Carpenter

[chernobylwraiths]

Sad how fickle people are. Guy plays very well for us for the last couple years, comes into camp with a small injury and misses a few in the preseason and we want to cut him for some guy who probably can't kick. We probably won't get a better kicker. He was cut from Miami after being voted for the pro bowl in a previous year because of a little inconsistency and came to us and did great.

Kickers are funny people usually. They go through small bad stretches, but you don't kick him to the curb unless you have to if they have shown to be pretty good and not in decline. He kicked something like 6 over 50 yard field goals last year, he is not in decline. I wanted Rian Lindell gone shortly after he got here, but the Bills stuck with him and he turned into a very good kicker. That was two years after letting Christie go.

He doesn't even complain about coming in injured, he says he has to be better. Isn't that what people want? A guy who takes responsibility and says the right things? I've been through some pretty miserable kickers in my years as a Bills fan, I don't want to go through another stretch of Jake Airiens, Shayne Graham, Tom Demsey, and a list of names people have barely ever heard of.

[justasportsfan]

Yup. Not ready to cut him just yet. He was clutch for us in regular season.

[GvilleBills]

#KeepTheCarp
Was clutch for us and, iirc, he dug his neighbor out of the snow during last years storm.


C'mon dude, that's Buffalo.

[The Jokeman]

Sad how fickle people are. Guy plays very well for us for the last couple years, comes into camp with a small injury and misses a few in the preseason and we want to cut him for some guy who probably can't kick. We probably won't get a better kicker. He was cut from Miami after being voted for the pro bowl in a previous year because of a little inconsistency and came to us and did great.

Kickers are funny people usually. They go through small bad stretches, but you don't kick him to the curb unless you have to if they have shown to be pretty good and not in decline. He kicked something like 6 over 50 yard field goals last year, he is not in decline. I wanted Rian Lindell gone shortly after he got here, but the Bills stuck with him and he turned into a very good kicker. That was two years after letting Christie go.

He doesn't even complain about coming in injured, he says he has to be better. Isn't that what people want? A guy who takes responsibility and says the right things? I've been through some pretty miserable kickers in my years as a Bills fan, I don't want to go through another stretch of Jake Airiens, Shayne Graham, Tom Demsey, and a list of names people have barely ever heard of.

I'm all aboard the Carpenter ride if he's healthy but if he's not he's is that good. That's what concerns me is that he's not back from his injury fully and that's why he's missing kicks. Also with our roster filled with an excessive amount of WRs and TEs keeping two kickers is a costly.

[Mr. Pink]

He looked terrible in preseason and the fact he can't kick off apparently is a detriment to the roster needing to keep Gay around.

He should have been cut and replaced by someone who can do both.

Matt Prater was money for the Broncos, he got sent away. Adam Vinatieri won a Superbowl and was money for the Pats, he got sent away. Both of those teams found replacements.

[chernobylwraiths]

This crap that he can't do kickoffs is just BS. Maybe he can't get touchbacks as consistently as this Gay guy, err... Jordan Gay, but it doesn't mean he can't do kickoffs. They CHOOSE for him not to do kickoffs. And finding a guy who can kick field goals consistently AND get mostly touchbacks is very hard to find.

[YardRat]

I'm certainly not in the 'cut the Carp' camp, but the head coach isn't helping anybody feeding the fire. Rex should STFU and stick the media-motivated 'We need a god-damn fg kicker' up his ass. Support the guy publicly, and deal with the reasons/ramifications when/if the decision needs to be made. At least try to have a little class.

[chernobylwraiths]

I'm certainly not in the 'cut the Carp' camp, but the head coach isn't helping anybody feeding the fire. Rex should STFU and stick the media-motivated 'We need a god-damn fg kicker' up his ass. Support the guy publicly, and deal with the reasons/ramifications when/if the decision needs to be made. At least try to have a little class.

You can't have it both ways with Rex. So, I just have to deal with it. Plus, he is a football guy and football guys aren't big fans of kickers who hold the game sometimes in their hands.

[swiper]

He was activated from the injured list on August 16th. Two weeks is not enough time to be up to full speed. Give him a couple of more weeks please.

[Jimkelly12203]

Love Carpenter. He was super solid for us last year. Totally deserves the new deal he got.

The concern is what the hell do we do if he's not fully recovered and we need to hit a field goal in the regular season?

It's not that the guy isn't good, even great. It's that the season is upon us and it's not exactly a position where you want to carry more than one kicker. Oh wait... Whaley does carry more than one kicker (which is dumb) and the second guy can't hit field goals either.

[Albany,n.y.]

He was activated from the injured list on August 16th. Two weeks is not enough time to be up to full speed. Give him a couple of more weeks please.

If that's the case then they should cut Gay & bring in Hopkins & let him do both jobs with Carpenter inactive the 1st 2 weeks. Then if Carpenter is healthy, either keep Hopkins for kickoffs & insurance or cut Hopkins & bring back Gay when Carpenter is 100%. Nobody is going to pick up Gay, so they have the option of bringing him back any time they want.

