There were two posts yesterday, one by mkcubs21 another by Mitchell, announcing the happy news that Derrick Frost is an ex-Packer. We don't see the practices, but apparently Frost did have a bit of performance anxiety according to special teams coach Mike Stock:
"Is it disappointing for you...
It's disappointing for me because I'm responsible for coaching the kid, obviously. He kicked really well Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, just have to carry it over to Sunday too. That's the problem."
While I appreciate that he's been having some unexplained troubles, I will be glad that he will kick his way out of them, and turn his NFL career around, on some other team.
I'm still not mad they let P Jon Ryan go. He has a big leg, but it's inconsistent. Plus he's the master of the touchback. The Packers can do better than either Ryan or Frost.
It is weird that they didn't even bother to sign someone first. Apparently it's better to go with anyone instead of Frost.
But how bad was Frost? How does he measure up to some of the worst punters and kickers to ever play for the Packers? If you think I'm neglecting a truly awful punter or kicker, please let me know in the comments. But two bad ones came to mind:
- P B.J. Sander. Mitchell already brought his name up. Probably the single move that led to Mike Sherman losing his GM job. Drafted in the 3rd round, I think Sherman even traded up to get him, he only lasted two seasons in Green Bay. He was so awful in his first season, Sherman signed P Bryan Barker to actually do the punting. He kept Sander inactive the entire season, apparently he was trying avoid the embarrassment of releasing a player he just traded up for. GM Ted Thompson kept Sander on for the 2005 season, maybe just he was just trying to stick it to Sherman, and it was an awful experience.
- K Brett Conway. Boy did GM Ron Wolf miss on him. Drafted 90th overall in 1997, Conway was brought into replace Mike Holmgren's least favorite player, K Chris Jacke. Instead Conway was injured during the preseason and never played in a regular season game for the Packers. I do remember him missing some field goals badly during a preseason game. The good thing that came from this was that they signed undrafted free agent K Ryan Longwell to replace him.