Competition
January 8th, 2017
How much rope?
Hey, Roberto Aguayo, there is a reason your rear end is burned. You are officially on the hot seat.
Last week, when the Bucs signed slug kicker John Lunsford, it was to light a fire under Aguayo’s rear end for next year.
Sure, Aguayo will be the No. 1 kicker entering the offseason as well as training camp and likely preseason. But Aguayo has proven issues, specifically long range. Aguayo last season made 36 percent of his attempts 40-yards or longer. That simply is unacceptable for an NFL kicker, especially if the Bucs hope to make a playoff run.
Long kicks do not seem to be a problem for Lunsford, types Woody Cummings of Florida Football Insiders.
This is a kid who regularly connected on 70-yard field goals in practice, nailed 12 field goals of 50 yards or more (an NCAA record for FCS kickers), including a long of 60 and averaged 62.5 yards per kickoff with 145 touchbacks as a collegian.
The problem with Lunsford, Cummings noted, is that in college, despite being able to connect long field, he was brutal, hitting on just 60 percent of his field goal attempts at Liberty University.
By comparison, Aguayo made 88.5 percent of his field goal attempts at Florida State, though he gradually got worse each year.
January 8th, 2017 at 9:07 am
As weve seen college field goal percentage means nothing in the pros. Can he handle the pressure is what it comes down to. Lets see what hes got.
January 8th, 2017 at 9:18 am
I’m really meh about all of this “competition is good” stuff. Obviously but in different ways.
If a player is actually complacent then “perhaps” competition will scare him into performance. But it’s the NFL and everybody is already wealthy so how do you light a fire under someone like “Ghost” Johnson. You c
Bottom line for me is I want SELF STARTERS! At every level of sports I have participated organized or casual I’ve never been motivated by competition or coaches…just my own motivation to be the best I could be.
I do not perceive Aguayo as having an attitude problem at all. He’s not lazy or arrogant or trying to steal money like some of our FA’s in the past. IMHO Oh No No is simply choking! It’s obviously mental. I’m not exactly sure how bringing in competition for him is going to cure choking…if anything it might add to it.
I do get the value of forcing him to get his choking over with in Training Camp or hit the highway…but this is a problem for ONE person to resolve. Coaches are not going to help him…competition is not going to help him…perhaps the right shrink can straighten him out.
I could be full of it since I frequently am…perhaps it’s a simple technical thing that someone can discover but I doubt it. I just believe this…competition is not going to help Aguayo. He either gets over his yips or like some very talented ball strikers on the PGA Tour who couldn’t cure their putting yips…he’ll be gone!
I like him…I’m a Bucs fan…Good luck Roberto you’re going to need it.
January 8th, 2017 at 9:29 am
****sighing******
……….after all these years we’re still talking about kickers and stability in Tampa
………………now I’m starting to think that we wasted a high draft pick on Roberto “flamingo”!
January 8th, 2017 at 9:34 am
For the one millionth time, this is why you don’t spend high draft picks on kickers.
January 8th, 2017 at 9:37 am
Wait, does this mean he is not going to be the next Janikowski?
January 8th, 2017 at 9:48 am
Joseph Mamma Says:
January 8th, 2017 at 9:37 am
Wait, does this mean he is not going to be the next Janikowski?
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Ha ha ha ha…….at the rate “flamingo” is going, I don’t think so.
You know, there is something to be said about certain players and MONEY…..it’s amazing how many players in ALL sports and their level play drops off ONCE THEY GET PAID!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not saying that’s the case for Roberto “flamingo”…….but once has to wonder and question it????????
January 8th, 2017 at 9:55 am
Let’s be blatantly honest. When you invest a draft pick… any draft pick in a kicker, you don’t see yourself bringing in”competition” in year two. The thing I don’t like is what happens if Lunsford has a great camp, makes everything, the body of his work does not look good, so all we know is that he is a career 60% kicker. Say Lunsford gets hot and beats out aguayo, so we cut Aguayo, and go with Lunsford. In week three he reverts back to 60% Lunsford…,
My issue, if you bring in competition, make it a true competition. A guy with a few seasons under his belt, that way if he beats Aguayo, you can make a switch with confidence. Now it just feels like we are going to choose the hot kicker over an 8 week period.
January 8th, 2017 at 10:00 am
The GM will not cut Roberto “flamingo”
January 8th, 2017 at 10:22 am
I don’t care if he has a 20 yr career as a successful kicker, but the the Bucs better move on soon from Aguayo. You can make an argument he was a big reason Bucs missed the playoffs. He was drafted to be reliable not suspenseful. He already had 1 season to prove his unreliability. He keeps it up and Licht should be fired.
January 8th, 2017 at 10:25 am
@ Pelbuc
You don’t give up on a high draft pick after one season………and that’s exactly why he isn’t going anywhere.
January 8th, 2017 at 10:30 am
Roberto was a Glazer pick. Licht was instructed to do so. He will be safe again this year. This bringing in of another kicker is just for appearance.
