Miami Dolphins sign kicker Dave Rayner

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dolsign031108,0,5450133.story

Miami Dolphins sign kicker Dave Rayner

By Omar Kelly
Sun-Sentinel.com

3:58 PM EDT, March 11, 2008

The Dolphins continue their work to improve the special teams, signing kicker Dave Rayner to a one-year contract on Tuesday according to his agent.

Rayner, a former Michigan State standout who was selected by the Colts in the sixth-round of the 2005 draft, spent a portion of last season with the San Diego Chargers.

He was signed by San Diego at the end of the season to serve as a kickoff specialist when starter Nate Kaeding injured his foot making a tackle on kickoff coverage.

Last season Rayner, 25, averaged 63.9 yards on his seven kickoffs for the Chargers, who had Kaeding continue handling the field goals and extra points.

Rayner, whose 334 points makes him Michigan State's all-time leading scorer, has also played for the Packers and Chiefs. He's 41-of-58 on field goal attempts, converting 14-of-24 attempts longer than 40 yards. He's also converted 45-of-46 extra point attempts.

He's well respected for his kickoffs, which happens to be Jay Feely's weakness. Last season, Feely averaged a career-low 57.8 yards on kickoffs.

The Dolphins new coaches have expressed an interest in having punter Brandon Fields handle the kickoffs in training camp. That means Rayner would have to prove he's beaten his accuracy issues to unseat Feely, who had a career year last season (converting 21 of 23 field goals), for the starting job.

[DZA]

Ummm Dont we have  Jay  Feely 

[dolphins4life]

It would be a good idea to keep 2 kickers.  Feely for the short FGs and Raymer for the kickoffs.

[TonyB0D]

Ummm Dont we have  Jay  Feely 

yes, but he SUCKS at kickoffs.

[DolFan619]

Ummm Dont we have  Jay  Feely 

  Yep, the Dolphins do indeed have Jay Feely!  However, as Tony pointed out, Feely is weak on kickoffs.  Kickoffs are Dave Rayner's strength, his FG accuracy leaves a bit to be desired.  Personally, I just see Rayner as camp fodder.  Teams usually bring in another kicker for Training Camp.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/03/11/dont_be_so_sure_rayner_cant_su.html

Don’t be so sure Rayner can’t supplant Feely’s foot

By Tim Graham | Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 09:27 PM

On the surface, the Dolphins signing of Dave Rayner doesn’t look like much. They got a kickoff specialist who can offer Jay Feely a little competition in training camp.

After all, there wouldn’t be any reason to replace Feely, right? Feely might have been the most reliable player on Miami’s roster last year.

Two items to remember about Bill Parcells in this case: 1) He doesn’t trust kickers easily; and 2) he’s not too fond of outspoken players who enjoy the microphones and TV cameras.

Look out, Jay Feely.

“One thing you can say about a Bill Parcells team,” Rayner’s agent, Paul Sheehy, said. “The best player makes the roster.”

Sheehy knows what he’s talking about. He represents Billy Cundiff, who kicked for the Cowboys from 2002 until 2005, frequently landing in the Parcells doghouse.

“I know all too well,” Sheehy said with a laugh. “That is a big part of why we went with the Dolphins. If I didn’t know that about Bill Parcells, we might not have done the deal.”

Cundiff had an injury-plagued camp in 2005 and surprisingly was replaced by kickoff specialist Jose Cortez. Shaun Suisham then replaced Cortez, and Cundiff eventually was brought back in November.

Cundiff was cut again in December after missing a pair of field goals. Suisham was re-signed for the season finale.

Rayner was the kickoff specialist for the Colts in 2005 and the Packers’ all-purpose kicker in 2006. He kicked for the Chiefs and Chargers last year, going to the playoffs with the latter.

Rayner is “an excellent field goal kicker,” Sheehy said. “Dave has his work cut out for him, but he’s going to battle.

“If we didn’t know Dave was going to have the opportunity to compete for the job we wouldn’t have pulled the trigger on the deal.”

[Defense54]

 
http://www.miamiherald.com/616/story/452730.html


Even if Rayner isn't capable of competing with Feely as a field goal kicker, there remains a chance the team could find roster space to maintain strength on kickoffs.

In a league that has seen an influx of impressive kick returners, the notion of having a kicker available to boot the ball deep into the end zone is increasingly more appealing to teams around the league.


I LOVE this move. This is the the kind of out of the box thinking this team has been lacking . Better days are ahead.  

  

[fyo]

NO WAY are we keeping 3 players whose sole job it is to kick the ball on the final roster.

I don't believe in the combined kicker-punter thing that Atlanta tries to pull off every year... and has to bring in 46-year-old Morten Andersen to bail them out.

1 kicker and 1 punter is the sweet spot these days.

I'll go out on a very, very short limb and predict that we won't have all 3 on our roster come September!

And since neither Feely nor Rayner can punt, I'll extend my prediction and say we cut one of them ;-)

[dolphins4life]

Cutting Feely would be foolish.

I'll take the accuracy in the short game over distance any day.

[TonyB0D]

hopefully fields can learn to kick the ball off well.  he has one of the strongest legs in the league; he's a beast.

[Defense54]

Cutting Feely would be foolish.

I'll take the accuracy in the short game over distance any day.

Miami needs to stop depending on Field goals for points. We need to concentrate on field posistion for 7 points not 3.  Thats the mindset I am SOOOOOO glad Miami has finally seemed to have shaken.