Is the punting job Legghio's to lose?

[Blue In BC]

I agree. Based on the practices I've been at, Sheahan is now being seen solely as a punter by the coaches. The only guys who have been kicking FG's at practice since what's-his-name was cut are Liegghio, Castillo, and Staton.

Well there are a lot of possible combinations. It's difficult not having some of the conditions needed to fully assess players in those roles. Wind, wet and cold have big impacts on the possible results  for those players. Highlight reel / knowledge may be available to the coaches.

I still think the decisions are already made. How many FG's or punts are we going to see tonight by each player? There have probably been 100+ attempts by each during TC to assess.

Whatever it's worth, Sheahan was drafted higher in the global draft.

[theaardvark]

I'm not sure that Castillo has the PK job locked up 100%. O'Shea has said some very positive things about Staton, brought him on the road trip, and still has him in camp. I agree that it's Castillo's job to lose. But if Staton ever had a night with a 55-yarder or something like that, could things get interesting? They already cut one PK, so wouldn't they have cut both if the job was 100% sewn up?

I hope that the game tonight gives Staton and the rookie punters some opportunities to either cut themselves or steal a job.

By PK, I'm guessing you mean Place Kicker.  I'm more used to the term K for FG kickers, and P for Punter and PK or P/K for "Punter Kicker" meaning both jobs...

I'm more than happy having a Nat P that can backup at K on the roster.  Leggs would really need to poop the bed and the other P would need to be lights out to displace him in that role.  If Castillo gets outkicked markedly, or has an accident in bed, then there is an option to go youner/cheaper.

I see it being Castillo/Leggs on the AR and one guy on the IR and one on the PR...

[Blue In BC]

By PK, I'm guessing you mean Place Kicker.  I'm more used to the term K for FG kickers, and P for Punter and PK or P/K for "Punter Kicker" meaning both jobs...

I'm more than happy having a Nat P that can backup at K on the roster.  Leggs would really need to poop the bed and the other P would need to be lights out to displace him in that role.  If Castillo gets outkicked markedly, or has an accident in bed, then there is an option to go youner/cheaper.

I see it being Castillo/Leggs on the AR and one guy on the IR and one on the PR...

Why would we put one on the IR?

[pdirks67]

Well there are a lot of possible combinations. It's difficult not having some of the conditions needed to fully assess players in those roles. Wind, wet and cold have big impacts on the possible results  for those players. Highlight reel / knowledge may be available to the coaches.

I still think the decisions are already made. How many FG's or punts are we going to see tonight by each player? There have probably been 100+ attempts by each during TC to assess.

Here's my total guesswork probabilities.

Placekicker
- Castillo: 80%. Unless Staton has a career game tonight or there is a big issue with the ratio, it's his job to lose.
- Staton: 15%. He needs a career game tonight. Something like 3/3 with a 57 yarder.
- Liegghio: 5%. Unless there's a ratio issue, he's not our PK to start the season.

Punter
- Liegghio: 40%. He's the devil we know, and he's Canadian.
- Sheahan: 35%. In a battle with Schmitz, the other global punter. One shank and he cuts himself, but he's younger than Schmitz, which should count for something. Might have some Aussie-rules-type-punts in his toolbox that might come in handy.
- Schmitz: 25%. He's in a battle with Sheahan, and can't afford a mediocre kick because he's the older guy and (I think?) he loses out in draw with the younger guy. He has the best story of the bunch, so there's that.

Anyone else care to go out on a limb and handicap these two battles?

[pdirks67]

By PK, I'm guessing you mean Place Kicker.

Correct. Sorry, I've always used PK to mean placekicker to avoid confusion with just using the generic term "kicker". Which seems to have backfired - typical for me.

[theaardvark]

Why would we put one on the IR?

To protect them, especially if they are on an ELC.  Cheap way to keep them around, TC is just so short now, getting a couple extra weeks out of working with them can be an advantage, even if it is just to know who to put on speed-dial.  Especially if they won't accept a PR spot, but we want a little longer look. 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

By PK, I'm guessing you mean Place Kicker.  I'm more used to the term K for FG kickers, and P for Punter and PK or P/K for "Punter Kicker" meaning both jobs...

I'm more than happy having a Nat P that can backup at K on the roster.  Leggs would really need to poop the bed and the other P would need to be lights out to displace him in that role.  If Castillo gets outkicked markedly, or has an accident in bed, then there is an option to go youner/cheaper.

I see it being Castillo/Leggs on the AR and one guy on the IR and one on the PR...

As a certified short person I hate to say it but Leggs just doesn't have the right body type to ever become a smooth kicking machine.  I relate kickers to golfers in athletic ability, the ideal pro-golfer shape is long and lean to best deliver a fluid stroke, like Medlock.  A muscled up Liegghio just doesn't cut it.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

To protect them, especially if they are on an ELC.  Cheap way to keep them around, TC is just so short now, getting a couple extra weeks out of working with them can be an advantage, even if it is just to know who to put on speed-dial.  Especially if they won't accept a PR spot, but we want a little longer look. 

One spare on the PR is enough, no reason to be indecisive and dick around 2 peoples lives.

[Blue In BC]

Tin Hat Theory.  Every team will release about 45 players and then add 12 back to their PR. 7 kickers were drafted in the global draft including 5 earlier than Schmitz. It's very seldom TC cuts are quickly scooped up by other teams dealing with their own choices.

A team may choose to protect a Canadian here or there on the IR but even that is unusual to include a rookie. I seriously doubt we need to " protect" an import kicker on the IR instead of the PR.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I think "his to lose" implies he just has to be decent to win the spot. I don't think that's true. He needs to be better than he was last year and frankly, I think it's a dead heat right now amongst Castillo, Stanton, Sheahan and Liegghio for their respective jobs.

[Blue In BC]

I think "his to lose" implies he just has to be decent to win the spot. I don't think that's true. He needs to be better than he was last year and frankly, I think it's a dead heat right now amongst Castillo, Stanton, Sheahan and Liegghio for their respective jobs.

He punted for a 46.9 yard average in 2022.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

He punted for a 46.9 yard average in 2022.

The problem with that stat is it doesn't account for hang time, return yards, accuracy. The guy isn't a bad punter. He's not a bad place kicker either. Doesn't mean I don't think he's in a dead heat.

[pdirks67]

He punted for a 46.9 yard average in 2022.

That sort of puts him in the second tier of CFL punters, from what I can see. I filtered the punting stats to punters with >20 punts last year and sorted the stats by punting average (which, I grant, isn't the whole story).
- Top Tier = Haggerty (Tor) and Grace (Cal)
- Second Tier = Flintoft (BC), Zema (Mtl), Mengel (Edm), Liegghil (Wpg), Leone (Ott)
- Third Tier = Domagala (Ham), Vedvik (Sk)

Not great, but not terrible.

[Pigskin]

I think the PK is down to Staton and Castillo, and it's very close. Both have been outstanding in TC. I think Leggs wins the punting job, because he can also PK.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

He's also a pretty ugly punter which some people are going to be super upset that I mentioned. He doesn't have the hang time so he relies on being exceptionally accurate which makes the margin for error smaller. He struggles when teams employ a double returner look because it nullifies the field side kick into the wind, which is really his best option because again, he doesn't have the power. He would not be able to punt in the NCAA, would get laughed out of a NFL workout but it works "okay" in the CFL. Okay is okay. If he wasn't a national he wouldn't be anywhere near a CFL facility.