Tyler Bass, kicker, might be Bills' best pick

[Inigo Montoya]

I expect to get some heat for this opinion, but the pick I'm most excited about is Tyler Bass.  It looks like he has the potential to be an elite NFL kicker.  I've watched a video of him kick a fifty yard field goal standing stationary and just swinging his leg.  He hammered a 60 yarder with one step.  He says he hit a 71 yarder with a bit of a tailwind a couple weeks ago.  He was the consensus best kicker coming out of the college ranks this year.

 

After the QB, the place kicker is the one player on a football team who is most likely to win or lose a game for the team.  A team with an iffy kicking game is in a very bad place, you see it every week in the League.  We all remember Hauschka's mid season slump last year.  Playing in New Era Field with the winds and weather makes the kicking game even more dicey.  If Tyler Bass is as good as the draftniks say he is, he will likely have a bigger impact on the future of this franchise than any other player Beane drafted last week.

 

Imagine the luxury of having a Justin Tucker on our team or a Vinatieri or Gostkowski in their prime? Tucker has a cannon for a leg and Harbaugh in Baltimore has no qualms sending Tucker out for 60+ yard field goals.  He's just about automatic.  In today's NFL with shoddy kicking all over the place, having a great place kicker is literally a game changer.

 

Beane grabbing Bass with the 188th pick in the 6th round could turn out to be the most important Bill's pick of this year's draft.

 

 

[StHustle]

You make great points. It has always amazed me how so many fans seem to put little value in the kicker as if a good one comes a dime a dozen. It's just as hard to find a great kicker as it is a great QB. And these guys often end up becoming the leading scorer for their respective franchises. Great post...just hope he is the real deal...

[Buffalo Boy]

I’m in!!! 

Steve Christie was the man. 

I said in the draft grade thread that Bass becoming the long term answer was the pick to kick this years class into the A+ range.

My question: How does a southern kicker handle The Ralph’s weather?

[Doc]

Few fans put little value into a K.  The question is should you use a draft pick on one and if so, is he the right one?  Hopefully Bass is the guy for the next decade.

[eSJayDee]

I believe I saw inside the 50, he hit 93% of his FGs this yr.  I'd think that's impressive for a college guy (they usually have room for development once they turn pro).

Granted, he has the potential.  Hard to tell w/ kickers, as much of the determination is binary.  We had a good kicker here a couple yrs ago & let him go.

[Inigo Montoya]

17 minutes ago, Doc said:

Few fans put little value into a K.  The question is should you use a draft pick on one and if so, is he the right one?  Hopefully Bass is the guy for the next decade.

 

I think that if we didn't draft him and he made it through the last two rounds without some other team selecting him, there is no way he signs with the Bills as an UDFA.  No kicker in their right mind would chose to kick in New Era.  They all want to kick in a dome.  I'm sure a dozen different teams would have tried to sign him and bring him to camp to compete with their kicker and we would have lost out.  Compared to another player who we could have gotten in the 6th round with this selection, I think Bass probably has the most potential to make the team and be a difference maker.  He seems to have the tools.  Let's hope he is the real deal.

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Inigo Montoya

[Doc]

1 minute ago, Inigo Montoya said:

I think that if we didn't draft him and he made it through the last two rounds without some other team selecting him, there is no way he signs with the Bills as an UDFA.  No kicker in their right mind would chose to kick in New Era.  I'm sure a dozen different teams would have tried to sign him and bring him to camp to compete with their kicker and we would have lost out.  Compared to another player who we could have gotten in the 6th round with this selection, I think Bass probably has the most potential to make the team and be a difference maker.  He seems to have the tools.  Let's hope he is the real deal.

 

Oh, I'm not saying they shouldn't have drafted him, mostly because what you said is right.  I think that most people are loathe to see their team draft kickers.

[JESSEFEFFER]

There is not much patience for developing a kicker.  They have little time to win the job and they better not cost their team any wins.  One option is to transition with a kickoff/long fg specialist but using 2 roster spots on kickers is not popular either.

