the ball closer so im actually surprised he doesn't have more touchbacks. Also he is the only kicker i have faith in to make a tackle during kickoffs if needed.

 

[borg]

Davis Akers was the highest scoring kicker last year....this year he has been a major disappointment. It's like being a relief pitcher, you never know what you'll get year after year.
As far as the Ghost goes, I swear you can watch his alignment right before the snap and predict pretty accurately if it will be good or not.

 

[Finnishfan]

The Pats will not touch Gostkowski's contract. There is no need to. You're acting like Gostkowski is only kicking at a 65% pace. That all 3 games were lost because of his field goal kicking and that he's not doing his job on kick-offs.

The reality is that he's doing outstanding on kick-offs. He's got more touchbacks this year after 12 games than he did last year after 16. And the average return against him is down to 20.7 from 21.6.

Yes, he has 6 misses on FGs. He's 8 of 10 from 30-39 yards and 7 of 11 from 40-49 yards..

Let's recap those misses:
42 yard FG against Arizona
49 yard FG against Buffalo
42 yard FG against Buffalo
36 yard FG against Indy
39 yard FG against the Jets.
49 yard FG against Miami.

I think everyone has pretty much agreed that 49 yarders are not gimmees by any stretch of the imagination. So, all you people are making a fuss over 4 missed FGs. Of which, only 1 of them would have had any bearing on the result of the game..

Think about that for awhile..

But for BB, its ALL ABOUT VALUE. If he thinks that Ghost is not worth his salary and Ghost will not agree to cut it, then BB WILL LOOK AROUND at least. We have seen that enough times to know that BB is not looking at past records, but instead like ausbacker said, tends to ask the question "what have you done for me lately?".

Unfortunately for Ghost, with the rookie kickers coming into this league in the past few years, it seems like 50 is the new 40 in terms of general kicking accuracy. (a slight exaggaration, perhaps 45 would be more accurate)

All three rookie kickers that came into the league this year have been very impressive. Justin Tucker, Blair Walsh and Greg Zuerlein are all extremely good with the only "smear" in their records being the 2 missed short FGs for Zuerlein when he had a smallish slump few weeks back.

But Zuerlein has also hit 7/11 from beyond the 50 yard line and that includes a 56, 58 and a 60 yarder as well.

The 2nd year kickers who were rookies last year, all three (Bailey, Henery and Forbath) have over 90% accuracy this season and Henery is the only one who has missed a kick from inside 50 yards (with 22/23 accuracy).

Remember, all of those guys work with rookie contracts, and while one might argue (without much proof) that they might not be as "clutch" as Ghost, they certainly seem to represent an improved generation of kickers coming to NFL.

 

[1960Pats]

People forget that even the greatest kickers including Vinatieri have bad years in their career. Not including this year, Vinatieri only completed 80% or less of his field goals in eight different seasons. And he is likely to go to the Hall of Fame. Gostkowski is at 80% right now.

Gostkowski will be given another shot next year. He may have competition in camp, but he has been good enough throughout his career to earn another shot.

Speaking of Vinatieri, every time I hear his name I cringe because we let the best FG kicker in the game go so we could keep him, only to have him run away to greener pa$ture$ in Indy, of all places.

 

[1960Pats]

Davis Akers was the highest scoring kicker last year....this year he has been a major disappointment. It's like being a relief pitcher, you never know what you'll get year after year.
As far as the Ghost goes, I swear you can watch his alignment right before the snap and predict pretty accurately if it will be good or not.

That little samuri-type line that he makes with his arm before he kicks bothers me. I can't say why for sure, but it does.

Oh, and I like ex-Patriot Robbie Gould, the kicker in Chicago.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

Gostkowski is no Shayne Graham.

And people are making a fuss because Gostkowski has made a habit of missing routine field goals.