No… No, I wasn’t.

KcMizzou says: Good news! Medlock was cut by the Rams today! We can maybe pick him up!

I don’t doubt Dustin (say that 10 times fast) has the leg strength to make the kicks, but why risk him doing that when Barth is kicking to the endzone already? It’ll just be more wear-n-tear on Dustin’s leg, which we need to win key field-position battles, and help our D out. Not to mention the mechanics of punting and kicking are slightly different. He’s been working out to specifically punt the ball, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with him kicking off, as he could tweak something or pull a muscle that isn’t as finely honed as the ones he uses on a daily basis now. If we’re in a rebuilding mode, we should rebuild everything that needs to have work done upon it. Kicker is no exception, as we blew last year.

This is also basically the same debate as the Aaron Rodgers versus Brett Favre contreversy.. Favre for sure gave the Packers a better chance to win NOW. Aaron Rodgers is also the better bet for longevity, and thus, gives the Packers a better chance of winning in the long run. Feely perhaps gives us a better chance to win this year, and maybe 4-5 years after that. If Barth pans out, we could have a kicker for 15 years. Pick your poison. I’m going with the rebuilding flow now, and saying Barth was, and is, the way to go.

This is more about my disgust with Mike Priefer than about Feely.

And I think we should have cut Novak, not Barth or Feely.

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2008/4/29/469973/undrafted-free-agent-signi

Another point is Feely’s declining ability for long kickoffs. His leg is just not as strong as it used to be. Barth is the only one to kickoff INTO the endzone, not to the 5, 10, or 15 yard line. I’m all for veteran kickers, I wanted Olindo Mare on our team, but I’m actually kind of excited for Barth, and the potential of a younger guy, now. I still think we should have kept Feely for competition for Barth’s ‘cerebral’ aspect of kicking, but he threw the dice and hit snake-eyes. It happens.