| 17 August 2009
One of the biggest positional battles this preseason is undoubtedly between Brandon "Free Eyebrow Rides" Coutu and Olindo "Bloom" Mare. Coutu was given his first shot at earning the job on Saturday night, and he held up alright, nailing two field goals from 38 yards. We already know the kid can nail field goals though, so lets talk about the area he needed to improve on: kickoffs.
Well, he uh, kind of stunk. On five kickoffs, Coutu kicked it to the 11, 5, 6, 3 and 1 yard lines (that's from memory, but I know its something close to that). On those same five kickoffs, we would reasonably expect Mare to get it between five yards into the endzone and about the 3-yard line. Coutu has been working with Morten Andersen in the offseason to improve his kickoffs, but that work was not apparent on Saturday.
I think that the Hawks look at Mare and feel that they know what they have. They look at Coutu and know what he could be. Coutu is one of the best FG kickers to come out of college in the last three years, but for some reason he can't seem to nail the mechanics and/or leg strength required for a touchback. Mare is the default placekicker after an excellent year in 2008, but everyone on the Seahawks is rooting for Coutu to come through and steal that job away.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
