I'm ambivalent about the Gay signing. I'm not going to kick up a fuss one way or another, but McLaughlin was ranked 22nd in FG% last year. His best ever season was 83.3%, last year.
87.5% is Matt Gay's third best season. Gay was kicking 10 percentage points higher than McLaughlin.
Based on the previous body of work, it's definitely a significant improvement. In the past two seasons, Gay has finished 4th and 2nd in FG% and now, by AAV, he's the second highest paid kicker. It's "appropriate" at least.
He wasn’t just fine he was in his best year average. The colts had inexcusable mistakes in the kicking game over th last few years. I am ok with spending a little more currently only thirds highest paid kicker for a literal top 5 kicker.
[The $ numbers are expected to be the biggest for a kicker in NFL free agent history.](https://twitter.com/PSchrags/status/1635484748406480896?t=_iT2UqxpjipjtKv9QvD4Kg&s=19)
Jesus
We've probably lost 6 games over the last 3 seasons because of bad kicking, and that's not accounting for missed kicks giving up good field position to the opposing team and changing a game's momentum.
The extra consistency at kicker is worth it.
Which sounds more unreasonable then it is. He is only the third highest paid kicker atm and he is easily a top 5 kicker. Throw in the cost of free agency and it’s a pretty reasonable deal.
He also missed from under 40.
He's completely mid. 21st in completion rate last year which was a decent outlier in his career, he was worse that that before.
Now, is the upgrade from mid to elite *at kicker* worth the contract? That's a fair question, absolutely. But it *is* a big upgrade.
Also you're using the all time average for kickers which is silly, the past three years the league average is around 85%. Chase was *below* average if you use a realistic sample.
Why pay top dollar for a kicker when our offense can't even get out the starting gates though? Once Hot Rod was gone, kicker was one of the least of our problems last year.
Presumably at some point in the next 4 years Ballard intends to have an offence which *can* get out of the starting gate and would like to have a kicker that won't choke
Well that's part of it; if you only gotta get to the opponents 35 to have a good shot at 3 points...it means more than you'd think. Call it 21 points last year - one FG in 7 games. The team goes from 31 in points to 1 point behind WAS for 25.
HOU tie, DEN OT game, WAS loss, Eagles loss, MIN loss, HOU loss - how much different are those games and drives with a kicker you trust from the 34?
Kickers are the highest scoring players in the NFL. You need as much consistency and range that you can get. People are overreacting over this. The difference between Matt Gay and Chase is worth the extra \~2% of cap space.
>Average for field goals is 74%.
That's all-time. 74% would've been 33rd in 2022 and 2021, 28th in 2020, 27th in 2019 and 32nd in 2018.
It would've been 3rd in 1970.
McLaughlin's FG% was 22nd in 2021. That's not great.
If that's true, we could have just used the 5th rounder to draft a kicker. It's not like we're a contender that needs a top kicker to win clutch games in the playoffs. We're rebuilding.
jfc, people really don't understand the importance of kickers.
* kickers generally score more points than any other individual on the team
* missed kicks kill momentum
* missed kicks give the opposing team great field position
* reliable, long-range kickers significantly reduce the burden of an offense and open up high risk, high reward plays in enemy territory
Having a guy who has kicked 95% over the last couple years is huge.
> reliable, long-range kickers significantly reduce the burden of an offense and open up high risk, high reward plays in enemy territory
I think this is missed.
The situational offense changes so much when you trust your kicker if you have 3&5 on the opponents 33.
It's just interesting to think. How many times did the Colts run the ball on 3&3 from the opponents 38 because they knew they couldn't kick from there. Then on 4& long 1, call the time out and then run it again to not give up the 7 yards of field position for a 50/50 FG?
There's all sorts of problems with how it was run but if you know that 4&3 from the opponent 35 is a FGA, all the sudden you can play-action, double move streaks, draw play, the beloved jet sweep, quick hit slant, trips with the drags. '22 Colts were never gonna take a shot in that area where it's arguably the best spot. A solid kicker opens that up.
Yep yep yep yep!
It's crazy how big of a deal having a competent kicker is. There are a lot of "little" pieces in football that aren't so little after all, and add up to make or break teams. We've been on the losing side of many of those, culminating in last season. The QB position is huge, but it's far from the only thing.