Edited April 28, 2020 by JESSEFEFFER

[Turbo44]

8 minutes ago, eSJayDee said:

I believe I saw inside the 50, he hit 93% of his FGs this yr.  I'd think that's impressive for a college guy (they usually have room for development once they turn pro).

Granted, he has the potential.  Hard to tell w/ kickers, as much of the determination is binary.  We had a good kicker here a couple yrs ago & let him go.

Nope he hit around that % 2 years ago, last year he was 20 for 28 which isn’t good . Love his strong leg, but if he isn’t accurate, it won’t matter. Making 60 yarders with a one step approach means sh$t if you miss 35 yarders

[Doc Brown]

Hold on.  Let me see Folk nail two 53 yarders against us.  

 

Yup.  Kicker's important.

Edited April 28, 2020 by Doc Brown

[Flip Johnson]

Because of the investment of the pick, I would guess he is very likely to make the team. If he struggles in camp the team might still keep him on as a KO specialist.

[KD in CA]

28 minutes ago, Doc said:

Few fans put little value into a K.  The question is should you use a draft pick on one and if so, is he the right one?  Hopefully Bass is the guy for the next decade.

 

They need a starting K for the future.  Drafting one now rather than a guy who would be 7th on the depth chart at some other position is a smart move.   The other option is what, to overpay some vet later?  Or to end up with a disastrous situation like Chicago?

 

This is a luxury that comes with building depth at core positions.

[Mr. WEO]

19 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Oh, I'm not saying they shouldn't have drafted him, mostly because what you said is right.  I think that most people are loathe to see their team draft kickers.

 

As opposed to some other guy who is at least as likely to not make the roster?

 

Good kicker is a top point scorer.  Nothing wrong with drafting one. 

[mannc]

1 minute ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

As opposed to some other guy who is at least as likely to not make the roster?

 

Good kicker is a top point scorer.  Nothing wrong with drafting one. 

Place kicker is the most underrated position in football.  A great kicker can be the difference in 2-3 games per season—the difference between making the playoffs and being home for New Years.  Other than QB, you can’t say that about many other positions.  It’s no accident that very few playoff teams have below average kickers.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Please let him be better than Tucker

[Happy]

The big leg is all well and good, but a kicker worth keeping has to be accurate.  They also need to have a good head on their shoulders where they forget the missed kicks so it doesn't affect them going forward.

[billieve420]

With expanded rosters they could decide to keep 2 kickers. Bass handle kick offs and extra long FG attempts over 50 yds. Now if he lights it up during training camp and outplays hausch money maybe they move on but doubt they would go with a rookie.

[HappyDays]

I'll be nervous if we're relying on him to start for us this year. Hauschka has dropped off and he can't kick a 50 yarder to save his life but at least I know what I'm getting with him. You could argue he was our MVP in the playoff game and I think if we had gotten into position to kick the game winner there would be no talk of moving on from him. This season is our best chance at a championship in a long time and the last thing I want is an unknown rookie kicker on the field for game deciding field goals.

[ALLEN1QB]

I hope he does well. Didn't the Raiders take a kicker in the 1st round one year? How crazy was that.

[Ralonzo]

9 minutes ago, billieve420 said:

With expanded rosters they could decide to keep 2 kickers. Bass handle kick offs and extra long FG attempts over 50 yds. Now if he lights it up during training camp and outplays hausch money maybe they move on but doubt they would go with a rookie.

 

Why would you draft a kicker if you don't want a rookie kicker?

[BuffaloRebound]

It’s tough drafting a kicker. No matter how good they were in college, it seems like they have to fail or get cut multiple times before they gain the required mental toughness to kick in the NFL.  

[HappyDays]

4 minutes ago, billieve420 said:

With expanded rosters they could decide to keep 2 kickers.

