A Season’s Worth Of Shanks From Bowden
August 29th, 2010
What the hell kind of punter did the Bucs draft in the sixth round?
Yeah, this Brent Bowden kid has talent. Yeah, the kid punted lights out last week. Yeah, he plays a mean guitar.
But for those who will be watching the Bucs game for the first time on WFLA-TV, Ch. 8 this morning, Joe advises you to head for the bathroom quickly when Bowden lines up to punt. And, if you don’t head for the bathroom, you probably will after you see a couple of his clunkers.
Joe’s being hard on Bowden, but the Bucs can not afford to have a crappy punting game. If not for the Bucs’ stellar special teams, they might have won just one game last year.
Bowden absolutely has to turn it around.
August 29th, 2010 at 1:08 am
Oh he’s just a rookie. Give him 3 or 4 more years. 🙂
I mean, after all, he IS an early 6th round draft pick.
August 29th, 2010 at 1:14 am
They could’ve just picked up a veteran free agent punter or just waited till after the draft to sign an undrafted one. They could’ve gotten a DE instead of wasting a pick on a punter.
Tell me, what was really wrong with Josh Bidwell? Was his injury really that serious? The guy was a pretty good punter for us, even made the pro bowl one year, and they just released him! Dirk Johnson wasn’t bad either.
August 29th, 2010 at 1:22 am
I believe Bowden will bounce back from this. The kid is too good to suck that bad.
Bye the way Joe, nice use of the Homer pic. I love the Simpsons!
August 29th, 2010 at 2:07 am
I believe it’s “Brent Bowden.”
It was a little hard to believe they weren’t bringing in competition for him. He is an absolutely unproven rookie without any competition in training camp…
However, they were very active in finding a solid kicker last year, whether they were unproven or not, and they ended up with a pretty decent option in Connor Barth. I think they’ll be fine… even if it takes until midseason to find an alternative option at punter (if that’s even necessary).
August 29th, 2010 at 2:14 am
When he was at VTech his punting average was 42.2 yards a kick. You are going to see some clunkers. His specialty is coffin-corner kicks, not 50-60 yard boots. If he punts from mid-field, he’s going to pin the other team back inside the 20 more often than not. But if he’s punting from the endzone, the other team will start their drive in Bucs territory.
He’s not known for his leg strength. And the Bucs were well aware of this when they drafted him.
August 29th, 2010 at 2:27 am
It would be nice to have 2 punters. One to coffin kick and one to punt bombs.
Just sayin, it would be nice.
August 29th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Are you really advising 3 kickers on the starting roster? We don’t have the kind of depth to afford that.
August 29th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Nothing can beat the place-kicking fiasco we endured at the start of last year.
But, if this kid can’t kick us out of the hole it’s a huge problem. Goodness knows we have to play outstanding special teams to win.