Should we recruit PLP as a kicker?
September 27th, 2010 at 11:28 PM ^
I'm all for letting him try to walk-on. RR doesn't recruit many special team players, especially unranked kickers.
September 28th, 2010 at 6:26 AM ^
He is NOT a kicker. He attends the same high school as Danny O'Brien and of course Laval's little brother.
September 28th, 2010 at 7:24 AM ^
I know he's not really a kicker, and that the OP brought this up because of LLP. However, the Scout link has him listed as a kicker. Hence the comment.
September 28th, 2010 at 12:08 AM ^
I mean kicker is like the point guard of the football team right?
September 28th, 2010 at 12:07 AM ^
I really don't understand how we can't find some Rugby player. I've seen a couple of semi professional rugby games in France and England and the level of kicking (place kicks, drop kicks and punts) blows away anything I'd seen previously.
Seems like there is a rather large untapped talent pool between the major rugby nations waiting to be exploited.
September 28th, 2010 at 12:21 AM ^
There are quite a few Australian punters, such as Sav Rocca of the Philadelphia Eagles and Eastern Mich's Jay Karutz. But I don't know of any European kickers. I actually think Will Hagerup played rugby in high school though.
September 28th, 2010 at 1:08 AM ^
a kicker who's the son of an ex MLS player then why don't we do the same? Rich might want to check out some of Michigan's kickers on the soccer team. Worth a shot at this point!
September 28th, 2010 at 1:12 AM ^
His name is Justin Meram. The problem is soccer commitment is in the way of football commitment. Once his soccer eligiblity runs out, he'll be on the team next year.
September 28th, 2010 at 1:15 AM ^
Has he decided to play for the football team for 2011?
September 28th, 2010 at 1:22 AM ^
I have been tossing the idea (apologies if this was suggested, joked about, etc.) of Kevin Sousa (2011 QB commit from Florida) kicking for us around in my head. He was a soccer player for many years from what I remember of the story detailing his recent switch to football. I would think he has a good leg. What are the chances that the staff will try him out in this capacity?
I understand we finally have QB depth, so redshirting Sousa, I assume, would be a priority.
The idea really stood out to me in light of George Blanda's passing. For those who do not know, he was an NFL great who played QB and also kicked.
September 28th, 2010 at 6:46 AM ^
...was a top rated kicker out of HS. To expect a nobody soccer player to outperform him would be naïve at best.
I am a European soccer player who played football both in a small HS in the US and in Europe. When I tried out for the football team as an exchange student I was immediately handed kicking duties, where I failed miserably. I started on both offense and defense by the end of the season, but kicking duties were handed back to a non-soccer player.
Almost all football players in Europe have played soccer before at some level. Our kickers when I played were still horrible (apart from kickoffs). Having played soccer helps in kicking, but you need a very strong leg and a ton of practice to outperform someone who has kicked in HS for years. Even then the biggest challenge for a kicker is mental rather than mechanics during pressure situations.
September 28th, 2010 at 10:40 AM ^
Can we find Garrett Rivas' little brother? How do you think Rivas would do under the Barwis strength and conditioning regimen?
September 28th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^
Funny, the picture on the Scout.com link posted is definitely LLP not PLP.
September 28th, 2010 at 10:32 PM ^
After watching PLP tear up Grand Blanc all I know is PLP > LLP