53-man roster is in

[Vote for Kalas]

There must have been something else going on because it makes little sense to select a rookie kicker in one week based on 3 kicks in a meaningless PS game...

Henery had one of the best rookie kicker seasons in NFL season and was very consistent and accurate his first 2 years...last year he was not as good, but far from terrible. He is a 86 FG% kicker for his career and had an outstanding college career (89 FG%) so he is not a fluke...Parkey posted a 75 FG% in college and shanked a 33 yd FG in the BCS game.

Just seems like a panic move, hopefully Parkey does very well, but they sure are taking a big gamble.

[FairOaks]

Right now we are going into the season opener with 2 healthy rbs. That's ridiculous.

I think that shows that Polk is ready to go. And they knew he was making the team, so they had him rest the last preseason game.

I believe Burton played some running back in college (sixteen rushing TDs in his career at Florida, though 11 of those was his freshman year), so he could probably play there. That probably also played a factor on his making the team; he can play RB, TE, and WR. I would presume we want to have 1-2 backs on the practice squad in case of injuries -- both Josey and Tucker are eligible.

[Eagle60]

I think that shows that Polk is ready to go. And they knew he was making the team, so they had him rest the last preseason game.

I believe Burton played some running back in college (sixteen rushing TDs in his career at Florida, though 11 of those was his freshman year), so he could probably play there. That probably also played a factor on his making the team; he can play RB, TE, and WR. I would presume we want to have 1-2 backs on the practice squad in case of injuries -- both Josey and Tucker are eligible.

If Polk can indeed go then we're fine for now. I don't remember hearing Burton getting any rb reps though. I don't think that you can just throw a guy into the zone read and think that there aren't going to be problems.

[FairOaks]

There must have been something else going on because it makes little sense to select a rookie kicker in one week based on 3 kicks in a meaningless PS game...

Henery had one of the best rookie kicker seasons in NFL season and was very consistent and accurate his first 2 years...last year he was not as good, but far from terrible. He is a 86 FG% kicker for his career and had an outstanding college career (89 FG%) so he is not a fluke...Parkey posted a 75 FG% in college and shanked a 33 yd FG in the BCS game.

Just seems like a panic move, hopefully Parkey does very well, but they sure are taking a big gamble.

The writing was on the wall when they traded for Parkey, and especially when they had him play the first half that last game. They were going to ditch Henery. It's possible he looked worse to Kelly than last offseason, and we definitely don't want any worse than last year. Parkey has more upside than Henery at this point, and the kickoff aspect alone may be worth the risk -- he may be able to cover up for a bad kickoff coverage unit, if it turns out we have a bad one.

I did go look at his 33 yard miss in the championship game on youtube (I think the entire game is posted there) -- it was actually too *straight*. He was kicking from the right side hash mark (left from the end zone's perspective), and did not angle it back quite enough, and it just missed. The NFL hash marks are much closer in, so that same kick would have been good in the NFL. As someone here said, it is possible he struggled with the wide hash marks in college. But yes, the accuracy in college is a concern. If he turns out to be more erratic than we can stand, I'm sure we will try others -- may be good to keep an eye on Denver's rookie kicker the first four games, who will be released once Prater comes back. It does feel like we we at least start the season with Parkey, as a couple of veteran kickers have been available, though we'll see once all the cuts get through waivers.

[FairOaks]

If Polk can indeed go then we're fine for now. I don't remember hearing Burton getting any rb reps though. I don't think that you can just throw a guy into the zone read and think that there aren't going to be problems.

Dunno. They threw Damaris Johnson in there the last couple of preseason games and he actually looked decent there (other than the goal line of course, due to his size). It would be more of an emergency thing, for sure -- Polk was the 3rd RB last year as well and got 11 carries all year. But you're right, don't think Burton got any reps in the practice games there.

[Eagle60]

The writing was on the wall when they traded for Parkey, and especially when they had him play the first half that last game. They were going to ditch Henery. It's possible he looked worse to Kelly than last offseason, and we definitely don't want any worse than last year. Parkey has more upside than Henery at this point, and the kickoff aspect alone may be worth the risk -- he may be able to cover up for a bad kickoff coverage unit, if it turns out we have a bad one.

I did go look at his 33 yard miss in the championship game on youtube (I think the entire game is posted there) -- it was actually too *straight*. He was kicking from the right side hash mark (left from the end zone's perspective), and did not angle it back quite enough, and it just missed. The NFL hash marks are much closer in, so that same kick would have been good in the NFL. As someone here said, it is possible he struggled with the wide hash marks in college. But yes, the accuracy in college is a concern. If he turns out to be more erratic than we can stand, I'm sure we will try others -- may be good to keep an eye on Denver's rookie kicker the first four games, who will be released once Prater comes back. It does feel like we we at least start the season with Parkey, as a couple of veteran kickers have been available, though we'll see once all the cuts get through waivers.

If he does well and gets cut he'll have to clear over 20 teams before he gets to us to be claimed. Parkey had better do the job.