Greg Zuerlein being placed on IR with back injury. Wow...

[LumberTubs]

Man, gotta feel for Greg. He was on pace to break records and experience some play off football. And he was doing it with a bad back!

This is cruel.

 

[XXXIVwin]

I wish I could be optimistic about Ficken but if he was released by the Chargers and Jaguars (two teams in a desperate struggle to find any kicking talent), then we are looking at an epic downgrade.

In fairness, Ficken never played for the Chargers. Ficken was only signed by the Chiefs for the recent preseason while their regular kicker (Santos) was recovering from an injury.

Here’s two positive - sounding articles about Ficken’s time with the Chiefs. Yeah losing GZ is terrible, so I’m looking for some ficken’ koolaid wherever I can.

http://www.chiefsdigest.com/kicker-sam-ficken-sets-aside-day-job-chance-nfl/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/arrowh...-rumors-sam-ficken-era-cairo-santos-back/amp/

 

[Ramrasta]

In fairness, Ficken never played for the Chargers. Ficken was only signed by the Chiefs for the recent preseason while their regular kicker (Santos) was recovering from an injury.

Here’s two positive - sounding articles about Ficken’s time with the Chiefs. Yeah losing GZ is terrible, so I’m looking for some ficken’ koolaid wherever I can.

http://www.chiefsdigest.com/kicker-sam-ficken-sets-aside-day-job-chance-nfl/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/arrowh...-rumors-sam-ficken-era-cairo-santos-back/amp/

Ah, I had it mixed up with Travis Coons reading through some of the comments. Those articles portray him as a decent player but I still can’t shake the idea that anyone available at this point in the season is available for a reason.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Actually an interesting thought.
Goff even said, paraphrasing “inside the 35-40, I know we got 3, so don’t mess up”.
Maybe he shines - who knows?

He and mcvay both.

.

 

[Corbin]

What the flying Ficken?!

Dude there has been zero info he was dealing with anything! Damnit!
Wanted him to have that record! Lol

Oh well next year I guess...
so weird this came out of nowhere.

Man,
This could fuck us in the playoffs at some point :sadwalk:

Ps we should Morten Anderson or Jeff Wilkins! lol

 

[TSFH Fan]

Saw it referenced in a twitter comment:
Ficken in German translates to how we feel about this in English:

https://translate.google.com/?rlz=1C1DLLB_enUS640US641&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&client=tw-ob#de/en/Ficken


Best wishes and good luck to Leg. Hopefully he can bounce through this like Jonathan Quick got through his back surgery.

 

[Faceplant]

Wouldn't surprise me to see veteran kickers get some calls from Les....

 

[Ramhusker]

We will be fine! Damnit!!!!!

 

[den-the-coach]

I trust John Fassel, I would think you would want a veteran like maybe Garret Hartley, who has a big leg, my concern with Ficken is the number of block kicks he had in college because he kicks with a low trajectory, however, hopefully Ficken has made adjustments and the Rams can see how he does the next two weeks and then go from there.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

You just know the rams are gonna lose in the playoffs with a missed fg at the end of the game.

.

 

[den-the-coach]

Wouldn't surprise me to see veteran kickers get some calls from Les....

They already did that, they had 10 kickers in for tryouts and the Rams opted to sign Ficken...Now maybe they will tryout others, but at this point, it's Ficken.

ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
Careful to maintain his lane responsibility on kick coverage. Ready and willing to make the tackle if necessary. Has longest field goal in Penn State history with a 54-yarder in 2013.
WEAKNESSES
Kicks with a low trajectory. Has had 10 of 75 field goal attempts blocked during his time at Penn State. Leg strength considered below NFL standard for kickoffs with just 30 percent touchbacks and a 3.6-second hang time.
DRAFT PROJECTION
Undrafted
BOTTOM LINE
Solid accuracy and has clutch kicks under his belt, but inability to boom kickoffs will make a trip into camp via undrafted free agency the very likely scenario.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/sam-ficken?id=2552703

 

[shaunpinney]

This hurts... I'm totally gutted by this news

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Give it to Gurley.

 

[RamsCardsJazz]

We will be fine! Damnit!!!!!

I wish I shared your enthusiasm. I think this is a very big loss and could spell trouble in the postseason.

 

[BadCompany]

Aw man, this sucks. Never mind the records and all that, I totally could have seen Greg kicking a 65 yarder to win the Super Bowl. Heck, even a 60 yarder would have been well within his range. That 10-15 yard difference is huge when running a 2-minute drill. Is it over-the-top to suggest this actually changes the game plan in some cases??