[swiper]

If that's the case then they should cut Gay & bring in Hopkins & let him do both jobs with Carpenter inactive the 1st 2 weeks. Then if Carpenter is healthy, either keep Hopkins for kickoffs & insurance or cut Hopkins & bring back Gay when Carpenter is 100%. Nobody is going to pick up Gay, so they have the option of bringing him back any time they want.

You've gotta think that the prevailing sentiment at OBD is that he is getting close to where he was otherwise they would make some kind of a move. I think Ryan was just blowing off steam when he criticized the kicking game. You've gotta think it drives them all crazy to have to keep a guy just for kick-offs. If Carpenter is what he had been, then you can justify it. If he's off, then not.

[X-Era]

Sad how fickle people are. Guy plays very well for us for the last couple years, comes into camp with a small injury and misses a few in the preseason and we want to cut him for some guy who probably can't kick. We probably won't get a better kicker. He was cut from Miami after being voted for the pro bowl in a previous year because of a little inconsistency and came to us and did great.

Kickers are funny people usually. They go through small bad stretches, but you don't kick him to the curb unless you have to if they have shown to be pretty good and not in decline. He kicked something like 6 over 50 yard field goals last year, he is not in decline. I wanted Rian Lindell gone shortly after he got here, but the Bills stuck with him and he turned into a very good kicker. That was two years after letting Christie go.

He doesn't even complain about coming in injured, he says he has to be better. Isn't that what people want? A guy who takes responsibility and says the right things? I've been through some pretty miserable kickers in my years as a Bills fan, I don't want to go through another stretch of Jake Airiens, Shayne Graham, Tom Demsey, and a list of names people have barely ever heard of.He's a kicker coming back from a hamstring.

No need to give up on him.

[Typ0]

He's still on the team because he has worked here....any other scenario and he's cut. This whole extra kicker crap has to end too because the gay guy can't kickoff that well that he demands a roster spot.

[Night Train]

He should be in the jacuzzi every day. He's our best option.

I don't mind Gay being our last player on the active roster. His kickoffs are darn good, compared to most. Gives our excellent D a good setup.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The Bills are not in the business of what you have done for me in the past. It's what you can do for me now and may do for me in the future.

The fact that he had a couple of good years and then bad enough for the Dolphins to cut him, to where he's with the Bills have me concerned. I don't want to lose a game or two because he missed kicks and then decide to cut him.

[Novacane]

I hope the opener doesn't come down to a FG

[better days]

If the Bills cut a kicker, it should be Gay.

[Typ0]

I hope the opener doesn't come down to a FG

How many games against good teams do you think are going to? A lot. Kicking is the difference between winning and losing in many cases.

[Turf]

I think Rex should look at the last two years and give Carpenter a chance. Get rid of Gay. If he can't cut it, then let him go. But the guy's been money and clutch. I wouldn't let a few preseason games change my opinion of him yet.

[thenry20]

I think Rex is overreacting on the kicker. It's so stupid. Unless he knows Carpenter is not injured and is missing purposely. Carpenter has been heaven sent. He's been better than advertised and very clutch for us. There is nothing to worry about unless he doesn't recover and continues to miss FG inside the 40 consistently or those PAT's. You can never assume a kicker can nail a 50 yarder on every attempt, that's beyond foolish.

[thenry20]

The Bills are not in the business of what you have done for me in the past. It's what you can do for me now and may do for me in the future.

The fact that he had a couple of good years and then bad enough for the Dolphins to cut him, to where he's with the Bills have me concerned. I don't want to lose a game or two because he missed kicks and then decide to cut him.

I disagree. We're at the point where a FG shouldn't decide wins for us. Supposedly, we're better than last year. Our offense is supposed to put up 20+ points every week and our D is so beast where we can actually keep a 3 point lead in the 4th quarter. No, if we want to make the playoffs we need to score a lot more than we have been these past few years.

[feldspar]

I disagree. We're at the point where a FG shouldn't decide wins for us. Supposedly, we're better than last year. Our offense is supposed to put up 20+ points every week and our D is so beast where we can actually keep a 3 point lead in the 4th quarter. No, if we want to make the playoffs we need to score a lot more than we have been these past few years.

You are going to say this to a fanbase that lived through "wide right?"

Kickers put more points on the board than any other player position, generally...besides some quarterbacks. Their importance is magnified this year, with the extra points being moved back further. Now, I think the Bills are going to win or lose some very close games this year. All it takes is one single game to make the difference of making the playoffs and NOT making the playoffs. I figure there is going to be more than one game where the game will be decided by one score, don't you? It happens all the time, and even to the best teams in the league.

Carpenter better get his head screwed on straight, because we need him. He'll probably put more points on the board than anybody on this team, or have the opportunity to do that.