Kicker/Punter

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mkAz

mkAz

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Ok, so supposedly Grant Ryserse, Michael Lantz & Mark Crawford all have/had COVID (why won't they just come out and say that?). That left them with Brock Walker handling the kicking duties and Matt Stephenson handling the punting duties.

My questions:

Why were Dragan Kesich or Anders Gelecinskyj not considered for punting or kick off duties? Kesich punted in high school, he couldn't have done worse than Stephenson. Walker apparently has some sort of leg issue that hampered him on kickoffs, couldn't either of these 2 done better?

Are Rysere, Lantz and Crawford now out 2 more weeks? Or did their clock start ticking earlier?
 

In game thread last night, it was mentioned that the punter and kicker were on the sidelines and were in uniform, so they couldn't have had COVID, as they wouldn't be allowed on the field. So their absence might have been for disciplinary reasons......I'm CONFUSED
 

Burnsy just gave a covid reason for this with JG...if true, all this depends on the 21-day post-covid clock and when it started ticking. Obviously coaches a.k.a. Saban are under different rules than the players.
 

mkAz said:
Ok, so supposedly Grant Ryserse, Michael Lantz & Mark Crawford all have/had COVID (why won't they just come out and say that?). That left them with Brock Walker handling the kicking duties and Matt Stephenson handling the punting duties.

My questions:

Why were Dragan Kesich or Anders Gelecinskyj not considered for punting or kick off duties? Kesich punted in high school, he couldn't have done worse than Stephenson. Walker apparently has some sort of leg issue that hampered him on kickoffs, couldn't either of these 2 done better?

Are Rysere, Lantz and Crawford now out 2 more weeks? Or did their clock start ticking earlier?
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I’m assuming the coaches put in the best options they had, I mean they see them practice.
 

mkAz said:
Ok, so supposedly Grant Ryserse, Michael Lantz & Mark Crawford all have/had COVID (why won't they just come out and say that?). That left them with Brock Walker handling the kicking duties and Matt Stephenson handling the punting duties.

My questions:

Why were Dragan Kesich or Anders Gelecinskyj not considered for punting or kick off duties? Kesich punted in high school, he couldn't have done worse than Stephenson. Walker apparently has some sort of leg issue that hampered him on kickoffs, couldn't either of these 2 done better?

Are Rysere, Lantz and Crawford now out 2 more weeks? Or did their clock start ticking earlier?
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Kesich was also a Covid scratch
 



GopherJack said:
So the punters and kickers that people said they saw in uniform on the sidelines, were in fact not there?
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They were there and safe to be there, but because the Big Ten has a 21 day rule of not being able to play after a positive test, they couldn't play. At least that's what I'm assuming is going on.
 


Here's the kicker (pun intended). Ryerse kicked off against Auburn for the first kick. Auburn ran that one back. The next 5 kickoffs were all handled by Walker. And every single one of them was that sqiub style. If he has a leg issue, it must be permanent.
 



GopherJack said:
So the punters and kickers that people said they saw in uniform on the sidelines, were in fact not there?
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They are coming to the end of the 21 day period, they've both tested negative multiple times but since the big ten has a 21 day rule they have to wait. Lantz and Crawford could be back next week. Dragan is also out for covid.....
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Here's the kicker (pun intended). Ryerse kicked off against Auburn for the first kick. Auburn ran that one back. The next 5 kickoffs were all handled by Walker. And every single one of them was that sqiub style. If he has a leg issue, it must be permanent.
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Walker just had hernia surgery, hes not fully healthy. They squib quicked against Auburn because they had a great returner.
 

whalenfan said:
They are coming to the end of the 21 day period, they've both tested negative multiple times but since the big ten has a 21 day rule they have to wait. Lantz and Crawford could be back next week. Dragan is also out for covid.....
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Thanks for the explanation. So testing negative multiple times is what allowed them to be on the sidelines.
 




People have already hit on this but Kesich, Ryerse, Lantz and Crawford were all out and Walker had a hernia so wasn’t 100%.

most of them were on the sideline meaning they are past the 14 day quarantine which means they should hopefully be back next week.
 

Fleck made it sound like they are all on different timelines.
 

die hard gopher said:
People have already hit on this but Kesich, Ryerse, Lantz and Crawford were all out and Walker had a hernia so wasn’t 100%.

most of them were on the sideline meaning they are past the 14 day quarantine which means they should hopefully be back next week.
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Hope so.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Fleck made it sound like they are all on different timelines.
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That would not be surprising but if they were able to be on the sideline last night then they are past the quarantine portion so should be very close to being able to return. Hopefully we get them back for Friday.