 

This is a common misconception. Teams can't have 55 man rosters all season. They have the normal 53 man roster and they can elevate 2 extra practice squad players for the week - but those players have to be sent back to the practice squad after the game. A player is subject to waivers the third time they're sent back to the practice squad. So they cant just leave Bass and Hauschka on the roster unless they want to use 2 of their permanent spots on a kicker. I think it's an open competition and it's Bass's to lose.

[billieve420]

14 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

 

Why would you draft a kicker if you don't want a rookie kicker?

 

6th rd pick not every drafted player is going to make team. Possible he starts out year on practice squad.

[Billy Claude]

2 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said:

It’s tough drafting a kicker. No matter how good they were in college, it seems like they have to fail or get cut multiple times before they gain the required mental toughness to kick in the NFL.  

 

This is spot on.

 

Out of the last 8 kickers drafted -- only one, Jason Sanders of the Dolphins -- has had success with the team that drafted him and Hauschka, kicking at New Era, had better numbers than him last year.

 

Some of the drafted kickers have been very successful (Jake Elliot) but not with their original teams while others have been cut without ever kicking in a regular season game.

 

I think most people know that a kicker is important -- its just a question of whether drafting one is a good way of finding one especially if you have someone that was not that bad last year.

 

 

[BritBill]

Jake Elliott was the first other player to spring to mind when reading this thread.

 

I firmly believe it's all in the head with the NFL kickers. The vast, vast majority of them have the technique nailed. It's having the mental ability to maintain that technique under extreme game day pressure. Much akin to soccer players taking penalties in a shoot-out. 

 

The coaches will have to decide pretty quickly if Bass has it mentally to become kicker in his first season. The Eagles saw it in Elliott where the Bengals didn't. 

 

Elliot missed his first XP attempt in Super Bowl LII. After that he hit he only other XP and 3 field goals. One a 46 yarder in the 4th quarter. That's mental toughness with balls bigger than King Kong. 

 

Elliott proves it can be done with a rookie kicker who was drafted but the Bills have to be certain Bass is up to it in this extremely crucial season for this franchise. The schedule remains tough after the draft so I'm sure a lot of the games will be close and come to to XPs and FGs. 

[shane nelson]

To this day I always think of what would have happened if Gary Anderson was on the 1990 team. I think its a GREAT pick.  Go Bills 

[cage]

If you consider the what if our opponents (1st Jets and Titans games) had better kickers, we might be looking at 8-8 last season with a completely different narrative about this team.

[mannc]

3 hours ago, BritBill said:

Jake Elliott was the first other player to spring to mind when reading this thread.

 

I firmly believe it's all in the head with the NFL kickers. The vast, vast majority of them have the technique nailed. It's having the mental ability to maintain that technique under extreme game day pressure. Much akin to soccer players taking penalties in a shoot-out. 

 

The coaches will have to decide pretty quickly if Bass has it mentally to become kicker in his first season. The Eagles saw it in Elliott where the Bengals didn't. 

 

Elliot missed his first XP attempt in Super Bowl LII. After that he hit he only other XP and 3 field goals. One a 46 yarder in the 4th quarter. That's mental toughness with balls bigger than King Kong. 

 

Elliott proves it can be done with a rookie kicker who was drafted but the Bills have to be certain Bass is up to it in this extremely crucial season for this franchise. The schedule remains tough after the draft so I'm sure a lot of the games will be close and come to to XPs and FGs. 

This is interesting. I did not know that so few drafted kickers became successful with the team that drafted them.  (Maybe that’s why so few are drafted, despite the importance of the position.).  You would think that kickers who were great in college would almost automatically succeed in the NFL because what they do is essentially the same both places, especially for guys who kicked at major programs in front of NFL-size crowds.  I would think the adjustment would be greater for guys like Bass, who kicked at smaller schools, in front of smaller crowds, presumably with less pressure.  
 

 

 

 

[MrEpsYtown]

3 hours ago, BritBill said:

Jake Elliott was the first other player to spring to mind when reading this thread.

