Maybe we're watching different games but as I peruse Big 5 games, when I see a sub par kicker it is the rare exception. I think what you are referring to is when a kicker misses a short kick and it grabs the headlines. In most cases the guy who missed it is a stud who just had a bad day. It happens. In fact I've never seen a "truly awful" kicker starting for big 5 in recent memory. I do agree that few are more accurate than GA. However many of the power 5 kickers are also excellent punters (or vise versa) but you would never know because few if any big schools will let them do both. It's very hard to do both well throughout an entire season. You have to limit your reps and practice really really smart. Grayson has done an exceptional job in handling both duties these past 2 years. As far as the NFL goes, Grayson's punting abilities are very very good and certainly good enough to be valued as a serviceable NFL back-up. But I'm not sure that he is an NFL punter. The NFL looks for consistent 4.75-5.0 hang and they have no interest in rugby style punting. His best shot is at placekicking. That's where he's looking more and more NFL caliber each week and that is what will get him in a camp. IMHO.fufanatic wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:05 amI agree with virtually everything you said minus the part that power 5 is littered with kickers with comparable talent to GA. I've watched a lot of college football this year, and I've seen very few kickers that are as versatile or accurate as Grayson. In fact, there are some truly awful kickers out there. It's why "college kickers" is joked about weekly on game review shows. I think he would be the guy pretty quickly at many power schools. That said, I do agree that it would be a shame to leave Furman for a bigger school and then somehow not get to play as big a role as he does at Furman. The Wofford kicker you mentioned is a great example ... and there are others.aqualung wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:54 amAs talented as Grayson is, everyone needs to keep some context here. The power 5 is littered with kickers with comparable talent to Grayson. I disagree that Clempson would be an option for him. Potter is an exceptional talent and he will eventually come around and be a standout for the Tigers. Several other Big 5 would offer better opportunities for him. Only reason it would make sense for him to leave is if FU does not offer the graduate degree that he wants. If that is the case, then leaving is a win-win for him. To just do it in the hopes of improving his NFL chances would not be smart. This can back-fire too. Remember Wofford’s David Marvrin? Grayson definitely has NFL potential but he’s no slam dunk. And yes, it would be horrible to see him on TV on Sundays with some other school next to his name. I hope he stays put.
On an academic note, if he is on pace to graduate in three years, it would not be smart in my opinion to not finish that off and then use his final year of eligibility to get a one-year masters or work towards a masters. If you have an opportunity to get two degrees, take it if you're a student-athlete on scholarship and can either graduate early or redshirt one of your years.
NFL Visits
That's all fair and makes sense. I guess I mainly look at FG% and GA's % this year would rank him in the top 20 in FBS (hard to argue that he shouldn't be perfect after a bad snap at Western), and his % last year would rank him in the top 25 this year. There are 130 schools in FBS. That means that for the vast majority of FBS schools, he would be the best option FG% wise on the team.aqualung wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:25 pmMaybe we're watching different games but as I peruse Big 5 games, when I see a sub par kicker it is the rare exception. I think what you are referring to is when a kicker misses a short kick and it grabs the headlines. In most cases the guy who missed it is a stud who just had a bad day. It happens. In fact I've never seen a "truly awful" kicker starting for big 5 in recent memory. I do agree that few are more accurate than GA. However many of the power 5 kickers are also excellent punters (or vise versa) but you would never know because few if any big schools will let them do both. It's very hard to do both well throughout an entire season. You have to limit your reps and practice really really smart. Grayson has done an exceptional job in handling both duties these past 2 years. As far as the NFL goes, Grayson's punting abilities are very very good and certainly good enough to be valued as a serviceable NFL back-up. But I'm not sure that he is an NFL punter. The NFL looks for consistent 4.75-5.0 hang and they have no interest in rugby style punting. His best shot is at placekicking. That's where he's looking more and more NFL caliber each week and that is what will get him in a camp. IMHO.fufanatic wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:05 amI agree with virtually everything you said minus the part that power 5 is littered with kickers with comparable talent to GA. I've watched a lot of college football this year, and I've seen very few kickers that are as versatile or accurate as Grayson. In fact, there are some truly awful kickers out there. It's why "college kickers" is joked about weekly on game review shows. I think he would be the guy pretty quickly at many power schools. That said, I do agree that it would be a shame to leave Furman for a bigger school and then somehow not get to play as big a role as he does at Furman. The Wofford kicker you mentioned is a great example ... and there are others.aqualung wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:54 amAs talented as Grayson is, everyone needs to keep some context here. The power 5 is littered with kickers with comparable talent to Grayson. I disagree that Clempson would be an option for him. Potter is an exceptional talent and he will eventually come around and be a standout for the Tigers. Several other Big 5 would offer better opportunities for him. Only reason it would make sense for him to leave is if FU does not offer the graduate degree that he wants. If that is the case, then leaving is a win-win for him. To just do it in the hopes of improving his NFL chances would not be smart. This can back-fire too. Remember Wofford’s David Marvrin? Grayson definitely has NFL potential but he’s no slam dunk. And yes, it would be horrible to see him on TV on Sundays with some other school next to his name. I hope he stays put.
