As Todd Peterson learned, no kicker's job is safe

Sporting News, The, Sept 11, 2000 by Gary Horton

Forget Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Let's play Who Wants to be Mike Holmgren. You're in charge of the Seahawks' roster. All of your decisions are the final answers. Who wood you keep as your kicker: an established veteran who finished third in the league in scoring last season, or an undrafted 23-year-old from the University of Montana? You probably chose the former, right? If so, you disagreed with the man whose role you temporarily assumed.

It's hard to question a guy with a Super Bowl ring, but Holmgren's decision to cut Todd Peterson, the holder of numerous franchise records, in favor of Kris Heppner, the holder of a bachelor's degree, doesn't make much sense from a pure football standpoint. Why then, would he hand the job to a guy he didn't think enough of in April to draft? It's not as if Holmgren woke up on cut-down day and brainstormed ways to make his team worse.

The answer is two-fold. First, the move saved him $300,000 worth of cap room. But more important, the younger player will help limit the opposition's field position. In the preseason, Heppner's kickoffs reached the end zone on 3-of-6 tries; Peterson managed two touchbacks in seven attempts.

While that might not seem like grounds for termination, Holmgren isn't the only coach promoting a youth movement at the position. Especially when the veteran kickers aren't getting the job done on kickoffs.

Since the league pushed back kickoffs to the 30-yard line in 1994, coaches have been faced with an unexpected roster management issue. Historically, teams were willing to carry accurate kickers with weaker legs because their deficiencies weren't as glaring. Besides, the alternative--carrying a kickoff specialist--was anathema to football men who already considered kickers a necessary evil. The thought of wasting a valuable roster spot--one that could be used on a sixth wide receiver or ninth defensive back--on another 160-pounder was out of the question. The 5-yard difference, however, has forced some teams to reconsider. The Colts, for instance, kept Danny Kight, who had showcased his leg strength in NFL Europe, in addition to Mike Vanderjagt, the league scoring leader last season. Colts coach Jim Mora faced a quandary similar to Holmgren's, but he opted for the kicking duo rather than keeping a developmental position player. Last season, Mora saw the problems Kansas City faced when Pete Stoyanovich's kickoffs rarely reached the 10-yard line. Let's just say that routinely auditioning kickoff specialists on Tuesday mornings was not Mora's idea of an enjoyable fall.

While it's far too early to determine whether Mora wasted a roster spot in retaining an unproven kickoff specialist or whether Holmgren will regret releasing a proven field-goal man, it's safe to say that young kickers are getting many more opportunities to stick on clubs than their uni-barred and barefoot predecessors once did. The success of such young players as Tampa Bay's Martin Gramatica and Pittsburgh's Kris Brown, who excelled as rookies a year ago, will only reinforce the recent acceptance of unproven legs.

The NFL used to take the environmental approach to kickers--it recycled them. Even last year, the league was littered with such graybeards as Eddie Murray and Norm Johnson. Look for the late-career tours of duty to dwindle. The days of the nomadic kicker are coming to an end. The economics of the game are starting to squeeze the league's middle-class veterans, including kickers. It's not enough just to be good anymore. The only kickers who stick around are the great ones. Unless a guy's last name is Anderson (or Andersen) and he plays in a dome, he isn't likely to enjoy a 19-year career.

If scoring 134 points in one season, which Peterson did in 1999, doesn't ensure job security, what does? Which also begs the question, how important is the kicker position? Consider this paradox when pondering that question: Holmgren was willing to part ways with one of the best in the business, while his pupil, Oakland's Jon Gruden, considered it necessary to spend his first-round pick on Sebastian Janikowski. Unlike his former understudy, Holmgren has yet to endure a season in which the kicking game costs him a playoff berth. It might not be until then that Peterson gets his redemption.

WEEK 2 MATCHUP

Jon Jansen vs. Robert Porcher

One plays like a tornado, hands and feet in constant motion. His opponent is the football equivalent of a brick house, immovable with a strong base. On Sunday, Lions LDE Robert Porcher will do everything in his power to make Redskins RT Jon Jansen crumble. They met twice last season and Porcher, who registered one sack in each game, was the narrow victor in both meetings.

In order to avenge his rookie defeats, the first thing Jansen must do is stay focused on every snap. Porcher, whose consistency is reflected in the fact that he recorded a sack in 11 different games in '99, is difficult to handle because he never quits on a play.

Athletically, Jansen doesn't quite measure up to Porcher, so look for Porcher to line up wide in order to make Jansen move his feet in pass protection. Jansen's greatest strength is his short-set, pass-protection ability, so the more Porcher can force him to slide, the easier it will be to reach the quarterback. Another factor that works in Porcher's favor is the Silverdome's quick playing surface. Nine of his career-high 15 sacks were notched on artificial turf last season.