Who will be our starting punter?

[italian pat patriot]

it seems the competition is heavier then expected...

Miller will keep his place or ?

your opinion ?

 

[JackBauer]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

Let's go Danny Baugher!

 

[RayClay]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

Josh Miller. I saw 2 go into the end zone that shouldn't have. I'm not sure if they were the same punter, but BB wants you to drop those inside the 20.

How do you think (punter whose name will not be mentioned here) lasted so long?

Plus Patjew has connections.

 

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

I don't know. This is a tough competition. I believe that it is a 2 horse race between Baugher and Miller. It seems that coaches are giving the young guys every opportunity (up until now - we'll see what the next pre-season game holds) to win the starting job. I like the fact that Miller is 6'4" which gives him a longer swing unlike the the 5'10" Baugher. Having said that Sauerbrun was also 5'10" and could boom it. I wish Sauerbrun was a part of this competition, but he's not.

 

[NEPatriot]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

I was disappointed with no punter being drafted. With all of the mid round pics, I was hoping for one punter. I'm tired of seeing 30 something yard punts.

 

[italian pat patriot]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

i agree on Sauerbrun

he played, imho, well with us when he arrived

a competition with him too in the mix would have been better

 

[37Harrison]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

i agree on Sauerbrun

he played, imho, well with us when he arrived

a competition with him too in the mix would have been better

Personally, I don't want a player on the team that has openly expressed his intentions to play elsewhere. I would rather have a punter that actually wants to be here. That being said, I really like Miller and believe he will win the job. He proved to be a valuable asset to Gostowski last year when he was struggling in the beginning, something I doubt a rookie would've been able to do. I say let Gost mature a little more with Miller's veteran savvy and experience to guide him. I just think it's a little too early to get the youngblood in there considering Gost is only in his second season.

 

[sieglo]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

Pierre Woods.

 

[chowder]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

Troy Brown? haha. actually, i really like Baugher too but both Baugher and Miller can do the job well.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Re: who will be our starting punter ?

With this offense who needs a punter?

Maybe just 2 times all year? :rocker:

 

[DaBruinz]

I think that Miller wins the job, but the Pats attempt to put Baugher on the PS, the way they attempted with Robbie Gould. Unfortunately, the Pats lost Gould to the Bears. I could see another team attempting to get Baugher if he continues to do well.

 

[fgssand]

I think that Miller wins the job, but the Pats attempt to put Baugher on the PS, the way they attempted with Robbie Gould. Unfortunately, the Pats lost Gould to the Bears. I could see another team attempting to get Baugher if he continues to do well.

This is a good point....we had Gould and sure wish we made the change back then.

As much as I like Miller (experience, holding, directional skills), it may be time for a different brand .....if we could PS Baugher and other teams leave him alone, then that would be best case scenario.

It sure does seem as if this is Baughers job to win, if he can. We'll know if this is a fair competition if Miller gets his kicks Friday.

 

[zippo59]

My money is on Baugher. He has the strongest leg of the three and the ability to drop punts in near the goal line is something that can be learned with experience and practice. It's not like we had that much success with Miller last year. I seem to remember most punts near the endzone ending up as touchbacks, but that is part of the coverage units fault too.

I almost feel like I can get a clue about this from Miller's dimeanor. Before camp started Miller was extremely confident, all but saying he had the job nailed down. Now in a more recent interview I saw, Miller was much more passive, saying that Belichick is going to do what was best for the team, sounding far less confident. I think he knows that Baugher is looking good and could realistically win the job.

 

[DaBruinz]

My money is on Baugher. He has the strongest leg of the three and the ability to drop punts in near the goal line is something that can be learned with experience and practice. It's not like we had that much success with Miller last year. I seem to remember most punts near the endzone ending up as touchbacks, but that is part of the coverage units fault too.

Actually, until Miller got hurt in Buffalo, the Pats punt coverage unit was the best in the league by a wide margin. The Buffalo and Minnesota games killed Miller's stats.

Sauerbrun kicking to Pacman Jones killed the Pats punting for the year.

 

[zippo59]

Actually, until Miller got hurt in Buffalo, the Pats punt coverage unit was the best in the league by a wide margin. The Buffalo and Minnesota games killed Miller's stats.

Sauerbrun kicking to Pacman Jones killed the Pats punting for the year.

I mean success in terms of downing punts near the goalline. I don't have any stats to back it up, but going by memory it seems to me that most times when we had the opportunity to pin the opponent inside the ten it ended up being a touchback.

 

[alamo]

If the Pats were completely set on Miller they wouldn't have tried so hard to hold onto Sauerbraun.

My own hazy recollection is that Sauerbraun had a touchback early on that enraged BB but after that he did a better job than Miller had been doing.

 

[DaBruinz]

If the Pats were completely set on Miller they wouldn't have tried so hard to hold onto Sauerbraun.

My own hazy recollection is that Sauerbraun had a touchback early on that enraged BB but after that he did a better job than Miller had been doing.

If you ignore Sauerbrun kicking to Pacman Jones and Jones' TD, then yes, Sauerbrun did better. However if you are going to ignore that, then you should ignore Miller's injury game against the Vikings where the Pats coverage team had a brain fart or something and they scored the td.

Through the Buffalo game, Miller had made 32 punts. Of those 32 punts, only 12 were returned for a total of 67 yards. That's a 5.58 YPR. The Minnesota game, when Miller was injured, you saw his stats rise because of 1 return of 71 yards. After that, Miller's punts returned to the low YPR because he had 4 returns for 21 yards. a 5.25 YPR.

If Miller and the coverage team can be that in sync again this year, then the Pats could dominate that aspect and help take pressure off the defense.

As for the Pats trying so hard to keep Sauerbrun, he would have been insurance in case Miller wasn't ready. It also takes a weapon away from a rival.

 

[Pats726]

I think that Miller wins the job, but the Pats attempt to put Baugher on the PS, the way they attempted with Robbie Gould. Unfortunately, the Pats lost Gould to the Bears. I could see another team attempting to get Baugher if he continues to do well.

Gould was never on the Practice Squad..and because of an injury was taken by the Bears. They MIGHT do that, but I wonder with many teams knowing how good he is, will he really last on there??

 

[PlainOldEd]

Tom Brady! He's the best punter on the team! He's 1 for 1 in attempts to drop it inside the 10.

 

[DaBruinz]

I mean success in terms of downing punts near the goalline. I don't have any stats to back it up, but going by memory it seems to me that most times when we had the opportunity to pin the opponent inside the ten it ended up being a touchback.

Last year, Miller did the following:
http://www.nfl.com/players/joshmiller/profile?id=MIL365923

of his 43 punts, 18 returned (41%), 6 went out of bounds, 5 were downed, 12 were inside the 20 (27.9%), 7 were fair caught and 7 were Touch backs.

Sauerbrun had the following
24 punts, 13 returned (54%), 4 were inside the 20 (16.6%), 2 were downed, 3 went out of bounds, 1 was a touch back and 5 were fair caught.

Now, Sauerbrun didn't have as many touch backs, which helps his stats, but he had far more kicks returned.

The Pats punt coverage was very good. Much of it was helped by Miller. Miller didn't generally out-kick his coverage. And that is what I liked about him.