Drew Butler has the door open for him to win a permanent job in the N.F.L.. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

The logical choice to replace the former Baylor Bear was originally thought to be a familiar face: Jeremy Kapinos.  Not only had Kapinos filled in admirably in the middle of both the 2010 and 2011 seasons for Sepulveda (12 regular season games) went down, he even averaged a respectable 45.0 Yards Per Punt last season.

While it appeared that the Steelers would be comfortable with Kapinos heading into the 2012 season, the veteran recently sustained a back injury and has consequently been unable to win the starting job outright.

Drew Butler & The 2012 Punter Job

Thankfully, the Steelers’ hedged their bets this offseason when they were able to sign the talented and highly productive Drew Butler out of Georgia as an Undrafted Free Agent just over three months ago.

While some might have ignored or overlooked the move because it happened after the Draft period was over, some, including this writer, believed that Butler had a legitimate shot of unseating the veteran in front of him on the depth chart due to his talent and the overall Punting ability he displayed during his four-year career with the Bulldogs.  And because Kapinos has been forced to nurse his sore back and is not “100%,” Butler currently has an incredible opportunity to seize the starting Punter position, and carve out a lengthy career with the Steelers.

In his first professional effort, Butler turned in a solid performance during last Thursday’s preseason game against the Eagles.  On the evening, 2009 Ray Guy Award winner punted 6 times for 298 Yards at an impressive 49.7 Yards per boot, and kicked a 61 Yard bomb which pinned the Eagles all the way back at their own 36 when the return netted zero.

Final Thoughts

While Butler may have done a nice job in his first exhibition game, continued consistency throughout camp will be of the utmost importance for the youngster as the preseason continues.  Kapinos will be hungry to upstage the Rookie upstart, and Butler should be ready for some stiff competition once the veteran returns to game action.  Butler has made his impression felt however, and regardless of Kapinos’ health, the Rookie deserves the chance to earn the starting nod outright over the next three weeks.

The Steelers have lacked quality and consistency at the Punter position for a lengthy period, and have not had a player at the position make it to the Pro Bowl since Bobby Walden in 1969 (only Pittsburgh Punter to ever earn Pro Bowl nod).  Whether it is Butler or Kapinos, the Steelers could stand to have a long-term option at Punter.  Granted, the Punter battle might not be the most “sexy” in terms of overall interest, excitement, or media coverage, but it is nevertheless an important question which the Steelers must answer before their Week 1 game in Denver.

Statistics Courtesy of: ESPN.com Steelers Page, http://www.pro-football-reference.com/, and ESPN.com College Player Pages (Butler)

Time to chime in readers:  Will Butler unseat Kapinos?  Should the Steelers keep him on speed-dial just in case?  Will Pittsburgh finally find a Punter which can be consistently healthy, and perform well on a consistent basis?

For all your Steelers news and discussions follow us on Twitter @nicepickcowherC, follow me on Twitter @DominicDiTolla, and like us on Facebook.

Suisham and Kapinos are the starters at Kicker and Punter as we enter Training Camp. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Punter Situation

Before I begin, I must say that liked Daniel Sepulveda as a Punter, and during his tenure in Pittsburgh he did a solid enough job.  The unfortunate part about Sepulveda though was the fact that he missed so much time with injuries and the team was forced to call on mid-season signees three times in six years to replace him (I take a cold shower and cry when I think about Mitch Berger and Paul Ernster and their 30 yard shank boots).  Because of Sepulveda’s knee injuries, Pittsburgh’s brass made the sensible financial and football move and showed him the door after the 2011 season ended.  Now that Sepulveda is gone, his mid-season replacement in the last two seasons, Jeremy Kapinos, appears to have his best chance to win the full-time job.

Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIREDrew Butler will be trying to take Kapinos' job this season.

To his credit, Kapinos chipped in and did an adequate job after Sepulveda went down with his injuries down the stretch in 2010 and 2011.  Over 12 regular season games with the Steelers, Kapinos logged 48 Punts for 2106 Yards for a 43.9 Yards Per Punt average.  In 2011, Kapinos averaged a career high 45.0 Yards Per Punt and tied his career long with a 59 Yard boot.  Still, Kapinos has yet to prove himself over a full season with the club (not his fault because he was called up at mid-season both times, and he did start all 16 games with Green Bay during the 2009 season), and will face a stiff challenge for his job from Rookie UDFA Drew Butler over the coming months.

