- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
- Messages
- 19,929
- Reaction score
- 3
Murphys95 said:In terms of caliber, both Vanderjagt and Vinatieri are pretty darn close. I'm not an ESPN Insider subscriber so I haven't been able to read the whole article. But the only upgrade in my opinion, if Clayton said that, is in terms of image. Vanderjagt is an eyesore and an earsore. Vinatieri is a beloved kicker (even outside of New England). I agree that both are equally good kickers. Adam wins the media battle over Vandy every day of the week.
I think Colts fans are relieved to rid themselves of an "idiot kicker" and replace him with a "clutch kicker". Image. That's the only answer I can come up with if Clayton said Adam was an upgrade.
You've got a good argument though. It seems Clayton might not have thought things through.
Well, except that Adam has dealt with kicking consistently well in lousy conditions his entire career while Vanderchoke has always been a dome kicker for 8-10 games a season, and that does make a difference - and one who could never handle KO well for some reason and whom Polian wouldn't allow to kick off the last few seasons. So for the Colts Adam is clutch, cost half as much on their cap this year and saves them a roster spot.
BTW Vanderchoke only had 2 50+ attempts since 2003 and missed them both. 50+ is over rated. Adam only had 4 attempts in the last 3 seasons, not because he couldn't make them but because his HC is a defensive minded field position guy who is not often going to have anyone kicking from outside the 32 because the risk/reward odds are just stacked against success.
Oh, and Adam has never missed in a dome other than Reliant Stadium. He's 37-41 indoors and 10-10 in the RCA Dome. KO's will likely average in the mid 60's too.
But aside from being clutch, the only way Adam can be a difference maker in Indy is if the QB lets him. Peyton suffers from I wanna do it-itis. Tom learned early on that he could count on Adam, and that allowed him to relax and get them just as far as he could without taking undue risk and making the mistakes that are born of desperation and an effort to do too much. QB's don't like to hand the ball over to someone else, even when that is all they really need to do. #1 drafted QB's with equally egotistical idiot kickers who have had the temerity to cricize them are far less likely to hand that ball over without a fight than is a #199 draft pick who knows it's a core team leader waiting along the sidelines for that handoff. It will be interesting to see if Peyton's ego still overrides Adam's quiet clutch.