On an academic note, if he is on pace to graduate in three years, it would not be smart in my opinion to not finish that off and then use his final year of eligibility to get a one-year masters or work towards a masters. If you have an opportunity to get two degrees, take it if you're a student-athlete on scholarship and can either graduate early or redshirt one of your years.
100% agree with you that GA's FG% is top notch at any level and that he would/should be on any top 20 list of all D1 kickers in the nation. What's even more impressive is the number of 50yd+ kicks that were in his streak of 18 in a row. In discussing the caliber of kickers at other FBS schools, I was referring exclusively to Power 5 schools. When you include the other 5 (or whatever they call themselves) there is definitely a wider variance of kicking performance. Only good reason for him to underload and stick around to graduate next December would be if he is unsure of what he wants to do. Take a few more months to gain clarity. I know I had no real clue in my senior year. I hope he stays but ultimately hope he does what's in his best long term interest.fufanatic wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:47 pmThat's all fair and makes sense. I guess I mainly look at FG% and GA's % this year would rank him in the top 20 in FBS (hard to argue that he shouldn't be perfect after a bad snap at Western), and his % last year would rank him in the top 25 this year. There are 130 schools in FBS. That means that for the vast majority of FBS schools, he would be the best option FG% wise on the team.aqualung wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:25 pmMaybe we're watching different games but as I peruse Big 5 games, when I see a sub par kicker it is the rare exception. I think what you are referring to is when a kicker misses a short kick and it grabs the headlines. In most cases the guy who missed it is a stud who just had a bad day. It happens. In fact I've never seen a "truly awful" kicker starting for big 5 in recent memory. I do agree that few are more accurate than GA. However many of the power 5 kickers are also excellent punters (or vise versa) but you would never know because few if any big schools will let them do both. It's very hard to do both well throughout an entire season. You have to limit your reps and practice really really smart. Grayson has done an exceptional job in handling both duties these past 2 years. As far as the NFL goes, Grayson's punting abilities are very very good and certainly good enough to be valued as a serviceable NFL back-up. But I'm not sure that he is an NFL punter. The NFL looks for consistent 4.75-5.0 hang and they have no interest in rugby style punting. His best shot is at placekicking. That's where he's looking more and more NFL caliber each week and that is what will get him in a camp. IMHO.fufanatic wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:05 amI agree with virtually everything you said minus the part that power 5 is littered with kickers with comparable talent to GA. I've watched a lot of college football this year, and I've seen very few kickers that are as versatile or accurate as Grayson. In fact, there are some truly awful kickers out there. It's why "college kickers" is joked about weekly on game review shows. I think he would be the guy pretty quickly at many power schools. That said, I do agree that it would be a shame to leave Furman for a bigger school and then somehow not get to play as big a role as he does at Furman. The Wofford kicker you mentioned is a great example ... and there are others.aqualung wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:54 amAs talented as Grayson is, everyone needs to keep some context here. The power 5 is littered with kickers with comparable talent to Grayson. I disagree that Clempson would be an option for him. Potter is an exceptional talent and he will eventually come around and be a standout for the Tigers. Several other Big 5 would offer better opportunities for him. Only reason it would make sense for him to leave is if FU does not offer the graduate degree that he wants. If that is the case, then leaving is a win-win for him. To just do it in the hopes of improving his NFL chances would not be smart. This can back-fire too. Remember Wofford’s David Marvrin? Grayson definitely has NFL potential but he’s no slam dunk. And yes, it would be horrible to see him on TV on Sundays with some other school next to his name. I hope he stays put.
On an academic note, if he is on pace to graduate in three years, it would not be smart in my opinion to not finish that off and then use his final year of eligibility to get a one-year masters or work towards a masters. If you have an opportunity to get two degrees, take it if you're a student-athlete on scholarship and can either graduate early or redshirt one of your years.
fufanatic liked this
If I’m a NFL scout I’d look hard at a guy like GA that can kick the ball consistently through the end zone (even though NFL is 10 more yards than NCAA) and make FGs. Plus, while not good enough to be a punter, certainly he serves as a backup in that role. NFL rosters are slim and he checks several boxes.
Nope. Both kickoff from the 35...been that way for 7 or 8 years. And before that, NFL was only 5 yards further.FUpaladin08 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 2:05 pmIf I’m a NFL scout I’d look hard at a guy like GA that can kick the ball consistently through the end zone (even though NFL is 10 more yards than NCAA) and make FGs. Plus, while not good enough to be a punter, certainly he serves as a backup in that role. NFL rosters are slim and he checks several boxes.
Anyone here know where I can find a thread about Football?
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother
For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother
Really dumb question since when I googled it I couldn't get an answer that seemed 100% ... are NFL goal posts narrower than in college? Hopefully Aqualung can answer that.
No...college and NFL are the same. The difference in spacing between uprights is between HS and college. HS uprights are spaced 4 feet 8 inches further apart.
fufanatic liked this
That should make it easier to make FGs right? I can't imagine those severe angles in college are any fun at all.
I wouldn't say that FG's in NFL are necessarily easier. Yes the angles are slightly reduced but that's not really a huge deal. Bigger issue is that the NFL is much less forgiving of a low kick. While get off times are equal to college, if you don't get the ball up quick those bigger dudes on the other side are more likely to reject it.
fufanatic liked this
On TV yesterday they listed Grayson as not returning. Anyone have any idea what his target school(s) are?