 

I firmly believe it's all in the head with the NFL kickers. The vast, vast majority of them have the technique nailed. It's having the mental ability to maintain that technique under extreme game day pressure. Much akin to soccer players taking penalties in a shoot-out. 

 

The coaches will have to decide pretty quickly if Bass has it mentally to become kicker in his first season. The Eagles saw it in Elliott where the Bengals didn't. 

 

Elliot missed his first XP attempt in Super Bowl LII. After that he hit he only other XP and 3 field goals. One a 46 yarder in the 4th quarter. That's mental toughness with balls bigger than King Kong. 

 

Elliott proves it can be done with a rookie kicker who was drafted but the Bills have to be certain Bass is up to it in this extremely crucial season for this franchise. The schedule remains tough after the draft so I'm sure a lot of the games will be close and come to to XPs and FGs. 

 

32 minutes ago, mannc said:

This is interesting. I did not know that so few drafted kickers became successful with the team that drafted them.  (Maybe that’s why so few are drafted, despite the importance of the position.).  You would think that kickers who were great in college would almost automatically succeed in the NFL because what they do is essentially the same both places, especially for guys who kicked at major programs in front of NFL-size crowds.  I would think the adjustment would be greater for guys like Bass, who kicked at smaller schools, in front of smaller crowds, presumably with less pressure.  
 

 

 

 

Totally agree. There is so much on these guys in the first place, drafting them, especially high puts more pressure on them to succeed. We even saw this last year with Kaare Vedvik. He was backing up Tucker in Baltimore and look so good in the preseason that everyone wanted him. The Vikings trade a 5th round pick for him and suddenly the wheels came off. Like once he was the guy, the pressure was on and he was terrible. Then he gets cut a few weeks laster and blows the home opener for the Jets. The worst thing the Bucs did to Roberto Agyauo was take him in the second round. It just killed his career, too much pressure and expectations and now he is out of football. 
 

Bass seems like a good get, and if we didn’t draft him someone else would have, but it does put extra pressure on the guy. But the results do support the idea that you should never, ever draft a kicker. Honestly I would have liked to see us draft Braden Mann there and get a kicker later, but I support the Bass idea and I think our roster is very good to the point that drafting a kicker is okay. 
 

Pretty good article that basically states that the results are so hard to predict for kickers that it doesn’t make sense to draft one. 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fivethirtyeight.com/features/memo-to-nfl-gms-stop-drafting-kickers/amp/

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

9 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

I expect to get some heat for this opinion, but the pick I'm most excited about is Tyler Bass.  It looks like he has the potential to be an elite NFL kicker.  I've watched a video of him kick a fifty yard field goal standing stationary and just swinging his leg.  He hammered a 60 yarder with one step.  He says he hit a 71 yarder with a bit of a tailwind a couple weeks ago.  He was the consensus best kicker coming out of the college ranks this year.

 

After the QB, the place kicker is the one player on a football team who is most likely to win or lose a game for the team.  A team with an iffy kicking game is in a very bad place, you see it every week in the League.  We all remember Hauschka's mid season slump last year.  Playing in New Era Field with the winds and weather makes the kicking game even more dicey.  If Tyler Bass is as good as the draftniks say he is, he will likely have a bigger impact on the future of this franchise than any other player Beane drafted last week.

 

Imagine the luxury of having a Justin Tucker on our team or a Vinatieri or Gostkowski in their prime? Tucker has a cannon for a leg and Harbaugh in Baltimore has no qualms sending Tucker out for 60+ yard field goals.  He's just about automatic.  In today's NFL with shoddy kicking all over the place, having a great place kicker is literally a game changer.

 

Beane grabbing Bass with the 188th pick in the 6th round could turn out to be the most important Bill's pick of this year's draft.

 

 

I agree I love the pick. This team is becoming an infusion of youth and our kicker should be no exception.

 

Hauschka has been fine but it doesn’t take much to mess with a kickers head. He had some struggles last year and we are probably pretty limited with his length.

