One aspect of the Eagles’ off-season that has really fallen under the radar has been the kicking situation.
Alex Henery’s shaky performances were a problem last season. His inability to consistently kick the ball out of the endzone cost the Eagles on several occasions, including the team’s playoff loss to the Saints. He also missed some important kicks, field goals well within his range that he should have made. He missed five field goals during the regular season, and one in the post season. He connected on just one attempt longer than 50 yards.
Henery doesn’t inspire any kind of confidence. He can’t be counted on to make field goals beyond 35 yards, he doesn’t have the power to help the team with field position, and he hasn’t shown that he can capably perform in big moments ever since joining the team almost five years ago.
The general consensus was that the this was a position that the Eagles needed an upgrade at this spot, or at the very least they needed to bring in some legitimate competition to challenge Henery for his position.
Free agency and the draft have gone by, and the only move the team has made has been to bring in any kind of competition for Henery was last week when they added undrafted kicker Carey Spear.
With all respect to Spear, he’s not what I would consider legitimate competition for Henery. He’s a camp leg, and an extreme long shot at best. The team is going to go another year with the kicker that they not so long ago invested a fourth round draft pick in before.
The Eagles needed to bring another veteran with significant previous NFL experience in. A guy like Rob Bironas, who is still available, would be ideal competition for Henery at this point. A guy like Bironas is a veteran who has been around for awhile, and while his best days might be behind him, he can still be counted on to come in and make an important kick. If Henery belongs on this team and this league, he should have no problem fending off a veteran competitor. If he folds under the pressure of fighting for his job, then the it would just prove that Eagles couldn’t count on him to begin with.
Instead of providing competition for Henery, the Eagles seem to believe that upgrading their coverage units will be enough to help cover for some of Henery’s issues. They’ve added guys Chris Maragos and Bryan Braman to upgrade over guys like Colt Anderson and Casey Matthews, and while those guys very well may improve the kick and punt coverage on this team, I still think its a mistake for the Eagles to go into Training Camp with the idea that Henery is their guy and that no veteran competition is necessary.
Its very puzzling, because the Eagles saw first hand last season what an elite kicker can do for the impact of their special teams. Punter Donnie Jones was an absolute weapon, capable of pinning opponents deep in their own territory and helping the Eagles gain field position advantages throughout the season. Why wouldn’t they strive to do all they can to make sure their kicker spot could be just as effective?
A kicker strong enough to boot the ball out of the endzone on a regular basis might have helped the Eagles hang on for a win last year against the Saints. Instead, Henery’s weak leg set up Darren Sproles for a big return that put the Saints in position to win the game. A kicker that can be counted on the nail long field goal attempts greater than 50 yards can make a huge difference for a team, but with a guy like Henery, Chip Kelly has to debate about whether or not he wants to roll the dice with his unreliable kicker and risk giving the other team great field position or pass on the opportunity for points and send in his punting unit.
The Eagles have had a very curious off-season, and while the DeSean Jackson situation and failure to spend for a top safety have grabbed the attention of most fans, the problem that is the kicking situation has seemingly been forgotten or ignored, and may not be addressed at all.
Got to think this will be addressed before sept
I don’t understand all this talk about the work they did upgrading special teams and they didn’t take care of the most obvious problem, if this guy ends up on this team I predict two losses at his feet, one because of short kickoffs and one from missed FGs.
This off season was a total success.
The Eagles will now hoist the Lombardi!!!!!!
Richard, chill out dude. All you ever is do is bitch and moan.
Great article Denny. I never feel good about a FG Henery attempts to make and he has a jello leg. That being said, good kickers are extremely hard to come by. I’m sure they would have liked to upgrade the position but when guys like Haushka (sp?) and Gano get resigned, plan B is to upgrade the coverage teams.
George, I tell the truth.
No, you are a lying Troll FraudSongs.
He is right, you bitch and moan like a jilted schoolgirl.
It doesn’t take a brain to be negative about every move and then when something doesn’t work out claim to be a genius. You are a loser looking to get attention, so you troll the GCobb because you get ignored on your Redskin sites. Not hard to understand, you are a loser looking for attention.
Alex Henery should have been released along with Chung on the way back to the locker room after the Saints loss.
yeah – your hypothisis is not supported by the facts (or in this case stats) – where to start – in three seasons henerey has a career FG% 0f 86% David Akers careeer is 80%.. he had more touchbacks last year then the year prior with 41% going for touchbacks – he has made 85% of his kicks between 40-49 and only attempted 5 kicks longer then 50 making 40% – now is that based on field position desires (if he misses they get the ball on the 42 if we punt with NFCs best punter they get ball on 10) he has missed 1XP in three years – as far as touchbacks – Justine tucker is best kicker in NFL – he had 4 more over the season last year 37 went for touchbacks – justine tucjker – best kicker in nfl had 41 tbs Tucker actually haad a decline in number of TBs last year – at 86% Henery is on track to be the most accurate kicker in NFL history (go look at Pro football reference for career FG percentage of kickers ) Henery’s 86% is above some pretty famous kickers –
I would never say no to an upgrade, I would never say no to competition, but Henery is solid – he needs to get better then his last years 82%
any guesses on least accurate kicker last year – Janakowski from Oakland – there is a strong leg!