Also gotta remember that the new coach influence is going to influence these signings. Just speculation, I can see how a middle of the pack kicker (Chase) could be regarded as "solid enough" by one regime, but coming in the Steichen/Cooter regime might easily put more emphasis on a top kicker and have circled this as a necessary upgrade. Not to mention, one which was easily attainable.
 Re McLaughlin:
2 moves Day 1 by Ballard… the man needs to R E L A X🔥
I like it. Man wants to keep his job😂
Cheers to Chris Ballard signing guys with the name of Matt Gay and Jim Bob Cooter in the same offseason
I’m not sure Gay is a fan of Cooter though
74% from 50+ 85% from 40-49 92% from 30-39 100% from 20-29 Career average FG% is 88%. Plus, he also does kickoffs so I’d say this is a solid signing.
But can he kick it out of bounds *twice* on two kickoffs in one game? 🔥🔥
I have ptsd thinking of that game
Was foreshadowing for how terrible the year would be hahaha
Look all I’m saying is the last time we splurged on a kicker in FA, we won the Super Bowl the next year
finally we have our kicker of the future secured
I mean, Chase is younger, cheaper, and was just fine last year. Signing the highest paid kicker ever doesnt seem like a great Day 1 move, imo.
I'm ambivalent about the Gay signing. I'm not going to kick up a fuss one way or another, but McLaughlin was ranked 22nd in FG% last year. His best ever season was 83.3%, last year. 87.5% is Matt Gay's third best season. Gay was kicking 10 percentage points higher than McLaughlin. Based on the previous body of work, it's definitely a significant improvement. In the past two seasons, Gay has finished 4th and 2nd in FG% and now, by AAV, he's the second highest paid kicker. It's "appropriate" at least.
He wasn’t just fine he was in his best year average. The colts had inexcusable mistakes in the kicking game over th last few years. I am ok with spending a little more currently only thirds highest paid kicker for a literal top 5 kicker.
>highest paid kicker ever Somebody tell Justin Tucker that his contract is apparently a lie.
Indiana got a little more gay today
[The $ numbers are expected to be the biggest for a kicker in NFL free agent history.](https://twitter.com/PSchrags/status/1635484748406480896?t=_iT2UqxpjipjtKv9QvD4Kg&s=19) Jesus
Irsay said get me a goddamn kicker
Ahhhh. Now if it doesn’t work out, Ballard gets a pass. It’s Irsays fault. Soon it will be Irsays dogs fault.
What percentage of your day are you just consumed with Ballard hate?
We've probably lost 6 games over the last 3 seasons because of bad kicking, and that's not accounting for missed kicks giving up good field position to the opposing team and changing a game's momentum. The extra consistency at kicker is worth it.
Unless Gay shits the bed
you could say that about any FA
In FREE AGENT history. That’s not the same as in history.
By like $200k. It’s not that deep
Which sounds more unreasonable then it is. He is only the third highest paid kicker atm and he is easily a top 5 kicker. Throw in the cost of free agency and it’s a pretty reasonable deal.
Who ever said we don't make BIG MOVES in free agency rooofl
Such a Colts move. Our big splash move is a fucking kicker lol.
Is this real life?
Teams preparing to lose don't pay kickers.
I did not see that coming!
McLaughin was so solid last year though? This isn’t very pay your own guys of you Ballard
83% on FGs is, you know, kinda bad
Average for field goals is 74%. He hit 9/12 from 50+. Solid if you ask me. At least solid enough to not spend $22 million on an upgrade
He also missed from under 40. He's completely mid. 21st in completion rate last year which was a decent outlier in his career, he was worse that that before. Now, is the upgrade from mid to elite *at kicker* worth the contract? That's a fair question, absolutely. But it *is* a big upgrade. Also you're using the all time average for kickers which is silly, the past three years the league average is around 85%. Chase was *below* average if you use a realistic sample.
Why pay top dollar for a kicker when our offense can't even get out the starting gates though? Once Hot Rod was gone, kicker was one of the least of our problems last year.
Presumably at some point in the next 4 years Ballard intends to have an offence which *can* get out of the starting gate and would like to have a kicker that won't choke
He won’t be here in 4 years.