January 8th, 2017 at 10:34 am
Old news… thanks for nuffin’
January 8th, 2017 at 10:34 am
I hate the comparisons to Janikowski who is not even one of the best kickers in the league he’s only made 1 pro bowl. If you draft a kicker that high he better be on par with Vinateri or the top kickers within a season or two. Stop with the Janikowski comparing it comes off as silly
January 8th, 2017 at 10:34 am
he needs a mental coach is what he needs
all in his head
January 8th, 2017 at 10:40 am
Buddy- so now that was a Glazer pick? Really?
I absolutely love it!
January 8th, 2017 at 10:43 am
And anthem you can bet your ass if he goes into the offseason/ota’a missing kicks, 2nd round pick or not he’s toast.
January 8th, 2017 at 10:47 am
Mental coach hahaha….how about the Bucs give him his own safe space? Auguayo is playing at a pro level, if he can’t hack it, and so far he hasn’t shown us that he can, someone else can and will take his job.
January 8th, 2017 at 10:51 am
that he can’t*
January 8th, 2017 at 11:26 am
I think Roberto’s rookie yr jitters will be gone next season. If not, he can join Kenny Bell as a Fast food retailing manager or start his own franchiase, He could even invent a little field goal kicking machine to..kick your fast food order out of the drive thru window!!
January 8th, 2017 at 12:04 pm
Licht is being pro-active.
He will cut Roberto if he doesn’t win the competition. I don’t think Licht will feed his ego and keep him if Roberto looses the competition.
I do believe this will help Roberto to start looking at his employment differently thus causing him to find the fix. He is the only one to find his own fix. But sometimes a little nudge helps people over come their mental loops of doubt.
Go Licht!
January 8th, 2017 at 12:06 pm
I like that Light is not egotistical when it comes to his choices of players by keeping them, if they don’t workout.
January 8th, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Aguayo will be fine.
January 8th, 2017 at 1:15 pm
Bucs will have OTAs, minicamp, training camp, offseason and preseason to see if he can hit a FG longer than 43 yds. Not that complicated.
January 8th, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Jason Licht should right his wrong and bring Connor Barth back for some legitimate competition.
January 8th, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Connor Barth will out kick Aguayo with a Blindfold on.
January 8th, 2017 at 1:48 pm
Players selected at the top of the NFL draft…#1 still have about a 5-10% chance of either busting or mediocrity.
Something to think about…where you are taken in any round can have a 10-20% difference of success rate even within the same round.
After the 3rd it’s considered a total crapshoot as the bust rate starts climbing from 60% and >.
My point is the position of the player is irrelevant. I have not come across the research although perhaps it’s out there of players busting at different rates by position.
IE….It doesn’t matter who you pick in any round the position selected doesn’t make it any safer. So either you value a kicker or you don’t.
I value one of the few players on any NFL team who can actually put POINTS ON THE BOARD!!! A Vinateri is worth as much as anybody on the team with the exception on QB.
And so I’m not going to defend the specific choice….Aguayo can bust out at the rate of ANY OTHER DRAFT PICK…it’s not about his position!!! Statistically Aguayo has a 30% chance of busting..kicker…QB…RB..whatever!
So this argument should always be viewed as a two parter. The value of draft picks overall and kickers importance to their teams….and part two…the particular selection of the individual player. Licht was OK on part one…part two remains up in the air…time will tell.
January 8th, 2017 at 2:05 pm
Just because you keep writing about him doesn’t mean Roberto Aguayo is on the hot seat. Bringing in competition like this guy simply means they are pushing Roberto to be better not replace him. Keep dreaming but it’s not like you’ll admit being wrong.
January 8th, 2017 at 5:32 pm
You think a guy who hits on 60% of his kicks is competition? Really?? Uhhh OooKkkk….. geez I thought Joe was smarter than that.
January 8th, 2017 at 6:32 pm
The farther we all get away from the 2nd round pick spent on Aguayo, the the less hard it will be simply look at him like any other kicker. But look, it’s not how far out a kicker can hit, it’s how consistent they are inside 30, 35, and 40 yards.
January 8th, 2017 at 9:06 pm
At the end of the day it’s about production. If he doesn’t produce throughout training camp and pre-season then he will be gone. Licht prescribes to the Bellicheat philosophy of not making a mistake worse by hanging on too long. Yes, it was a 2nd round pick but all that matters is W’s. If the Bucs make the playoffs without Roberto, nobody will care. Licht will be off the hook. I say this as an FSU grad and Roberto fan.
January 9th, 2017 at 10:50 am
Has anybody considered that perhabs Robertos struggles gave something to do with the coaching or weight program the Bucs have in place. I dont mean that our guys dont know what they are doing but subtle changes with his technique or training can disrupt a player at position like this. I think the best thing we can do is see what happens year 2. Roberto should be comfortable with the environment anf have another year in a program where everything isnt new. I think he will surprise some people this year and become much more consistent in 2017