2008 Draft Prospects: Kicking Specialists

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Kicking Specialists

April 3, 2008
By Clark Judge
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
Tell Clark your opinion!

Clark Judge ranks the top five kicking specialists.

Top Prospects: Kickers

1. Taylor Mehlhaff, K, Wisconsin

Agility Tests:
40-yard dash: 4.92	Bench press: 335 lbs	Verticle jump: 32"

The skinny: He has the best kickoff leg, though one scout said he scares him "a little" with his unorthodox approach. "He's got a sharp angle into the ball," he said. His longest field goal in college was 52 yards, and he had 27 touchbacks last season. Leg strength is not a concern with this first-team All-American.

2. Durant Brooks, P, Georgia Tech

Agility Tests:
40-yard dash: 5.2	Bench press: N/A	Verticle jump: N/A

The skinny: The Ray Guy Award winner, Brooks should be the first punter drafted. Not only did he average 45.1 yards per kick as a senior, he put 33 of 65 down inside the 20 and forced 21 fair catches. If there's one word to describe him, said a scout, it's consistency.

3. Art Carmody, K, Louisville

Agility Tests:
40-yard dash: 5.12	Bench press: N/A	Verticle jump: N/A

The skinny: He's accurate, dubbed "Art-O-Matic" by teammates, but scouts worry about his leg strength. He made 67 of 79 field-goal attempts but doesn't have the size or leg you'd like in a kicker. He missed his only career attempt over 50 yards and hasn't kicked off since he was a sophomore. That could be a problem.

4. Alexis Serna, K, Oregon State

Agility Tests:
40-yard dash: 4.62	Bench press: N/A	Verticle jump: N/A

The skinny: The guy is versatile, able to punt or place kick. He has a strong leg, hitting a 58-yard field goal in his career, and kicked in some of the worst conditions imaginable at Oregon State. So what's the knock? Size. He's not quite 5-7. Plus, he hasn't been as good as he was in 2005 when he won the Lou Groza Award.

5. Shane Longest, K, Xavier

Agility Tests:
40-yard dash: 4.83	Bench press: N/A	Verticle jump: N/A

The skinny: He came on the past two seasons after struggling in his first two. Making 42 of 55 attempts in 2006-07, he has a strong leg -- nailing a school-record 55-yard field goal last season. He can also punt and kick off, which makes him attractive to the pros. Set five school records, including most field goals (five) in a game and most points (128) in a season.

Player on the rise:

Piotr Czech, kicker, Wagner: He's accurate, has a strong leg and is 6-foot-5. At his pro day he was 12-for-12 with the wind, including a 59-yarder, and nailed a 55-yard field goal against the breeze. "All the special teams guys are on to him," said one scout. Here's why: He was 16 of 19 in field goals, hit a 56-yarder this season and can punt -- once hitting one a school-record 70 yards.

Player on the decline:

Tim Reyer, P, Kansas State. One of five punters invited to the scouting combine, he ranked ninth in the country with a 44.53-yard average and was a Ray Guy semifinalist. That's good. But he can be inconsistent and sometimes bailed out when pressured by the defense. "I look at all the hype about the guy," said one scout, "and I can't see what it's all about."

Sleeper

Johnny Ayers, punter, Boston College. OK, so he averaged 41 yards a punt last season. That's not the story. "He's doing what three-quarters of the punters in the NFL are," said one pro assistant. "He's a great directional punter, and he's good outside the numbers." As for that average? "A lot of those kicks are pooch punts," the coach said. He's worth a look.

Overrated

It's hard to label Carmody overrated after what he did in his career at Louisville, but this is the problem: He didn't kick off last season until the Hula Bowl, and when he did he was less than impressive. One scout said he reminded him of Virginia's Connor Hughes. Kickoffs were a problem for him, too, and he didn't make it.

Position analysis:

If there's a noteworthy position it's the punters, and not because they're outstanding. "This is one of the worst classes of punters I've seen in a long, long time," said one NFL special teams coordinator. The kickers are better, but not by much. The class is no better than ordinary, with one special teams coach naming Mehlhaff as the only kicker worth drafting.

Talk Back

Grizzle32

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May 9, 2008 8:30 am

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Kyle Clement=Steal for the Steel

6' 4" 290 lb. Defensive tackles are one of the most envied types of players in the league. Even though he was a D-2 player, ithink the Steelers got a great pick up in signing him as a free agent. Even as a rookie I wouldn't be suprised to see him adding depth to the infamously ferocious Steeler defense.

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Irish73

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April 27, 2008 6:50 pm

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Hawaii exposed

Glad to see that Hawaii's talent was exposed during the butt-kickin put on them by the SEC. They were exposed for what they aren't......good......when they finally played a real team. Colt will never amount to a thing and where are all the WR's they claimed were gonna go so high? Only one player was drafted from Hawaii. When will they learn that playing a high school schedu ...(more)

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ChrisperJ10

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April 27, 2008 6:51 pm

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Caleb Cambell

If anyone saw his story during the draft then you know him being drafted was a life or death situation. (If he doesn't get drafted then he's heading to Iraq) He gets to play football and represent Army in the NFL.

Good luck to you sir.

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Colbymon

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April 28, 2008 2:11 pm

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We should have taken Colt Brennan

Brennan against Washington: 42 out of 50 for 442 yard with 5 TDs and no ints. I don't care a what level you are playing, those are difficult stats to put up. He did that fairly regularly. The game before was not as good. He played Boise St. and went 40 out of 53 for 495 yards, 5 TDs, 2 ints, and he also ran for one TD. This guy could be a real 6th round steal.&n ...(more)

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Hoopheaven21

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April 27, 2008 12:33 am

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Cowboys picks...............................

They had a very good Day 1. Felix Jones, RB (Arkansas) is the perfect compliment to Marion Barber. Jones is a roadrunner. Mike Jenkins, CB (South Florida) is a cover CB with good hands and decent size. Martellus Bennett, TE (Texas A&M) makes sense because they trade Fasano to Miami and like running two TE sets. But I would have liked to see them trade up to get one of the big WR's ...(more)

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jordantm15

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April 27, 2008 5:42 pm

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Ali Highsmith, Darrell Robertson?

I'm just wondering why no teams are picking these guys. These were 3rd round prospects. Any thoughts?

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TrojanLuver1

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April 22, 2008 4:25 pm

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Karma for Bengals...

Hey... the Bengals deserve a break with the malcontent "85"... Sedrick Ellis is a future ALL-PRO and is perfect to improve the "D" in the 'Natti...

For Carson Palmer's sake.... Bengals TAKE Sedrick if he is there at #9!!!!

Fight ON!!

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m4615358

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April 29, 2008 4:18 pm

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Bears/ Vikings??

I cannot understand why the Vikings or Bears did not go for Henne or Brohm. I guess Tavares and Grossman are the answers for both teams???? Not that they would play next year but they both lasted to the second round. Maybe the Vikings think they got a steal in Booty?. I doubt it.

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1 man army

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April 27, 2008 4:05 pm

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Finally we make tough picks

I believe this is one of the best off seasons for detroit in a long time. We didn't go after the high profiled guys and chose some tough players with good heads on their shoulders. Sure we may have been able to trade down further for Gosder, but why chance it. We really bolstered our offense, while picking up some defensive players that will play over some guys already "on" the team. It will b ...(more)

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Hubister