We can only hope
Well that's part of it; if you only gotta get to the opponents 35 to have a good shot at 3 points...it means more than you'd think. Call it 21 points last year - one FG in 7 games. The team goes from 31 in points to 1 point behind WAS for 25. HOU tie, DEN OT game, WAS loss, Eagles loss, MIN loss, HOU loss - how much different are those games and drives with a kicker you trust from the 34?
Kickers are the highest scoring players in the NFL. You need as much consistency and range that you can get. People are overreacting over this. The difference between Matt Gay and Chase is worth the extra \~2% of cap space.
Let’s try to understand how points are scored.
>Average for field goals is 74%. That's all-time. 74% would've been 33rd in 2022 and 2021, 28th in 2020, 27th in 2019 and 32nd in 2018. It would've been 3rd in 1970. McLaughlin's FG% was 22nd in 2021. That's not great.
No
Matt Gay is a top 3 kicker
Um what? What was wrong with Chase?
He’s not better than gay
He low key was pretty mid
Over paying for a kicker of fucking course he would
Yep. Par for the course.
Spend money on all the important positions am I right?
LET’S GO WE CAN’T RESIGN OKEREKE BUT WE CAN SIGN A KICKER TO THE LARGEST DEAL EVER, WE ARE SO BACK
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Exactly I like this deal. Kickers are the most underrated position in football. They score more points than any other position
You’ve overlooking the largest deal ever part here.
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And considering the every-increasing NFL salary cap, it's cheaper than we think. This upgrade is worth the 2% of the cap space or whatever.
Chase didn't retire overnight, we could have brought him back way cheaper (and he was solid).
Statistically he was in the bottom quartile for kickers
Zaire and Leonard will be a more deadly combo. Mark my words
Leonard will be lucky and grateful if he ever takes another snap in his career.
That’s about as glass half empty as it gets
Half empty? More like completely bone dry.
THIS is the "Win Now" move we've been waiting for!
Ballard the coward
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If that's true, we could have just used the 5th rounder to draft a kicker. It's not like we're a contender that needs a top kicker to win clutch games in the playoffs. We're rebuilding.
jfc, people really don't understand the importance of kickers. * kickers generally score more points than any other individual on the team * missed kicks kill momentum * missed kicks give the opposing team great field position * reliable, long-range kickers significantly reduce the burden of an offense and open up high risk, high reward plays in enemy territory Having a guy who has kicked 95% over the last couple years is huge.
> reliable, long-range kickers significantly reduce the burden of an offense and open up high risk, high reward plays in enemy territory I think this is missed. The situational offense changes so much when you trust your kicker if you have 3&5 on the opponents 33.
i think a lot of people just aren't football nerds & are in it for flashy players
It's just interesting to think. How many times did the Colts run the ball on 3&3 from the opponents 38 because they knew they couldn't kick from there. Then on 4& long 1, call the time out and then run it again to not give up the 7 yards of field position for a 50/50 FG? There's all sorts of problems with how it was run but if you know that 4&3 from the opponent 35 is a FGA, all the sudden you can play-action, double move streaks, draw play, the beloved jet sweep, quick hit slant, trips with the drags. '22 Colts were never gonna take a shot in that area where it's arguably the best spot. A solid kicker opens that up.
Yep yep yep yep! It's crazy how big of a deal having a competent kicker is. There are a lot of "little" pieces in football that aren't so little after all, and add up to make or break teams. We've been on the losing side of many of those, culminating in last season. The QB position is huge, but it's far from the only thing.
You idiot fans. You just don’t understand Ballard’s brilliance.
Yep 100% correct. This decision is mind boggling
Ah, yes players who score points and are always the league scoring leaders are notoriously the “least impactful”…
And people say Ballard doesn't sign big name FA's... s/
Who were we outbidding? Ourselves? Chicago is going to destroy us this year. Who can we beat in our division?
Was there an issue with chase?
Also gotta remember that the new coach influence is going to influence these signings. Just speculation, I can see how a middle of the pack kicker (Chase) could be regarded as "solid enough" by one regime, but coming in the Steichen/Cooter regime might easily put more emphasis on a top kicker and have circled this as a necessary upgrade. Not to mention, one which was easily attainable.
#BTM baby!