I wonder if Stephenson just had a really bad day. I have to believe he kicked better than that in practice but could be the situation got to him and he choked leading to some shanks.
 

whalenfan said:
They are coming to the end of the 21 day period, they've both tested negative multiple times but since the big ten has a 21 day rule they have to wait. Lantz and Crawford could be back next week. Dragan is also out for covid.....
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The 21 day rule is really dumb. If they test negative multiple times, and are allowed on the sideline, then why aren't they allowed to play? It doesn't make sense.
 


MNVCGUY said:
That would not be surprising but if they were able to be on the sideline last night then they are past the quarantine portion so should be very close to being able to return. Hopefully we get them back for Friday.

I wonder if Stephenson just had a really bad day. I have to believe he kicked better than that in practice but could be the situation got to him and he choked leading to some shanks.
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And a fake punt attempt.
 

GopherJack said:
So the punters and kickers that people said they saw in uniform on the sidelines, were in fact not there?
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I don't know, but man it wouldn't be the first not true thing reported about the sideline even with a full stadium...
 

maybe this is too simplistic:

But the Gophers have 85 scholarship players plus walk-ons. that is close to 100 athletes - all of whom were stars or really good players in HS.

And there isn't 1 guy out of the whole bunch who can kick a bleepin' football off a tee down to the 10 yard line?

there isn't 1 guy out of the whole bunch who was a punter in HS and can punt the ball more than 30 yards in the air?

I watch high school players at small schools do those things all the time. But the Gophers' entire roster has no one capable of doing that?

If I was Fleck, at Monday's practice, every player on the team would take turns trying kick-offs and punting. there has to be one guy who can do better than what we saw Saturday night. that was embarrassing.
 

MNVCGUY said:
That would not be surprising but if they were able to be on the sideline last night then they are past the quarantine portion so should be very close to being able to return. Hopefully we get them back for Friday.

I wonder if Stephenson just had a really bad day. I have to believe he kicked better than that in practice but could be the situation got to him and he choked leading to some shanks.
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Stephenson at MTSU wasn’t known for distance and was more their short yardage punt guy.
 


GopherJack said:
In game thread last night, it was mentioned that the punter and kicker were on the sidelines and were in uniform, so they couldn't have had COVID, as they wouldn't be allowed on the field. So their absence might have been for disciplinary reasons......I'm CONFUSED
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They could have had it, and now test negative, but the Big Ten 21-day sit rule would mean they still need to sit even though they are no longer positive.

Perhaps they ease up on this rule given the Wisconsin QB.
 

As I mentioned elsewhere, someone who was at the game told me that both number one punter and kicker did pre-game warmups. Maybe just to throw off Michigan. Obviously their last three tests had to be all negatives. Agree that the B1G rule is ridiculous.
 


MNVCGUY said:
That would not be surprising but if they were able to be on the sideline last night then they are past the quarantine portion so should be very close to being able to return. Hopefully we get them back for Friday.

I wonder if Stephenson just had a really bad day. I have to believe he kicked better than that in practice but could be the situation got to him and he choked leading to some shanks.
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I also believe he looked a lot better in practice but it's different in a real game. You're catching it; they're coming at you; rush it a bit or take your eye off the ball; and your timing is off. Maybe didn't help him when he saw their punter get blocked right away.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
The 21 day rule is really dumb. If they test negative multiple times, and are allowed on the sideline, then why aren't they allowed to play? It doesn't make sense.
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It sounds like the first 10-14 days are to prevent spreading it to others, plus another 7-11 days to make sure there are no heart symptoms that could make playing football dangerous.

Not sure how necessary that is when the NFL allows players to come back in 10 days but it seems like the Big Ten has been far more concerned with heart issues after recovery than the main period of illness so it makes sense.
 

GoGophersUMN said:
It sounds like the first 10-14 days are to prevent spreading it to others, plus another 7-11 days to make sure there are no heart symptoms that could make playing football dangerous.

Not sure how necessary that is when the NFL allows players to come back in 10 days but it seems like the Big Ten has been far more concerned with heart issues after recovery than the main period of illness so it makes sense.
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It's a pain in the ass and inconvenient, but it make sense.

As for the NFL, those guys are also getting paid millions and have access to some of the best health care in the world.
 

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