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P B.J. Sander (official thread)

Packers | Ryan wins Round 1
Sun, 13 Aug 2006 06:08:27 -0700

Packers.com reports Green Bay Packers P Jon Ryan had the better punting night Saturday, Aug. 12, in the battle with P B.J. Sander for the starting job. On four punts, Ryan averaged 46.3 yards gross and 41.0 net. His long was a 55-yarder but his best overall punt was his third one, a 51-yarder that he angled out of bounds for no return. Sander averaged 36.7 yards on three punts, with a net average of 33.7.


http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nfl
 
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Hoping to get a leg up on punting job
Sander fights to show he is ready for a shot
By LORI NICKEL
[email protected]
Posted: Aug. 18, 2006

After being drafted in the third round in 2004, losing his job in training camp that year, getting sent off to NFL Europe and weathering a miserable 2005 season, now the 26-year-old is in a heated battle to retain his job as the Packers' punter.

His competition is an inexperienced punter out of the Canadian Football League, Jon Ryan, who was the better of the two a week ago in the first exhibition game in San Diego.

Special teams coordinator Mike Stock has said this kicking battle could come down to the bitter end, but was convinced this summer that someone would distinguish himself and emerge.

But when asked if either Sander or Ryan had established a lead, if ever so slight, in the punting battle, general manager Ted Thompson, not surprisingly, wouldn't show his hand.

"I don't know . . ." Thompson said. "Well, I guess I know. . . . I'm just not going to say. We're still in competition. The race isn't over until it's over. It's (as) Yogi Berra (always said)."

Sander gets another chance tonight in the second exhibition game against Atlanta at Lambeau Field to show that he's not only more consistent than he was a year ago but that he's also more than mediocre.

This kind of continuing turmoil - being drafted so high, being benched as a rookie - could pick apart anyone's confidence, and maybe Sander is putting up an Oscar-worthy performance. But as usual, he doesn't act insecure, doesn't snap at critical questions about his performance and generally goes about his job as a pro.

We don't know much about Sander publicly after two years here, but we do know that he came to terms a long time ago with the scrutiny and extreme expectations bestowed upon him for being chosen, by former coach and GM Mike Sherman, so unusually high in the draft.

So three weeks into his third National Football League season, once again, Sander finds himself defending his punts, defining his duties and deflecting the critics as he fights for his job.

"At this point, from what I have been told, it's an open competition," Sander said matter-of-factly. "I can't concern myself with what (Ryan's) doing. As long as I go out there and do what I am capable of doing, I'll let the guys upstairs make the decision. As long as I'm happy here with the way things are going, if I'm not punting here, I'll be somewhere."

Last season, Sander's first on the active roster, and his statistics reflected his play: overall not so hot. His 39.2-yard gross average per punt was 30th in the NFL. Seventeen other punters averaged at least 43 yards. But that statistic isn't always fair to Packers punters who kick through three seasons: summer, fall and "March of the Penguins" kind of cold.

The statistics support that. In the first eight games of the year, Sander averaged 42.3 gross yards, 38.9 net and 4.26 seconds in hang time; in his final six - all outdoor games - before he injured his kicking knee, those numbers dropped to 36.3, 29.3 and 3.97.

So weather can kill an average. But there was no excusing the shanked punts other than that he was young, and this training camp, that's where he has improved the most.

"Yes," director of pro personnel Reggie McKenzie said. "I think in his consistency. He had a lot more shanks this time last year. This year we're getting more consistency from him."

Sander's other strength is, and always has been, high hang times. With 64 punts last season, his average hang time was 4.11 seconds, the best in Green Bay in four seasons.

At San Diego, Sander averaged 4.04; Ryan averaged 3.80 in Canada. A better hang time allows Sander's teammates to get down the field and defend the returner.

"You're giving your guys a chance to get down there and make him fair-catch the ball, and if he muffs it, give us a chance to recover it," Sander said.

That, in turn, leads to a better net average, the most important statistic in punting. Sander achieved a 33.9 net average last season, again not impressive. However, last year the frequently injured Packers were shuffling out new faces on special teams almost every week.

This year, Sander thinks it's fair to be measured by the net.

"As far as I am concerned, the gross average, yeah, (big numbers), that's great," he said. "But the net really reflects how you're doing. That's the big thing for me."

Although Sander might be leading Ryan in consistency and hang time, Ryan has shown a bigger leg. But Sander does not think that adding distance to his punts would help the special teams coverage unit. In fact, that might be what got him in trouble last year. He tried to blast the ball and that's when he'd get a lot of shanks.