You can throw up all the stats you want but one made field goal and one touchback would have made a hellava difference. Just one.
yeah – so would one more tackle, one more block, one more less completed pass, one stop on 3rd and short, one more, one more, one more, just one… team game – one less penalty, one less yard gained, one less completion – that;s what;s great about ;throwing up stats’ takes out all the BS and tough guy emotional talk has heneray in three years ever missed a last minute field goal that would have won the game (I don;t know) how many times has the offense given the defense the lead in the last three years and the defense could made ‘just one stop’ – do you know for a fact the coaches told him to kick it for a TB that last kickoff? do you know which direction the wind was blowing? Do you know who got blocked to give Sproles a lane? What do we do about he guy that had the horse collar?
You want to sign someone to fill up a 90 man roster spot to challenge him – go for it – I don;t care if Henery is here or not – but stats don;t lie – and firing a guy because one particular kick was not a touchback is not smart business team is supposed to get more settled in the second season under a new coach, not changing more things – coverage teams need to do better
I know this much he cost the team by missing a field goal he should have made and he cost the team by not kicking off deep that isn’t I’m question and it wasn’t one game that has fans and this writer questioning the kicker.
sorry Hoss but those ‘stats’ I have been throwing around say you are wrong – god made you a rational human being that can think – every field goal ‘can be made’ some are harder then others – just like evry XP ‘can be made’ then again so can every tackle, every block and every catch yet magically in this sport we love, shit happens – did it cost the team that Cooper dropped that crossing route?????????????? Should been 7 – yet he got an extension – again do we fire the horse collar tackle.. had he made the kick then what – simple and feeble minded to blame the loss on the kicker – would have been nice to have sure – and I guess you are not smart enought to understand – NO PROBLEM BRINGING IN COMPETITION – but who… who is out there that has better ‘thrown around’ stats?
Don’t get me wrong the stats when it comes to kickers don’t lie. Sometimes the actual game tells a different story then the stats, and if you watched the games and I know you have you know exactly what I’m talking about.
I heard that Army Ranger Villanueva will compete for Kick-Offs and has a monster leg…
What joke just read something that said Bennie Logan is up to 315lbs wow he needs to be 330+ and Louis nix was on the board and we traded him away.
They did not want Louis Nix…there’s a reason he fell to the 3rd round. Stop with the Louis Nix.
Beau Allen goes about 330lbs and will be more that good enough to rotate in with Logan at NT for Short-Yardage and Red-Zone Defense..
What is it with these guys? This is AR all over again. Henery is a bum. Maybe they’ll deal with it later. He is absolutely not fit to be a professional kicker.
I didn’t want nix either ehl but he is better suited for 3-4 nose tackle than Logan
It really is a bit of a surprise that the Eagles didn’t grab him in the later rounds. He is a true 3 – 4 nose tackle and would have been a welcomed addition. I thought his previous injury checked out ok.
It wasn’t so much the injury dman but a lot of rumors about how much he really wants to play ball, he has Hollywood aspirations and is questioned about how dedicated he is too football, I know his family down here in Jacksonville he’s a good kid with a lot of interests outside of football and that scared a lot of teams off.
NIX is a FAT 330 and has concerns about his work ethic. Beau will be a better player in the NFL over the course of time.
Didn’t the Eagles bring in am Undrafted Kicker
From Vanderbilt to add Competition to Henery?
Denny, Philadelphia Eagles Sign Undrafted Vandy Kicker, ‘Murderleg’ Carey Spear. He will replace Ohhh Henery. Kid is legit, with a much stronger leg than Henery. Do some research bro, before you write a blog. LOL!!!!
BTW, he isn’t just “A camp leg”! Have you ever seen him kick, or play? Apparently not?
38-48 career FG. He’s also an instant touchback, something Henery ISN’T!
I’ve read on him DCar, hopefully he can translate to the Pro’s well
As the Pressure is a little different than College Ball, but no doubt he had a strong leg and possibly can earn Roster Spot for kick-off duties while he hones his FG Skills..
Henry is still young. It’s possible that his leg strength is improved over the winter and work outs. If not maybe Chip just feels he is going to score so many Touch Downs with Nick Foles and company that he doesn’t need a kicker with a strong leg.