Butler, whose Father was long-time Chicago Bears Kicker and Bulldog alum Kevin Butler, had himself a fine career at Georgia where he started for three years.  Butler’s best season came as a Sophomore when he won the Ray Guy Award in 2009.  During that season, Butler logged 56 Punts for 2,691 Yards, and led the nation with a 48.1 Yards Per Punt clip.  Over his next two seasons, Butler’s Yards Per Punt statistics sank just a bit (2010: 44.5 (19th) and 2011: 44.2 (18th) as well), but he produced on an efficient basis and established himself as one of the best and most consistent Punters in the nation.  Butler did such a fine job for the Bulldogs that he was named to the Georgia’s All-Decade Team for his accomplishments on the field, and was also recognized for his work in the classroom when he earned a National Football Foundation (NFF) Scholar Athlete Award.

It should be an interesting competition between Kapinos and Butler because of the fact that Butler was a bit of a shock to go undrafted.  I am glad that the Steelers picked up a quality Punter like Butler who has potential, and did not have to use a draft pick to do it.  I am at least comfortable with Kapinos shouldering the load, and he has a decent amount of experience.  Nevertheless, I would like to see what Butler can do when given his chance.  If Butler ends up panning out, it would be a huge steal for the club which was able to add depth in Rounds 5-7 to other positions of need.  I really do not mind who steps up and takes the job, I just want the club to find an answer and gain some stability at the Punter position.

Kicker Situation

While I am at least comfortable with Kapinos as the Punter if he indeed wins the job outright, I cannot feel the same way about Shaun Suisham entering this season.  Let me first start off by saying that Steelers were a bit spoiled by the consistency of Jeff Reed from the 2007-2009 seasons.  During that three-year stretch, there were few, if any, Kickers that were able to produce and produce as well as Skippy did.  I for one was able to ignore Reed’s odd behavior towards bathroom towel dispensers and “Doc Brown” hairdo because of his (77 of 87) 88.5% Field Goal percentage, and his ability to hit clutch kicks.  Reed for whatever reason tanked bad in 2010, and was cut after hitting only 15 of 22 (68.1%) Field Goals through the first 9 games of the season.

Hrapmann will look to take Suisham's job this season. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-US PRESSWIRE

After being almost money when he was signed at midseason for the then-erratic Reed, Suisham did a terrific job.  Over 2010′s final 7 weeks, Suisham went 14 of 15 on Field Goal Attempts (93.3%), and nailed 8 of 9 from 40+ Yards away.  Then however, the postseason began, and Suisham began to have some consistency issues as he missed two Field Goals in the three Playoff games.

Then during 2011, Suisham’s accuracy remained a tad off, and it really showed on Field Goals from 30+ Yards as well.  Suisham went 23 for 31 (74.2%) on his Field Goals during his first full year with the Steelers, and most shockingly went 13 for 21 (61.9%) on Field Goals from 30+ Yards away.  To be fair, Suisham’s career Field Goal average is (124 of 156) 79.5%, and in his combined career with the Steelers he has performed at just about that level at a (37 of 46) 80.4% clip.  Yet with Suisham’s recent struggles, the team signed Undrafted Rookie Danny Hrapmann from Southern Mississippi to put some heat on him over the coming months.

Hrapmann showed flashes of being a terrific Kicker at Southern Mississippi during his career, and was even named a 1st Team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation in 2010.  That season, Hrapmann went 26 of 31 (83.9%) on Field Goals, 55 of 55 on PAT’s, which gave him 133 Points overall.  His Points totals ranked him 3rd in the country in Scoring, 3rd in the country in Field Goals, and he made 8 of his 11 Field Goals from 40+ Yards away.

Unfortunately for Hrapmann, his Senior campaign was marred by some inconsistency, and his Draft stock slipped so much that he was not even selected by a team last month.  Hrapmann’s Field Goal percentage slipped greatly down to 67.6% (23 of 34) and was a tad off from long distance as he went 7 for 16 on Field Goals from 40+ Yards away.  Yet that is not to say that Hrapmann’s 2011 season was terrible.  He ranked 3rd in total Field Goals again with 23, ranked tied for 10th overall in total Points with 130, and made 61 of his 62 Extra Points on the year.  Hrapmann even played hero in a couple of games last season, as he most notably went 5 for 5 in a 30-29 win over Central Florida, and three of his Kicks were from over 40 Yards (42, 44, 48) as the Eagles triumphed that night.