"You can add distance by hitting more of a line drive, as opposed to more hang time," Sander said. "I'd rather have the ball hang up in the air 40 to 45 yards, with a 4.5, make that guy make a decision: 'All right, am I going to catch this and get blown up or am I going to fair catch it?' "

Sander thinks he has punted well in training camp and that his progress wasn't reflected last week at San Diego (three punts, 36.7 gross, 33.7 net).

"I'm very happy with how camp has gone so far," Sander said. "I would have liked to have punted a little bit better in the game, but I was working specifically on going right that game. I just wanted to work on that in a game situation. I've struggled with going right in practice so I wanted to work on it in a game.

"I've worked on it again this week in practice and I am a lot more comfortable with it. Overall, I was happy with the way things went, but the result wasn't what I wanted it to be."

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=485305
 
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Tightening up

Thanks to Rayner, the Packers' kicking battle might be over - or at least temporarily decided - but the punting competition tightened up.

After dominating with distance during the offseason and in the first few weeks of training camp, strong-legged Canadian Jon Ryan may have ceded whatever advantage he had over incumbent B.J. Sander by dropping a snap on his first attempt while Sander had a steadier, more consistent showing.

On his first punt, following the opening possession of the game, Sander boomed a 61-yarder with 5.1 seconds of hang time. It also seemed significant that Sander got to go first, since Ryan had been kicking first in practice and in last week's loss at San Diego.

In that game, Ryan averaged 46.3 gross yards and 41.0 net yards on four punts, while Sander averaged 36.7 gross and 33.7 net on three attempts.

But after Sander's impressive first kick, Ryan bobbled and dropped Rob Davis' snap in the Packers' end zone at the end of the first possession of the second half. Ryan was able to improvise and get the ball off - and sent it 42 yards with 2.4 seconds of hang time - but the botched catch could've been disastrous.

"That's not a positive," McCarthy said. "We'll evaluate that as we go, but that's a close race. It's probably going to take the whole preseason to solve that."

Sander got the next attempt and hit a 32-yarder with 4.6 seconds of hang time.
 
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Packers release punter Sander


Associated Press

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers released punter B.J. Sander on Monday, bringing to an end a career that came to symbolize the disappointment associated with former coach Mike Sherman's brief stint as the team's general manager. Sander won the Ray Guy award as the nation's top collegiate punter at Ohio State, but has failed to live up to high expectations since Sherman and the Packers traded up to take him in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft.
Green Bay signed Canadian Football League standout Jon Ryan in the offseason to compete with Sander in training camp. Sander's release makes Ryan, who has shown good leg strength in training camp, the favorite to win the punting job.
In a news release, the team noted that Ryan should expect to take all the snaps at punter in the final two weeks of the preseason, but said, "the move, however, doesn't guarantee Ryan the regular-season job. He continues to compete against all other punters in NFL camps who could be released by their respective teams and potentially signed by the Packers' pro personnel department."
The Packers also released linebacker Kevin Schimmelmann, a free agent rookie signed out of Stanford in May.
 
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above article said:
The Green Bay Packers released punter B.J. Sander on Monday, bringing to an end a career that came to symbolize the disappointment associated with former coach Mike Sherman's brief stint as the team's general manager.
Ding ding ding... speculation in WI is that it wouldn't really matter who was the better punter... the "regime change" statement would be the deciding factor. I'm sorry to hear it but hope he's The Man wherever he lands next.
 
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Packers give Sander the boot

Punter never justified selection

By BOB McGINN
[email protected]