Honest question here; I know there are differences in technique, angle, etcetera, etcetera, but why don't punters at the very least practice kick-offs and field goals? They have the leg strength and all that. If you had a guy who could both kick and punt, wouldn't that free up a roster spot for another position?

 

[Ellard80]

I'm trying to pretend this isn't a major a blow as it really is.

 

[Rmfnlt]

First off, get well soon Zuerline! Full recovery!

I was wondering why his kick offs were coming up short against Seattle.

plus he shanked one out of bounds on a kickoff

As soon as this news came across my phone, those things sprung to the front of my mind... seemed innocent last week.. now it made sense... there was something wrong. I remember the look on his face when he kicked out of bounds... it wasn't pain, but it was an odd look... almost one of resignation.

hopefully Zuerlein comes back at full strength.

I hope it's not a lingering issue past this season at least.

Let’s hope it’s not something chronic that will effect his career in any way

with a herniated disk.

Zuerlein will undergo back surgery on Thursday

These comments are my biggest concern... I've had back problems (golf) and shots into my spine. That's nothing compared to a herniated disk that requires surgery.
Hoping it isn't... but this could be a bigger issue down the road.

These comments below... all true. Ties to what I said above.

The amount of torque he has to put on his back during those kickoffs.

the kick places tremendous pressure on the spine. As hard as Legatron kicks it, it's going to take awhile for him to rebuild his back strength and flexibility as well as rebuild the leg muscles.

I wonder if the Rams had been proactive in their search for GZ's replacement and working with Fricken at all prior to this week.

Based on what I read, they've known about this for some time... so, I'd have to believe they conducted a search a while back. If Ficken is the choice, given Fassell's experience, I'll have to just put my faith in them. But, I'm not delusional... those points we used to count on from 45+ yards out will not longer be sure things... and, past 50? Probably no more this year. They'll just have to adjust play calling and execution to get those first downs.

we will rally around Sam fickin and play good football.

Yup... here we are again... Rams overcame a huge loss in 1999-2000, can they again? But, again, Ficken is not Zuerline... not even close.

Can the Rams find ways around this drop off?

 

[badnews]

As much as losing Greg the Leg hurts, there may infact prove to be a silver lining..

The Rams players and Coaches are forced to raise their game immediately following their biggest and most significant win in a decade.
The division isnt guaranteed, nor is a home game, and now, in case anyone has started to read the press clippings and believe in their own hype, they are coming back down to earth like the ground rush to skydiver waiting to pull at the last moment.
(A crap analogy)

Many teams would be done in.

But we have the best STs Coach in the league. The best offensive mind, a team that has proven its resilience time after time, a defense only getting better...

Other teams might be fucked by this injury. We could be too.
...but... and I dont know why, I really like our chances to not only overcome this, but with this team? I believe they can use it to make them even better.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Stubhub must be an ancient burial ground for old dead kickers because Chargers kickers have crap the bed this year.

It is originally a score stadium...perhaps some type of curse....

The Dean's List student owned a 3.59 cumulative grade-point average in finance entering the summer and is a potential Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America® candidate.

ahhhh, this will make a few ROD members very happy...Finance too? How bout that Blu-nuts?

What's his 40 time?

Exactly....

Seriously....best punter I ever played with was a stone cold athlete...could really run...love to work with the wr's and db's and blow some of us out in sprints...Think he claimed to run a 4.4

Leg strength matters....in 40 times...and kicking too.

Thus the 2nd round pick Aguayo, made no sense as he never made one from 50. He probably wouldn’t have been drafted. Just like the Jets panicked with Hackenberg. He didn’t look draftable to me either.

First kicker I thought of was Aguayo....surprised he still has the yips and no one will trust him...I thought he'd get drafted...in the 6th or 7th round.
And again....Hackenberg can play.....

That's what happens when you go from worst to first in points scored. You blow out your kicker.

Another point....man he kicks alot...I mean, his years with Fisher probably had him stiff from inactivity....then McVay comes in...and he gets all these attempts...plus the kickoff afterwards...who knows? Maybe he hit a wall?

Man, gotta feel for Greg. He was on pace to break records

See answer above....

ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
Careful to maintain his lane responsibility on kick coverage. Ready and willing to make the tackle if necessary.

All bad when you strength is tackling and you're the kicker....sorta like a receiver and your strength is blocking.

 

[Loyal]

I
Seriously....best punter I ever played with was a stone cold athlete...could really run...love to work with the wr's and db's and blow some of us out in sprints...Think he claimed to run a 4.4

Leg strength matters....in 40 times...and kicking too.

I was a fukking cheetah!
~Ray Wersching