| 31 July 2009
Let it be known now, before camp begins firing on all cylinders:
Tim Ruskell has said the Seahawks will not carry two kickers this year.
Kicker Olindo Mare did a fine job on kickoffs and field goals last year for the Seahawks, who replaced former franchise player and winner of the Lifetime Assclown Achievement award, Josh Brown. Mare went 24-for-27 on FG attempts and had excellent range and accuracy on kickoffs -- something that challenger Brandon Coutu will be hard-pressed to match in camp.
Ruskell then went on to explain the reasoning behind why the team carried both Mare and Coutu last year.
"We like Brandon and think he can kick in the National Football League," Ruskell said. "That won't happen this year. We'll go with one guy. And it'll be a nice battle to watch. They've both done well so far.
"Part of the reason for holding on to him last year was we were getting interest from other teams. So we thought maybe at some point prior to the trade deadline (they'd make a deal), but it just didn't happen. And with the injuries we had enough room to keep him and it didn't hurt us. So we just kept him and said we'll have this competition go for another year."
The only knock on Mare's continued tenure with the team that I can think of would be age. Coutu is much younger and would offer more longevity to the Seahawks' kicking game. Offseason workouts with Morten Anderson can't hurt, either. Hopefully Mort worked on kickoff power, which is an area that makes the incumbent Mare a little more favorable then Coutu.
Camp this year will offer no shortage of position battles, and this is one we haven't really thought about much until now. I wouldn't see a problem with keeping either, but right now I'd say the edge goes to Mare just on the basis of his solid performance last year. Coutu will have to put in everything he's got to oust him.
written by Lyric, July 31, 2009
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written by STTBM, July 31, 2009
Mare has the edge in kickoff distance, but has never been known for making 50+ yarders. He's usually money under 49 yards though, which is fine. Longer kick attempts are rarer these days due to the stupid NFL rule change that gives the opposing teams the ball at the point of kick instead of the line of scrimmage if the kick misses.
Coutou has youth, and the fact that he can kick 50+ yarders pretty accurately. And he is much cheaper than Mare. Although he's unproven and looked a little erratic in preseason last year. Of course, he also lags behind Mare on kickoff distance as well.
While it would be nice to keep Mare, he is aging and has had a fairly serious injury in his recent past. It would be nice if Coutou went neck and neck with him, and then we could lock up Coutou for years and be done with it.
May the best (leg) man win!
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written by JayHawk, July 31, 2009
But at the same time.... I wouldn't be to dissappointed with keeping Mare instead because nothing can replace experience and consistency.
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written by jeremy, July 31, 2009
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written by north face, September 15, 2010
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Being a Miami fan too, I loved Mare when he was with Miami, he was a fan favorite. Little guy with a sonic boom leg. He's also fairly clutch.
I'm really glad to see the fan base warmed up to him and even happier he overcame his injury to have a great season for us last year. Kickers have a long shelf life, I'd prefer the experience of Mare over the younger kid. But thats me and I'm biased