Why Roberto Aguayo Might Deserve Another Shot
June 3rd, 2017
It’s another take from JoeBucsFan Saturday columnist Gil Arcia
Oh, covfefe.
What to do with Roberto Aguayo.
Head coach Dirk Koetter has defended him. So too has general manager Jason Licht. So what are we to think?
I remember the 1-for-4 kicking performance on those dreaded skinny posts in practice that drove social media wild. I jumped in on that same craze as well. But time has passed and the team has defended its 2016 second-round draft pick because of good kicking done outside of when the media can observe.
Perhaps their defense of the 23-year-old kid may merit some logic. And perhaps we’re just being too harsh too soon. Here’s why.
Patriots’ solid placekicker Stephen Gostkowski saw his percentage jump over 10 points from his rookie season to his second, Colts’ Adam Vinatieri saw a nine-point jump in the same span when he started out in New England, and Denver’s back-in-the-day, Super-Bowl-winning-kicker Jason Elam saw a seven-point jump in his percentage from Year 1 to Year 2.
Oh, and Nick Folk – who is competing to take the job from Aguayo – improved seven percentage points in his first two seasons at Dallas. Now 11 seasons later, Folk is still in the league.
Of those mentioned kickers, all but Folk kicked in the 70-percent range their rookie seasons. The difference is, of course, none were acquired the same way Aguayo was. Many can’t seem to let that go.
In fairness, we only have the words of Aguayo’s head coach and general manager to judge. So by nature we’ll take that with a grain of salt.
But if Aguayo performs well throughout camp and preseason, let’s give him that chance to kick again next season. I’ll gladly eat my words and hope for him to succeed once again.
June 3rd, 2017 at 8:48 am
licht screwed up with this pick so… adios roberto… also.. poor mans djax released, predraft trade macklin for martin dont sign djax lose that headache
June 3rd, 2017 at 9:30 am
While I understood Gil’s shook for cook, I never understood his erection for Roberto. The defense for two premium picks for a kicker was always so dumb. You can get kickers for free and as Gil’s point up top… they are just like every other position in the NFL and will take time to transition. With that being said if he can beat out a solid vet like Folk, maybe we keep him. I would prefer Folk for sure because he has the ability mentality to fight through a mini slump . Roberto may turn out to be a solid NFL kicker but it most likely won’t be as a buc. To me he doesnt have a strong enough leg to warrant being patient through early struggles.
June 3rd, 2017 at 9:33 am
They have a very difficult decision to make, if Berto struggles in preseason they have to cut him, they can’t carry 2 kickers in reg season. some other team will probably probably take him and he will do great. That will be the story of 2016 second round pick. What will hurt the most is that he will flourish somewhere else rather than wasting a second round pick.
June 3rd, 2017 at 9:59 am
There are Bucs “Fans” who want to see Aguayo and the Buccaneer organization fail? Some “Fans” they are.
June 3rd, 2017 at 10:13 am
@James Walker: quite the contrary. I love my Bucs and want them to succeed so badly that I refuse to let a lousy, weak legged headcase 2nd round kicker ruin their playoff chances. GO NICK FOLK!!!!’
June 3rd, 2017 at 10:40 am
Over/under on Aguayo articles next week is 4
June 3rd, 2017 at 10:45 am
The only deserves another shot because of his draft status.
June 3rd, 2017 at 10:45 am
We all know the cliches “statistics”…Thomas Bassenger who Joe seems to like…I agree..when it comes to taking some of the BS out of stats just did a piece on how we misjudge FG kickers.
The worst stat is FG %…the sample sizes are so small…variables so great…that %’s vary wildly from year to year for ALL kickers…good and bad.
Bassenger also pointed out that Aguayo was pretty much benched in favor of Brian Anger’s incredible punting in the second half of the season. We don’t need to see stats though to understand Koetter’s lack of faith in OhNoNo…never the less Roberto simply didn’t get that many attempts….again we all agree beecause he didn’t deserve them but it still effected stats.
This is why the kicking competition is going to be gripping. The stats are not really that informative….this is one case where the “eyeball” test is what’s going to decide the battle. Which of these kickers exhibits the most poise…CONFIIDENCE…which kicker can infect the fans with CONFIDENCE…because that’s what it comes down to…
Both kickers “can” hit 55 yarders….both kickers “can” miss ten yarders.
The decision will come down totally to TRUST. Which kicker do we TRUST the most with the marbles on the line. Roberto has a long way to come back because first impressions are so powerful and the first impression he left last season was as a choker. He’s got just a few months to lose that rep.
Not saying this is fair or wise….it is what it is..
June 3rd, 2017 at 10:51 am
@Gil
I’ve become a big fan since you’ve joined JBF. Always look forward to your Saturday morning pieces because they are thought provoking….of course some posters just get provoked when you make them think…especially outside the box. LOL
June 3rd, 2017 at 12:50 pm
No such thing as a ten yard FG SPBF. Just sayin…
It is possible that we carry 2 kickers if the Bucs believe that Aguayo is showing solid signs of improvement but the coaches don’t want to bet the season on it.
