A Rheem Dream

[The_Philster]

The NFL has seen its share of kicker families. The Bahrs, the Zendejas brothers, and the Gramaticas. Fighting to join that list are Bills rookie free agent Joe Rheem and his older brother Jamie. Both kicked for Kansas State, or K-State as it's called in Manhattan, Kansas. Lately the 'k' has stood for kicker with Martin Gramatica setting the bar, and Jamie and Joe Rheem carrying on what has become an impressive string of kicking prowess for the Wildcats.

Gramatica holds the record for most field goals (54) and extra points (187) in Kansas State history, with Jamie Rheem second with 39 and younger brother Joe third with 38....more

[LifetimeBillsFan]

While he wasn't one of the three college kickers that I was hoping that the Bills might be able to get, J.Rheem does have a couple of things going for him that might allow him to challenge R.Lindell: he's kicked in some pretty bad wind and weather conditions at K-State; his older brother's experiences in trying to win a job in the NFL should have him more mentally prepared to compete for a PK job in the NFL, which is very different than kicking in college; and I don't think that M.Mularkey and the coaching staff are that enamoured of R.Lindell's limited range, even though TD may be reluctant to admit that one of his FA signings hasn't worked out and let Lindell go.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Joe Rheem kick as much in college as I saw his brother because K-State wasn't as good a team and didn't get on TV as often, so it is hard to give a really solid opinion of him. But, what I can say is that he really improved a lot over the course of his career: his first two years he was very limited in his range, but he looked a lot better and stronger when I saw him in each of his last two seasons. If he's been able to continue to strengthen his leg and increase his distance and height on kick offs, he could challenge Lindell in training camp.

The problem is that Rheem is going to have to show that he is markedly better than Lindell in preseason and Lindell has a history of kicking well in camp--it's the games where he has been most disappointing. Despite his blown FG against Pittsburgh, Lindell has been quite accurate from inside the 40--which is something that teams generally place the most emphasis on--even though I think that it is pretty apparent that the coaching staff has no confidence in him being able to make a FG over 40 yards out. Also, while Lindell rarely reaches the end zone with his kickoffs, the Bills led the league in opponents' starting position following KOs last season--a stat that can be credited to the play of the special teams, but that in a coach's eye will also reflect positively on the kicker as well (because he is putting his KOs high enough and in the right places to make the coverage effective, even if the kick is short in distance). Rheem--or any kicker the Bills bring in to challenge Lindell--is going to have to show that he is virtually automatic inside the 40, that he can be just as effective (remember distance isn't the only factor here) as Lindell on his kick offs, be totally unfazed by pressure, and be accurate on at least half of his kicks in the 40-49 yard range in order to have any chance to unseat Lindell at this point. And, that won't be as easy as a lot of fans may think--especially for a rookie. I will admit that I haven't seen enough of Joe Rheem to know whether he has a chance to do it, but I hope he can because IMHO Lindell's inability to hit FGs from over 40 yards out is a major liability for the Bills' offense.

[FreddyvsJason]

Only the bills will end up getting rheemed!

[justasportsfan]

Lifetime, don't take this the wrong way but your posts are too long to read. Reminds me of someone.

[BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan]

I did a google search and found some video highlights of him on his website one of them looks like he's kicking from midfield and he makes it! better than Lindell huh! enjoy http://www.wildcatfootball.net/rheem...php?VID=6Rheem

[ryven]

from those highlights he looks like he has the leg to knock the long ones in.

[Jan Reimers]

If you made a highlight reel of Lindell's best and longest kicks, it would be impressive, too. Let's wait until camp to anoint Rheem as Lindell's successor.

[DaBillzAhDaShiznit]

Yeah, let's see a "biggest choke jobs" clip for both Lindell and Rheem. Highlights for both would look good, I wonder who would look like more of a choke artist.

[Jan Reimers]

Lindell has choked professionally. Rheem is still just an amateur.

[ShadowHawk7]

Lifetime, don't take this the wrong way but your posts are too long to read. Reminds me of someone.

No way dude, that was a sweet post. And he's right too. He outlined everything Rheem will have to do to have a shot at Lindell.

[The_Philster]

Lifetime, don't take this the wrong way but your posts are too long to read. Reminds me of someone.

the content is much better though...and I don't see him posting 3 novel-length posts in a row in the same thread