Josh out for Season
In what amounts to a huge break for the Stillers, Josh Miller has been placed on IR and is done for the season.� Josh has some sort of shoulder malady that apparently prevents him from punting the ball with his foot.�
No ill will to Josh and his health, of course.� We wish him a speedy recovery, so that he might be able to move on to his life�s work in a painless, enjoyable manner.� But the bigger picture for this football team is this: with the signing of former Bronco and Giant punter Tom Rouen, the Stillers have a chance to significantly upgrade their punting spot at an exorbitantly reduced hit on their salary cap.� Like the rib injury that allowed the Stillers to replace the woeful Todd Peterson -- who kicked like a drunken Norm Peterson -- this shoulder injury allows the Stillers to employ a far better all-around punter at a fraction of the salary cap cost.�
Fact is, Josh Miller has, for far too long, been far too
over-rated, and is eating far too much of the scarce salary cap.� With Rouen, Stiller fans -- and hopefully
management -- will realize that Josh Miller is not the do all and end all of
NFL punting.� Contrary to popular
belief, Josh Miller is not the God of Punting.�
Josh Miller is not in the same category, not by a long shot, as Ray
Guy.�
Miller is what he is:�
a mediocre punter whom the fans felt sorry for when he sucked ass on
national TV in J-ville back in �97.�
While Miller has improved from those barfy days, he isn�t close to being
an elite punter, nor is he even remotely worth what the Stillers pay him per
annum.� Josh, supposedly the God of
Punting, is currently ranked 8th in the AFC in punting.� Josh routinely takes forever -- and then
some -- to get his punts off, oftentimes taking the opportunity to study the
authenticity of Paul Tagliabue�s signature on the side of the football.� This overt lack of haste and �pocket
presence� by Josh has significantly factored in to the plethora of blocked punts
the past couple of seasons.� Josh is
supposedly the God of �directional punting�, but in last year�s AFC title game,
Josh punted a boot of average length right down the exact middle of the
field, and Troy Brown fielded it and ran in for a huge touchdown.� Josh and his pathetic head coach, Billy
Cowher, both whined that Josh had to kick the ball from a different hash.� This, of course, was a feeble, pathetic
excuse, because, as we all know, the hashes are only 5.5 yards from the
middle.� It wasn�t like Josh moved from
one sideline, and went 52 yards over to the other sideline.�� A measly 16-some feet, and Josh --
supposedly God�s gift to �directional punting� -- couldn�t come close to
getting the job done.� This season, Josh
has been as mediocre as they come.�
Rarely has he pinned teams deep inside their own 5, and more often than
not, he�s out kicked his coverage with horribly shabby hang time.�
Rouen has had a stellar NFL career -- far better, in fact, than Schlosh Miller.� In fact, when I met with Chiefs� GM Carl Peterson in-person back in early November, he was surprised, as was I, that Rouen was let go by the Giants.
Summing it all up, the Stillers get a classic win-win and a classic �addition by subtraction�.� Signed from the ranks of the nation�s unemployed, Rouen has no leverage, and will get a small-dollar deal with a paltry bonus.� If Rouen boots well down the stretch and in the playoffs, we could be looking at not only an improvement in our punting, but also a tremendous savings in our salary cap�savings that would help enable us to sign, say, a quality 3rd corner, or a backup QB, or a starting RB, etc.�
�
Assuming all goes well on his physical today, Rouen will be
booting punts for the Stillers on Monday evening down in Tampa.� Welcome aboard, Tom !!