For a smaller guy (5’9″ 164 lbs.), Hrapmann has a pretty big leg (15 Field Goals of 40+ Yards over the last two seasons), which should help him kick in cold and wintery conditions.  The question will be whether or not he is the 2010 version of himself accuracy-wise not the 2011 version of himself accuracy-wise.  Thus, Hrapmann will have to be at his best to unseat the veteran Suisham will really have to have a bad Training Camp and Preseason to lose the Kicker job.  Like the Punter position, I do not mind who wins the job, I just want the Steelers to find a consistent answer at said spot.

Final Thoughts

So what will end up happening with the Kicker and Punter positions?  I believe that Kapinos and Butler will probably battle until the final days of the preseason until a clear victor emerges.  I am sure the Steelers are well aware of what Kapinos can do, but it will be intriguing to see if Butler can overtake him for the job and the roster spot.  In regards to Suisham and Hrapmann, I hope at least one of them rekindles the consistency which they both possessed in 2010.  Either guy I am fine with having, just as long as one can prove they can do the job on a regular basis and kick in the muck come late in the season.

Heinz Field’s turf is a complete and total slop-fest come the end of November, and steady Special Teams play will be needed on all fronts.  Probably the place it will be needed most is in the Kicking Game, and especially when the Steelers head towards the open end of the stadium.  I will be keeping my fingers crossed for the next few months, and hope that some long-term answers emerge.  The Steelers can ill-afford to have shoddy Special Teams play, and it would be nice if two of these four players stepped up their games in 2012 and beyond.

Statistics Courtesy of: ESPN.com Steelers Page, http://www.pro-football-reference.com/, and ESPN.com College Player Pages (Hrapmann, Butler)

For all your Steelers news and discussions follow us on Twitter @nicepickcowherC, follow me on Twitter @DominicDiTolla, and like us on Facebook.

Bah-humbug!

The Pittsburgh Steelers tasted the bitter egg nog of defeat at the hands of the New York Jets by a final score of 22-17.  “Hands” would actually be the wrong appendage.  “Feet” is much more accurate.  For it was the Black and Gold repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot which allowed the overrated Jets to steal a game they had no business winning.

It started with the opening kickoff where the Steelers special teams reverted back to 2009 form.  Brad Smith took the ball and returned it for a 97 yard touchdown, barely being touched along the way.  This was the first of several miscues on the afternoon.  When you play an obviously inferior team such as the Jets, their only hope is to steal points through field position and special teams.  It was the Ghost of Lousy Kick Coverage Past haunting Al Everest’s usually solid crew.

Case in point, the Steelers first touchdown drive began on their own 4.  Going mostly with a no-huddle/shotgun, which means Ben Roethlisberger is calling the plays and not dumbass Bruce Arians, they threw early and often.  My suggested strategy paid off as the Jets over-hyped secondary was no match for Big Ben and the passing game.  Catches of 12 and 18 yards by Hines Ward contributed to an eight minute 96 yard touchdown drive.  The capper was a 9 yard bullet to Matt Spaeth, who would display his usual tendency to make a nice catch one minute then drop an easy one two plays later.

The teams exchanged field goals to finish up the half.  New York’s boot was set up by a 38 yard pass to Braylon Edwards.  I’ve been tough on Bryant McFadden but he played an excellent game yesterday, actually covering receivers instead of backpedaling before the snap.  On the Edwards catch, B-Mac had perfect coverage and sometimes you can only to tip your cap to the receiver/quarterback for making a great play.

The Steelers field goal came after a 13 yard catch by Spaeth and a 16 yarder to Mike Wallace.  They tried a nifty bit of TRICKERATION by faking a spike and then attempting to hit a streaking Wallace but Ben overthrew him by a mile.  In fact, Wallace was wide open down the sideline earlier in the half and was overthrown.  NOBODY CAN COVER MIKE WALLACE.

If Ben could only learn to throw a halfway decent deep ball…

The second half began with Ben finally hitting the Flash deep for 23 yards.  A nifty 21 yard run by Rashard Mendenhall (17 carries 100 yards against a fairly stout run defense) where he broke it outside after the lane collapsed highlighted a nine play 74 yard drive he’d eventually finish with a 2 yard plunge.  Two touchdowns in the same game?  By the offense?   Madness!

The Jets immediately answered with their first touchdown drive in 11 quarters.  At mid-field, Mark Sanchez hit Edwards over the middle for 15 yards.  Ryan Clark did what he was supposed to do, attempt to dislodge the the ball from the receiver, and was penalized for it.  It wouldn’t be a Steeler game without a visit from the Ghost of  Bullcrap Personal Fouls Present.  Form perfect hit, led with his shoulder, played football the way it’s supposed to be played, yadda, yadda, yadda…

Clark will no doubt receive a nice Christmas card from the Ginger Grinch over the next few days.

