Believe it or not but the “K” position on your fantasy roster is the only NotBS fantasy preview that ended up as a two parter. The majority of the fantasy kicker rankings can be found here. This is a bit of a spin-off of that. This certainly won’t have “Simpsons” or “Colbert Report” type spin-off qualify but worst case scenario this will be the quality of a Lifetime TV movie. Legatron should at least garner the male version of chick empathy towards those nonsense Lifetime real life movies. This guy is incredibly underrated and still ended up just 2nd in my rankings.

“2. Greg Zuerlein (Stl)

Have we really lost all faith in Greg the Leg? He is rated 12th by ESPN, 10th by CBS Sports, 19th by Sports Illustrated, 7th by NFL.com, 21st by Walter Football, and 8th on Yahoo!...

Tangent:

Grantland didn’t do anything more than QB’s, RB’s and WR’s (and a “Fantasy Football Preview: New Head Coach Rankings” because that is obviously relevant to the topic fantasy football).

Either Grantland is further behind schedule than we are here, which is hard to believe since this is a two man operation (or less than that if you factor in the fact that I have a full time job and AP3 is basically married while working three different jobs. Meanwhile Grantland employs people to do this for a living), or maybe Grantland’s big shots don’t value the TE, D/ST and Kickers positions enough to cover them enough to write about despite the overpopulated writing department. Or could it possibly be because Grantland sucks and Bill Simmons has lost a step? To put this in terms he would understand (non-NASCAR, get Tony Stewart back on the pod), on the off chance he reads this; Bill your career is like that of Paul Pierce if he remained a Celtic for life while never getting a chance to play with Garnett and Allen. Pierce was also being spread too thin and it could have ended his career early if he wasn’t reinvigorated by KG and Ray. Some of you might think Grantland is his KG and Ray but instead it is Bill’s career post 2007 without Ray Allen and KG to help.

The Greg the Leg talk took me far too many words so click here for his own page… he deserves it in my opinion. “

That is all I ended up posting on the kicker preview but that was after I decided to give Greg Zuerlein his own NotBS page. Indulge me for a minute or two here please…

Imagine that you are rookie placekicker. Being a kicker people already don’t fully respect you and have a certain tune out factor when you trot onto the field. As if being a kicker was difficult enough to promote your existence, you are now just one year removed from being a kicker at a division II college. So NO ONE knows who you are.

You come in as competition for Josh Brown who in 2008 commanded so much free agent attention that he ended up receiving a deal making him the highest paid kicker in the league, at the time. Then you win the job, probably mostly because that the Rams realized they probably overpaid for what Brown was providing. When the Rams ink’d Brown to that deal they obviously felt it was worth it but heading into the final season of his deal they likely weren’t in the mood to pay their kicker nearly $15M.

Also you are stuck on a team that nobody outside of St. Louis, and possibly Los Angeles, probably very, very few, cares to watch. You are a nobody.

Then in Week 3 you make a 56 yarder in the Windy City, breaking the record for longest field goal made at Soldier Field. When the highlights run that night, that record breaking kick was mentioned and the world was notified of you/your eight straight field goals converted to begin the season/your career streak.

By the time Week 4 hits, people know your name. Then at home against the Seahawks, with that streak on the line you go 4/4 including a 58 yarder that broke the team franchise record for longest field goal made. After that you go on to then break that record setting field goal just two quarters later by drilling a 60 yard attempt. That feat makes you the only kicker to make two field goals of 58+ yards in the same game. The Rams won the game and you somehow won over the nation.

Your streak now sits at 12 straight made field goals and has become a big deal. All eyes are on you.

After making another 50+ yarder look easy in Week 5 you head to Miami with your streak intact at 13 straight and with some new nicknames like “Legatron”. People are now tuning in to games almost entirely to watch you, a kicker (the first time ever?). You make your first two kicks from 48 and 32, extending your streak to 15 straight field goals made. You probably feel nearly invincible and on top of the world.

Then all of a sudden, in the 2nd quarter, you sail a 52 yarder wide left. Then suddenly the confidence starts to go as you pull a 37 yard attempt wide left of the uprights in the 4th quarter.

Then your QB gets sacked back at Miami’s 45 yard line. Your team calls a timeout on 4th down with just four seconds left, trailing by just three. Your coach gambles on the fact that you have been lights out all year, ignoring the fact that this low percentage 66 yarder to tie the game and force overtime, that would set the NFL record by about 10 feet, could also ruin your confidence for the rest of the year. Obviously the best case scenario is that you make it and return to form but the second best scenario is actually that the kick gets blocked, or comes up short. Instead you kick a ball that appears to be long enough but just barely sails wide on the left side once again.

Now it’s time for you to really crash back down to Earth. Football fans lose interest and nobody really has any faith left in you.

Well I do. I get it. Rookies are supposed to take a leap forward their second year, that goes for kickers as well. This kid is now battle tested and I think he will be about as rock solid as they come. In a couple years he may be a possible Vinatieri comp, but with a bigger boot.

The Rams offense should be much better given their additional year of experience and the addition of an incredible playmaker in Tavon Austin. Not to forget that the Rams have now had a full year under Jeff Fisher. This young club should be buying in to what the future Hall of Fame coach is saying. As I said the additional year of experience learning Fisher’s system and learning more about the game and each other they should be better and should be able to put Greg the Leg into position to bounce back and score a ton of points.

mlz

Saturday, August 24, 2013