I am usually a super positive guy and don't whine about things Hokie related. I think Blackburn Bradburn is a GREAT punter and am looking forward to many years of him booming punts. However we need to get a reliable holder. Joey Slye has never had a year like this. The kick Saturday did not lose us the game but it clearly took some momentum away which compounded as other turnovers happened. I really hope that Click can start holding instead of Blackburn because Slye really needs someone better back there.
Edit: Bradburn sorry autocorrect
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Bradburn did look like the struggled with the snap on the missed kick, but in the replay you could see he got the ball down and the laces out. In Joey's defense it does look like the holds have not been great this year, but he has good to start hitting it straight.
I was on VT sideline about a quarter way up on the 5 yardline looking directly at the ball, the hold's angle looked like a backslash \
From the east stands (Section 15 Row ZZ ~ 20yd line) you could see that Bradburn definitely struggled with the snap. Don't know if that was on the long snapper or on Bradburn. Yes, he got the ball down but it wasn't a smooth or clean movement and I don't know enough about kicking to know if it threw off Joey's timing or rhythm. It's up to Shibest to uphold our Beamer Ball traditions and figure this out.
I was all the way over in section 9, about the opposite 40, and could tell that the hold wasn't ideal... almost looked like he was still trying to spin it into place all the way up until the kick
From North End Zone section G, we all looked at each other and said it was on the hold. Timing was all jacked up.
Does anyone have any good video of his holds? I'm not asking because I think you're wrong, I actually think you're right. I just want to see how it actually is. I know there was a picture from the ODU game (I think) that showed a bad hold.
I just feel that Slye isn't confident. Those holds land in the right spot right before contact but he probably sees it still moving and may throw him off. I don't know...not a kicker so I don't understand mechanics but I know i would be nervous.
Paging Kick17...
but, in my opinion, the kick has to start at the snap. Bradburn had to field a less than good snap and even though I think he got it in position in time, Joey probably subtly altered his kick because of it. Football may be a game of inches, but place kicking is a game of millimeters and we have got to get this sucker dialed in.
Yeah, but confidence comes with success, and if there is a problem with the holder-kicker relationship, the kicks are going to suffer. This is the first year in a while that I recall another starter (Blackburn) holding for our kicker. I think they'd be better off like in years past finding a dedicated holder (someone like Click) who can work one-on-one with Slye to work this out. Blackburn has his own issues as starting punter and transitioning to this new game; he doesn't need the added stress of holding, unless he is truly a gifted holder, which I don't think is the case. Might be a little too late to try and solve this problem now, unless we have a gifted backup holder waiting in the wings. Maybe having Blackburn as the holder is Fuente's way of making sure he has a competent holder for the next four years, but I am not sure I would agree with that thinking if we have an experienced holder on the team who is not starting. Just my take on this, as a former holder back in the day.
Bradburn is probably the guy on the team that can spend the most time with Joey. Click, and others are still working with the scout team during practice.
On TV replay of the missed FG, it looked like Bradburn did bobble it, but he had it down and spun in time. Seeing a bobble from the holder from the kicker's POV has to play into the kick, but he has to be firm in his routine and do his half of the job and trust that Bradburn will get it down in time for him regardless of what happens before the leg swing. Can't speak entirely without full replay of all of his misses so far, but it appears that most of the holds/snaps have been solid, he's just pushing it. Hope he gets it figured out. This is becoming a major concern for some big upcoming games...
All of his misses seem to have great contact, trajectory, and rotation. And most of them haven't missed by much. I think it's just mental as he's basically missing his aiming point.
I think if the holds were the problem, the kicks would be a lot uglier with side-to-side movement or the rotation would be off.
a ball slightly closer to his ankle or slightly closer to his toe is going to launch at a different angle and spin differently. a quarter inch either way is a big deal on a long kick
my guess is the issues have been a combo of slight inconsistencies in both the stroke and the hold
phrasing, always the phrasing
This seems more about Slye's mentality than about Bradburn's holding technique. It's the angle of the kick, not the distance.
I disagree. Slye's mentality was fine for his first three years and all of a sudden, he's got issues? He should be having his career (i.e., senior) year, barring any injuries. His leg looks strong, but he's slightly off on his accuracy. It's got to be the kicker-holder relationship. I hope they can work something out, or maybe just get better with more experience working together, cause I believe this could be a critical issue in some of our upcoming games.
This isn't like the situation a few years ago where Scott Demler was struggling on punts but he was the best punter on the roster so we were stuck. In this case, we know Joey has the skills to be reliable from inside 50, so obviously something has changed.
At the end of the day, we're paying James Shibest a lot of money to carry on the great special teams tradition that Frank started here. It isn't too much to expect a well paid special teams coordinator to diagnose and address the issue.
I don't want to be a nerd about it but in my field the simplest question we ask is what changed? We can assume Slye changed but we also know the holder changed. That kicker/holder relationship is critical.
Don't forget the long snapper. Long snapper has to get the ball to the holder consistently with the laces in the right direction. Holder has to set his distance correctly, so that the laces are where they need to be when he catches, and then has to put it down. It is a critical relationship between all three. They have to be in sync, and replacing a holder or snapper could make the issues worse since they have been practicing together since summer.
Fuente was just asked in his presser about the kicking of Joey Slye, and if he had concerns. His only resonse:
"Sure! Absolutely concerned about it."
Lol yea when they asked he responded with sure (in an "obviously" sort of tone) and then just paused for a few seconds. When he realized they were waiting for him to say more he added the "absolutely concerned about it." It was a little awkward. All together CJF was civil and answered questions but it seemed like he really really didn't feel like talking to the media at the time.
I picked up on that too. I hope they're focusing on the task at hand rather than hindsight.
If he has some coaching he wants to do on that end, he probably wants to keep it out of the public eye. It's possible that moment of hesitation was him having something he wanted to say, but decided against it.
Who is the heir apparent for next year kicking?
My money's on Brian Johnson, but I wouldn't rule out Jordan Stout
Joey may be pretty Slye, but I heard Jordan has a real Stout leg...
Whichever one wraps up when they tackle.
Multiple fans this weekend told me that Joey has always struggled kicking from the left hash mark. Not sure if there's any truth to this though.
He's right you know
If you look back at the past few years, Slye has struggled on pressure kicks - kicks that were meaningful, when the game was still in question or the kick was from distance. Example is that he clearly has the leg strength but could never connect beyond 45 yards for a long time.
I think he my over think things and it becomes mental. Last year he made a lot of great kicks but in retrospect, they were usually in the 1Q or when the game was put away. In last year's 3 regular season losses, Slye was 1/2 against Tenn, 1/2 against SU plus missed XP, and 0/1 against GT.
I think this is all mental (not the holder's fault) and now he's pressing. Hopefully a dominant game in Boston and bye week will allow him to reset.
Just as a counterpoint, he had a great performance against Pitt last year which really helped me put faith in him. But then as you mentioned, his troubles in the latter part of the season continuing over.
The real issue is the Coriolis Effect and the direction he is spinning the laces out.
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