 

granted I don’t know much about Bass but if he comes out and has a good showing I think we really consider keeping him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Freddie's Dead]

***** Anderson cost Hausch his career.  

[CapeBreton]

1 hour ago, mannc said:

This is interesting. I did not know that so few drafted kickers became successful with the team that drafted them.  (Maybe that’s why so few are drafted, despite the importance of the position.).  You would think that kickers who were great in college would almost automatically succeed in the NFL because what they do is essentially the same both places, especially for guys who kicked at major programs in front of NFL-size crowds.  I would think the adjustment would be greater for guys like Bass, who kicked at smaller schools, in front of smaller crowds, presumably with less pressure.  
 

 

 

 

 

There won't be any fans this year so that will takes some pressure off!

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

8 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said:

It’s tough drafting a kicker. No matter how good they were in college, it seems like they have to fail or get cut multiple times before they gain the required mental toughness to kick in the NFL.  

agreed. I think Bass is heading to the PS. 

[LittleSammy]

This kid can obviously kick it a mile, but can he kick in December with a frozen ball in 40 mph swirling winds. 

[MrEpsYtown]

I have to say that the affect a field goal kicker has on a game is not close to the type of impact a starting defensive end has on a game. A kicker’s impact on a football game is so completely overrated becuase the difference between a good kicker and an average kicker is so miniscule. Yes Justin Tucker is far and away the best. The rest are all pretty much the same. I think kickers were ignored and underrated for so long that the perception of them with fans has overcorrected. Probably mostly has to do with fantasy football. Yes they score points, but are useless without the rest of the team getting them in position to score points. There is no way that this pick is more impactful than the Epenesa pick. I like the pick and am excited about the player, but I have a hard time with calling this the most impactful move of the draft. There is a better chance that he does not even make the team than him being the most impactful move of the draft. 

[aristocrat]

kicker is the most important spot besides qb.  think about house money hitting all those 50 yarders the year we broke the playoff streak.  The bears kickers missing fg's over the years, vikings too. The way games are played and are so close having that edge is so important.  I'm glad house turned it around this year but if we can get a better kicker which gets us another win or 2 over a season which gives us home field you have such a leg up on the comp. 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

10 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

I expect to get some heat for this opinion, but the pick I'm most excited about is Tyler Bass.  It looks like he has the potential to be an elite NFL kicker.  I've watched a video of him kick a fifty yard field goal standing stationary and just swinging his leg.  He hammered a 60 yarder with one step.  He says he hit a 71 yarder with a bit of a tailwind a couple weeks ago.  He was the consensus best kicker coming out of the college ranks this year.

 

 

I know Nothing - Jon Snow

 

I've seen these "hype" videos before and most are false hope.

 

How many tries did he have to film? 

No defenders rushing at him unabated.

 

I'll drool when I see live action. 

[atlbillsfan1975]

Kicking is almost all mental. There are a ton of guys out there who can hit 60 yarders when nobody is rushing them and they are on a practice field. I saw guys in high school and college hit 55 yarders during practice.

Bass played in front of 25,000 people in college. Big adjustment.

Having said all that, I’m fine taking one in the sixth. 

[skibum]

Kicker is also the only position where you can get a top prospect in the 6th round. So you might as well go for it - he probably has a better chance of making the team than the 28th best offensive lineman or whatever else was available then. 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by skibum

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

11 hours ago, Doc said:

 

Oh, I'm not saying they shouldn't have drafted him, mostly because what you said is right.  I think that most people are loathe to see their team draft kickers.

I think that is when they believe their are other big holes to fill, mainly trying to find starters and rotational players who will provide an impact. We went into this draft with 2 needs and addressed them immediately.  Everything else was depth and risk. To me this is a bold and awesome move.  When I heard the pick, I thought damn Eno Benjamin would look good here and he dropped. But once I saw who Bass was, I thought, brilliant move.  Hauschka is on the decline and we play a lot of tight games. Nailing consistent 50-55 yarders makes other teams have to play the field position game differently and it shortens the field for us to take more chances. Love it.