Another NY paper Nuge article:
Kicker who can't miss
Top pick Nugent has mechanics, mentality to excel under pressure
BY KEN BERGER
STAFF WRITER
May 24, 2005
Mike Nugent <SMALL id=rail-credit>(Photo by Joe Rogate)</SMALL>
Although it would've made a better story, there was no epiphany. There was no knee-jerk moment when the Jets decided to boot Doug Brien and draft a kicker named Mike Nugent to replace him.
Sure, the team had followed Nugent closely for more than a year. Special-teams coach Mike Westhoff scouted Nugent at the combine and at Ohio State's pro day, spending hours breaking down film with the kid from Centerville, Ohio, the one who would wind up carrying the Jets' fortunes on his right foot.
Although Westhoff came away thoroughly impressed, he wasn't surprised or disappointed when the team began covering its bases by aggressively pursuing free-agent kicker Joe Nedney in March. "I wouldn't have been opposed," said Westhoff, Nedney's first special-teams coach with the Dolphins in 1996. "You could be very happy with a Joe Nedney."
Not as happy as he is with Nugent, who didn't really emerge as a realistic option until three days before the draft, when the Jets packaged their first-round pick, 26th overall, in a trade with the Raiders for tight end Doug Jolley.
The pre-draft arrest of Clemson cornerback Justin Miller, whom the Jets liked but not as a first-round pick, bolstered their position. With Miller plummeting - the Jets got him later in the second round - it was virtually a no-brainer to select Nugent with the 47th pick.
A no-brainer who will wind up being one of the most scrutinized draft picks in Jets history. "He's the guy I want," Westhoff said. "I'll go out on a limb."
Nugent, who owns 19 Ohio State records and was the consensus top kicker in the nation, will face scrutiny few kickers have encountered. He shrugged it off when reporters charted his uninspiring performance on the first day of minicamp last month; he was 4-for-6, missing his first because of a bad snap and bouncing the second in off the crossbar. But when he got back to Columbus, Nugent admitted he was a little shaken.
"He had heard how the New York media was kind of tough," said Kyle Andrews, Nugent's snapper for three years. "I don't think he was shocked, but it was the first time seeing it. It was like, 'Wow, it's true.'"
Everything in Nugent's track record, such as kicking before more than 100,000 fans at Ohio State, suggests he can handle pressure. Kicking is a torturous art, but Nugent keeps it simple and doesn't seem to have psychological hang-ups. Jets fans will never forget Brien fidgeting with his socks before every kick.
"I don't go out there and get myself in a mind-set," Nugent said. "I just shut everything out and watch the ball go in."
The ball went in a lot more often than not at Ohio State, especially after Nugent recovered from a disappointing freshman year, when he was 7-for-14 and admitted, "I didn't have much confidence in myself."
He kicked almost every day in the following offseason, telling Andrews at one point, "I'm better than that, I know it. I just want to earn the respect."
From sophomore year on, Nugent was 65-for-74 (87.8 percent) on field-goal tries, going 20-for- 25 from 40-49 yards and 8-for-9 from 50-plus. He made 113 of 114 PATs, the only miss on a bad snap.
When Marshall called timeout trying to ice him before his 55-yard game-winner last season, Nugent didn't wander off by himself like most oddball kickers would. "He said, 'C'mon, let's go ahead and get this over with,'" Andrews said. "'I'm going to knock it through and we're going to go home winners.'"
In Westhoff's more than 20 years of scouting at the combine, Nugent was the only kicker who ran onto the field when it was his turn to kick. But what the crotchety perfectionist really fell in love with were Nugent's mechanics, which are nearly identical for every kick. "He's very athletic and has very few moving parts," Westhoff said. "He's like a Tiger Woods: a concise, precise swing, very fluid, not a lot of movement to it, and not all over the place."
So what does history say about rookie saviors/kickers? Adam Vinatieri, the gold standard, didn't even have the pressure of being drafted and nearly lost his job as a rookie for Bill Parcells in New England. Since 1982, only two kickers were drafted higher than Nugent, and the Jets hope he doesn't emulate either one.
The Raiders' Sebastian Janikowski (17th, 2000) has been productive but has almost as many arrests as winning kicks. But the Jets perhaps could live with bailing out Nugent a time or two as long as he doesn't wind up like the infamous John Lee.
At UCLA in the early '80s, Lee earned many of the accolades being bestowed upon Nugent. The Cardinals, disenchanted with Neil O'Donoghue, took Lee 32nd in 1986. He was 8-for-13 as a rookie, missed three PATs and never played football again.
"As long as I keep confidence in myself," Nugent said, "I'll be fine."
Welcome to the NFL, Mike. Only 110 days until your first kick.
Since 1982, the four kickers drafted higher than Mike Nugent or within 10 picks of him had mixed results as rookies. Two great kickers who went undrafted are included for comparison - the Patriots' Adam Vinatieri and the Colts' Mike Vanderjagt.
Name Pick Year Team FGs % PATs %
Sebastian Janikowski 17 2000 Raiders 22-32 (68.8) 46-46 (100.0)
John Lee 32 1986 Cardinals 8-13 (61.5) 14-17 (82.4)
Chip Lohmiller 55 1988 Redskins 19-26 (73.1) 40-41 (97.6)
Jason Hanson 56 1991 Lions 21-26 (80.8) 30-30 (100.0)
Mike Vanderjagt - 1998 Colts 27-31 (87.1) 23-23 (100.0
Adam Vinatieri - 1996 Patriots 27-35 (77.1) 39-42 (92.9)
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