By Rich Tandler
Around the time of the Dallas game, there were many who wanted to see the Redskins cut kicker Graham Gano. I’m sure that there would have been no shortage of volunteers to drive him to the airport after he missed two field goals. One may have given the Redskins a win in regulation, the other would have won the game in overtime.
The next week, Gano missed a field goal and an extra point and even though both were blocked due to massive breakdowns in the middle of the protection, the calls for a new kicker barely diminished.
Since then, however, Gano has been money. He has made 13 in a row including going four of four twice, against the Jets and Vikings.
If you take out blocked field goals, he is 30 of 35 on the season. That’s 86 percent, tied for 14th in the NFL. That’s not great but it has him tied with David Akers of the 49ers and just ahead of the likes of Jason Hanson of the Lions and Adam Vinatieri of the Colts.
Given that, what should the Redskins do with Gano this coming season?
I honestly think Mike Shanny and Danny Smith have got this one right, and as anyone who reads what I write about the Shannys knows this is a very very rare statement from me. I think he is better than last year and I think he will continue to improve his accuracy. Yeah the blocks and the misses suck but there are very few Mark Mosely type of kickers out there (kickers who only miss very very rarely). As you pointed out he is an average to slightly above average kicker right now. What you did not mention is his percentage of kickoffs which have been touch backs. I believe he is in the upper third of the league in that category. He is a very serviceable kicker.
I am sure next year he will have competition in camp but I find it extremely unlikely that Gano will loose that battle even if his accuracy does not improve. The only way I see him loosing his spot is if he gets worse in the off season which is pretty unlikely.
Posted by: GaryE20904 | Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 01:37 PM