Gifted an undeserved first down on the Steelers 16, the Jets bumbled through three consecutive plays which left them with a 4th and 1.  Desperate Rex Ryan decided to go for it.  Lining up in tight short yardage formation, Gang Green attempted their own bit of trickeration.  Except theirs worked as they even fooled the cameraman who didn’t realize Nacho was running for the border until he was practically across it.

Late in the third, a lousy punt by Jeremy Kapinos failed to pin the Jets deep in their own end.  Later in the drive, Ryan Mundy came in unblocked on a blitz and missed Sanchez, who completed another pass to Edwards for 18 yards.  The defense didn’t play bad yesterday but they just aren’t game changers without Troy Polamalu.  The interceptions and huge plays are one thing but the missed sacks, vanilla blitz schemes, and the way Sanchez was able to use the middle of the field are all things which don’t happen if Troy is playing.

That play to Edwards was key in that it set up another FG.  A couple failed drives later, the Jets pinned the Steelers at their 3.  The punt was good but rookie Antonio Brown had a brainfart by letting it bounce behind him.  Why is Antwaan Randle-El on this team if you aren’t going to use him in those situations?  Captain Faircatch would know better.

On the Steelers first play, Mewelde Moore was thrown for a safety by Woodland Hills alum Jason “Twinkle Toes” Taylor.  Classic dumbassery from Arians.  Why run straight out of your own end zone when you can run sideways?  HE IZ SMATR TEHN U!?!

The safety put the deficit at 5 which was killer because the offense was moving the ball with ease so a game tying field goal would’ve been a mere formality.

Indeed, the defense forced a three and out after the free kick and Big Ben went right to work.  A sack-fumble had the Steelers facing a 3rd and 24 which they converted with a 29 yard pass over the middle to Emmanuel Sanders.  Sanders, who caught 7 balls for 78 yards yesterday, is showing a lot of promise as a slot receiver.  Although his best play was later in the drive where he beat Darrelle Revis like a shoplifter on Black Friday and had his jersey practically torn off his back to prevent him from making  the catch.  Naturally, nothing was called.

I guess pass interference does not exist on Revis Island.

It wasn’t the only near-miss on the drive.  A few plays earlier, Ben hit Flash over the middle for 18 yards to the New York 26.  Had Wallace not slipped making a cut, he would’ve had another 10-15 yards easily.  Shortly after the Sanders no-call, the Steelers had a first down on the Jets 10 with nine second left.  On their first play, Sanders broke free across the back of the end zone but Spaeth undercut the route and got in the way.  On the game’s final play, Spaeth found space in the corner but couldn’t come down with the catch after Ben scrambled to buy time.

Does Heath Miller make that grab?  I dunno.  But if I want somebody to pee their name in the snow, I’d call Spaeth.  If I want somebody to make a catch with the game on the line, I’ll call Heath.

While this loss sucked and the Saints didn’t do the Steelers any favors by some how managing to lose to the Ratbirds, not much has changed.  We still control our own destiny.  Beat the Panthers and Browns and the second seed is ours.  Get in the playoffs, get Troy, Heath, and maybe Aaron Smith back, and I’ll be more than happy to take my chances on a rematch.

Yep, more kicking news.  I think I’ve spent more time this season writing about glorified soccer wash-outs than in the first three years of my blog combined.

To the heartbreak of my female readers (all three of them), Daniel Sepulveda was placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL in his plant leg, ending his season.  Again.  This guy is the most injury-prone punter of all time.  Too bad, too, because this year was the first time he began to consistently show the big leg which enticed the Pittsburgh Steelers to waste a 4th round draft pick on him.

His replacement will be Penn State alum Jeremy Kapinos.  Punting over at Happy Valley was evidently what won him the job as the Steelers were looking for someone used to kicking in inclement weather.  Kapinos played only a handful of NFL games after graduating undrafted in 2007 until finally hooking on with the Packers.  He played all 16 games last year and his averages seem in line with what we got out of Sepulveda.  Green Bay let him go after the season and other than filling in for the Colts when their punter got suspended one game for public intoxication, he hasn’t played this season.

Hey, he couldn’t be any worse than Mitch Berger, right?

When I heard the Steelers were working out punters, I had nightmares of Berger Time 2.  To think that putz has a Super Bowl ring.  Which reminds me, the Steelers won it all with the aid of Mitch’s magnificent soaring 20 yard boots.  Perhaps a busted up punter is the Black and Gold’s version of a four leaf clover. One can only hope…