The Miami Dolphins announced the signing of K John Potter and that they have placed K Danny Hrapmann on waivers. Hrapmann originally signed on with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent back in 2012. He later signed future/reserve contracts with the Steelers and Cardinals, but was placed on waivers in late January. Miami brought him in a little over a week ago. Potter, 24, is a former seventh-round pick of the Buffalo Bills, in 2012, but was unable to make their roster during training camp. He later joined the Redskins before eventually signing a future/reserve contract with the Lions last year.
Potter supposedly has a very strong leg on kickoffs and gets a lot of touchbacks. His FG % in college though, for his career, was only around 73%
In 3 games with the Foreskins last year, he was 3 for 4...the miss coming from over 50. REALLY small sample size, just wanted to put his pro stats out there.
[video=youtube;PYsQT5qar3U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PYsQT5qar3U[/video] Still have faith.
I would temper that a little bit. Caleb Sturgis' injury could be career-threatening. Keyword: could. While I do not know the extent of his injury, it has been recurrent, which raises concern. This is exactly the reason for bringing in other kickers. While I think the staff would like to keep him given the 5th rounder spent on him, they are being smart in bringing in competition. Unfortunately, I could see him getting cut this year. This new guy has hit two FGs so far against TB from 48 and 51 yards; respectively.
Yeah, you have to protect yourself against injury by having a competent backup, especially when it comes to kickers. I agree with the earlier comment as well though; letting Carpenter walk is still tough to swallow.
What the hell happened to him? I know he went to Buffalo, but why did Miami let him go? Was it his salary or an injury?
He missed a few critical kicks down the stretch, and then they saw Sturgis kicking field goals from 3 miles away and decided that they had their guy. Of course, we all know the rest of the story...Sturgis missed his first few game-winning kicks and we all went, "Oops".
his salary was also pretty high for a kicker as I recall as well. He was one of the highest paid kickers in the league his last season with us.
Sturgis played part of last season with a groin pull or strain. Starting somewhere around the Ravens game, give or take a week. That is his problem now too. For his long term benefit the best thing to do may be to just IR for the season and do what it takes to get that groin healed properly.
Oh, I know it is his groin, but it's the extent of his injury that is worrisome. He had "leg" injuries in college (I suspect this was code for "groin," but I cannot confirm this). I just do not know if this is something that will not continue to hinder him even if he does have time to heal properly. Genetics isn't always fair.