I was shocked at first to see them invest such a high draft pick on him. I then read a little more and was pleased at the gamble. Things are looking even better now.
Kickers are kickers, but theres plenty more upside with kickers that are on teams that can actually get into field goal range.
NOTHING this preseason suggests the Rams will be able to do that consistantly. Id rather roll the dice on someone else personally
I don't agree. The first team O looked ordinary in the first game, but Bradford was 7 of 9. The second week Bradford looked very good against KC with 2 TDs and 100+ yards in one quarter, and Steven Jackson looked beastly with 7-49. Zuerlein had a 52 yard FG in the 2nd quarter. Last week they looked sucky without Jackson against a good D... and Zuerlein had TWO 50+ yard FGs. also accuracy is important which he has because some leagues subtract points for missed fgs which can make you lose pretty fast if you have Josh Brown on a bad day you might even get negative kicker points...People look at last year's stats too much when evaluating this year's production. As I said earlier, the Rams had a historically high number of players injured; not just for a game or two, but put on IR. Literally half of the players they had to start out of necessity are with not on the roster or are relegated to special teams. Then they acquired Cortland Finnegan, Kendall Langford, Steve Smith, and C Scott Wells in free agency. And they get back Rodger Saffold at T and Amendola at WR (not flashy, but he doesn't drop passes, a MAJOR problem last year). Added Brockers at DT and Jenkins at CB, both have looked good. Robert Quinn has been terrorizing QBs this preseason.
The #1 problem with the Rams last year was injuries. The #2 problem, lack of depth, was only a big problem because of #1. I think they still need more depth, but injuries cannot be predicted. ANY team with as many injuries as the Rams last year will be worse, and usually significantly worse.
The bottom line is that last year was a lost year for the Rams and really has very little bearing when projecting this year's Rams. Use the 2010 Rams as a loose baseline and adjust from there.
I'm not saying the Rams are going to be awesome, but kicker is a funny position to fill for fantasy. Last year David Akers was by far the #1 fantasy kicker. Was San Fran a top 5 offense? Top 10? No, San Fran was the #26 offense. Janikowski was #2 on the #9 offense (#9 is middlish of the pack, almost the same as #13 - about 2% better). #5 kicker came from the #11 O, #7 K came from the #22 O... kicker trends are goofy. The Giants had the #8 offense, but the #30 kicker. Pittsburg had the #12 O and the #24 K. Philly had the #4 offense but only the #19 kicker.
The Rams are not going to score a ton of TDs... and that is very good for the kicker. The Rams D is not going to be elite, but they will be improved... keeping them in the game longer... making it so that FGs are relevant longer... and they have a kicker that can kick from outside of 50 yards accurately and with ease.
And this now marks the most I have ever written about kickers, probably in the last 10 years combined. And I am sure it is the most I will ever write again, probably in the next 10 years combined.