It is also possible that if Aguayo does not perform close to perfectly in pre-season and the Bucs cut him in favor of Folk that he would not be claimed off waivers and could be added to the Bucs practice squad to continue developing. Possible but not likely. Depends on what he puts on tape this year I’d say.
June 3rd, 2017 at 12:58 pm
Nobody wants Aguayo to fail. They just want the Bucs to win, Baby, win.
If this is truly the season for a real run at a championship, you don’t go into it with a “?” at the highest scoring position on the roster. You don’t go into the season on a mere “hope” that a position will work itself out.
I understand the soft spot for Aguayo on several levels: local kid, local school, high draft pick, son of an immigrant. I get all that.
But I personally have a much larger “soft spot” for winning in the NFL and as a Bucs fan than I do on human interest stories.
If Aguayo remotely resembles the train-wreck he was last season, he needs to be gone, and competition needs to be brought in for Folk.
Seriously: was there EVER one kick he tried when you thought “he’ll nail this easy.” No, there wasn’t. Nor did Koetter think the same. Every kick, FG or PAT, was an adventure. That wasn’t how past Buc kickers were, except maybe Brindza.
Hell, even Patrick Murray, a ROOKIE three seasons ago, was 83.3%, 5-6 from 50+ and a perfect 31-31 on PAT’s. How would you like to have him back for the coming season?
I just an happy the Bucs had a monster punter to make up for an abysmal FG kicking game. IMO, Anger won the Bucs more games than Aguayo, a rather odd occurrence in the NFL.
June 3rd, 2017 at 1:32 pm
draft status not important
best kicker gets the job, many days to evaluate coming up
last year was ridiculous–we deserve way better kicker
there should be no soft spot–in fact the opposite for aguay0
June 3rd, 2017 at 1:57 pm
This was a STUPID pick by Jason Licht. Cut your losses, admit to your blunder and move on.
June 3rd, 2017 at 5:45 pm
um.. isnt he getting his second chance now?
June 3rd, 2017 at 6:38 pm
Tnew, yes he is, and people want to take it from him.
EA Says
“they can’t carry 2 kickers in reg season.”
It would be unusual but it also would not be the first time, not even for the Bucs.
Don’t forget, the Bucs have a roster exemption for the first three games. Fans are assuming it will be used on a RB, but really, it would be a perfect opportunity to put Aguayo to the test.
Also, with Fitz, we only need 2 QBs this year.
There are ways to make it work. Bucs have carried 2 kickers before. If Aguayo starts improving, enough to consider keeping him, then I think keeping Folk around for insurance would be a smart move.
June 3rd, 2017 at 6:40 pm
Not to mention they could cut the useless George Johnson.
June 3rd, 2017 at 10:44 pm
Carrying 2 kickers is a fools’ choice. Absurd.
Will never happen.
George Johnson > Aguayo. He’s not mental.
June 5th, 2017 at 3:04 am
We’ll be cutting Vernon Heargraves,
Probably right before traing camp.
He stuggled Waaaaay worse than Aguayo.
Spence was no Simeon Rice. Hes probably in danger, too.
Every rookie struggles
If you arent gonna let them mature- stop drafting!!
You dont know what Licht saw in Aguayo??
THE MOST ACCURATE KICKER IN THE HISTORY OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL.
Many of you hate Aguayo, because of where he was drafted.
Thats like thinking you paid to much for a Car- so you run it into a tree.
Lets see how he does this summer
June 5th, 2017 at 1:53 pm
sometimes a low FG percentage is just bad luck ganging up on you. in a season where you attempt 30 or 40 FGs on the high end, it just takes a few weird situations (bad snap, lousy conditions, a guy breaking through the line for a block, an end-of-half attempt from 55+) to drop your field goal percentage by double digits, and there’s an ebb and flow from sheer probability in that small sample size year to year.
however, aguayo’s problems seemed less than random. he seemed to kick with inconsistent mechanics, low confidence, and limited power. he needs to physically look better kicking the ball to keep his job, not just sneak them through the uprights at a higher absolute percentage than his proven counterpart.
June 5th, 2017 at 2:02 pm
carrying 2 kickers would be foolish. then again, using 2 mid round draft picks on a kicker is also foolish, so foolishness alone doesn’t rule it out as a possibility
i think people are being generous to licht by repeatedly referring to this as the failed investment of a second round pick. in my eyes, it is the failed investment of a 3rd and a 4th round draft choice (which we turned into a #2)
given where this team was in terms of 1-to-50 talent (excluding 3 specialists: K, P, LS), throwing away 2 potential position players who could have been useful depth (at a minimum) at position groups where we had almost none is a more fundamental form of malpractice than throwing away the single pick slightly higher in the draft that he traded them for
i am a jason licht fan, just noting that he’s actually getting off easy when people think of this merely as a wasted #2. this team needed and still needs better backups at DE and DB, just to name 2 groups