Posted: Aug. 21, 2006

Green Bay - Punter B.J. Sander, the symbol of Mike Sherman's performance as the Packers' general manager from 2001-'04, has hit his last shank in Green Bay.
Still unsure about the merits of Canadian Jon Ryan but certain about Sander's deficiencies, general manager Ted Thompson released Sander on Monday morning to close the book on one of the most hotly debated draft-day decisions in club history.
"We've had a long time to look at B.J., he's worked hard and done all that," Thompson said. "We wanted to put the spotlight on Jon Ryan and see how he responds. I like what I've seen in terms of leg strength. We just need to see more of him. We don't have a clear enough picture."
The Packers signed Ryan on Feb. 1 as a free agent out of the Canadian Football League, where he averaged 43.2 yards per punt in 2004 and a league-record 50.6 last season. His signing bonus was $35,000.
That was more than 16 times smaller than the $583,625 signing bonus that the Packers handed Sander after making him the last of three third-round draft picks in 2004. The other two, Joey Thomas and Donnell Washington, previously were waived by Thompson. Of Sherman's seven picks in the third round, only Kenny Peterson remains with the team.
Sherman and his late personnel chief, Mark Hatley, overruled some dissenters in the draft room and went up to get Sander, the Ohio State punter whom half the teams in the league had rated no higher than the fourth round.
Green Bay moved up 15 places to take Sander late in the third round with the 87th pick. In return, the Miami Dolphins received a fifth-round choice. It was the only time between 1985 and the present that any National Football League team traded up for a punter regardless of round.
Sander, who started in college only as a senior, immediately showed why the rest of the league wasn't that high on him. His leg strength was ordinary at best and his steps, get-off times and directional punting needed fixing.
After an appalling showing in his first training camp, Sander watched from the inactive list as washed-up Bryan Barker did the punting. Last year, Sander gained a degree of effectiveness by punting in NFL Europe and under the tutelage of kicking guru Steve Hoffman in camp.
Sander was adequate in the first eight games before his performance went south in the next six. He finished the season on injured reserve, ranked 30th in gross average (39.2 yards) and 31st in net (33.9).
As soon as Ryan and Sander began punting side-by-side, it was obvious that Ryan had far more talent.
Although Sander was unavailable for comment Monday, special teams coach Mike Stock described him as "distraught."
"He didn't want to talk to me," Stock said. "It's a sad day for everybody. There's a long list of people who have kicked in the league who have gone through turmoil and disappointment. If he's got the heart and the direction and the wherewithal, he can make it somewhere."
Sander will count $145,906 against the Packers' salary cap this season and $145,906 in 2007.
Both Thompson and Stock said they knew full well what Sander's capabilities are. Just as they did last week at kicker by keeping free agent Dave Rayner over veteran Billy Cundiff, they opted for power and potential.
"They're not guaranteed anything right now," Stock said. "They've got to deliver."
At this point, the list of unemployed veteran punters includes Toby Gowin, Kyle Richardson, Sean Landeta, Tom Tupa and Barker. More attractive names should surface Sept. 2 during the final roster reduction.
"We're going to see if (Ryan) can seize the moment," Stock said. "We felt this guy has a tremendous up side. He has been pressing a little bit. I think he just needs to find a comfort zone and he'll be fine."
Ryan, 24, also will handle the holding, something he didn't do in Canada. After six months of intensive training, his holding reached a par with Sander's, according to Stock.
In two exhibition games, Ryan had better averages than Sander (45.4 gross, 39.8 net to 40.6 and 34.8) but worse average hang times (3.57 seconds to Sander's 4.34). Each had five attempts.
Furthermore, Ryan is coming off a one-punt stint against Atlanta in which he bungled a perfect snap from Rob Davis. The Cincinnati Bengals, one of the teams interested in signing Ryan last winter, had concerns about his hands.
Stock was able to find a positive in the 42-yard punt that Ryan managed to get off.
"I thought the adjustment he made on the drop was pretty fantastic," Stock said. "Listen. He could have just died and dropped in a ball and it could have been a safety. He's very athletic. Beyond that, he's a tough-minded kid."
The botched snap was his first ever, Ryan said."I've never had problems getting the ball down the field," Ryan said. "The key thing is to be able to do it every time."
 
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Sander's stint in Green Bay didn't last long
NFL Insider
BY MARK CURNUTTE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Former Roger Bacon and Ohio State punter B.J. Sander was released by the Packers, bringing to a close one of the least successful draft-day decisions in franchise history.
Green Bay paid Sander a $583,625 signing bonus after trading up 15 places to draft him in the third round in 2004.
In February, the Packers gave $35,000 to Jon Ryan and will head into season with the Canadian Football League veteran as their punter.

General manager Ted Thompson cut Sander.
"We've had a long time to look at B.J.; he's worked hard and done all that," Thompson said. "We wanted to put the spotlight on Jon Ryan, and see how he responds. I like what I've seen in terms of leg strength. We just need to see more of him. We don't have a clear enough picture."
Sander's stay in Green Bay ends as him the poster boy of Mike Sherman's failed run as GM.
The Packers' other two third-round picks in 2004, Joey Thomas and Donnell Washington, previously were waived by Thompson. Of Sherman's seven picks in the third round, only Kenny Peterson remains with the team.
It was the only time between 1985 and the present that any NFL team ever traded up for a punter, regardless of round.
Sander, who started only as a senior at Ohio State, immediately showed why the rest of the league wasn't that high on him. His leg strength was ordinary at best and his steps, get-off times and directional punting needed fixing.
As a rookie, Sander was inactive. After a stint in NFL Europe, he won the job in 2005 and punted relatively well in the first eight games. He slumped in the final six, finishing the season on injured reserve and ranking 30th in gross average (39.2) and 31st in net (33.9).
 
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I just heard they cut BJ on MNF. That sucks for him. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him a few times in school and I really hope he gets picked up somewhere else and goes on to have an awesome career. Forgive my lack of knowledge, but was he playing that bad. I remember hearing from some friends that he was having a hard time adjusting to the football in the NFL but I didn't think he would get cut. HAYN, (or anyone else for that matter) what are his chances of getting on with another team this season?
 
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