Do the Ticats go after free agent K Troy Westwood. I understand he lives in the Toronto area in the off season. He would be an improvement for both jobs.
I would love to see Troy Westwood in black and gold, however, I'm not certain of how old he is and what kind of contract he would necessitate.
Definitely worth looking into though.
Sure, bring him in for a look - competition in TC, especially in areas that could use an upgrade, is key. Westwood shouldn't be handed the job though - he's been an often inconsistent place kicker over his CFL career and he hasn't punted that much and not that great in that department when he has. Doesn't have to be one kicker who does both jobs - if somebody doesn't win both jobs by being good (and not mediocre) at both, then a CFL team should be carrying 2 separate kickers - a place kicker and a punter - the kicking game is wayyyy to important in the CFL and rosters are a touch bigger now. No good reason to settle for one average/sub-par guy doing both jobs - that would be a sign or poor roster use = dumb coaching.
um westwood is 40yrs old guys. I think if hes gonna continue to play in this league he'd be pretty happy to stay rght where he is and finish out a bomber. There are how many colleges in Canada and US that kick out plenty of kickers and punters? so get your scouting cap on and find a guy
Westwood in black and gold would still be a putz.
As surprising as this may be, Jamie Boreham had a slightly better field goal accuracy rate than Troy Westwood in 2005 and 2006:
2005
Boreham- 23 made/32 attempts (71.9% rate)
Westwood- 28 made/40 attempts (70.0% rate)
2006
Boreham- 26 made/36 attempts (72.2% rate)
Westwood- 30 made/43 attempts (69.8% rate)
Boreham also had longer kickoff distances than Westwood in 2005 and 2006:
2005
Boreham- 58.3 yard average
Westwood- 54.3 yard average
2006
Boreham- 61.1 yard average
Westwood- 58.4 yard average
Therefore, the acquisition of Troy Westwood would not improve the Ticat kicking game if he performs the way he did in 2005 and 2006.
New Ticat import kicker Nick Setta had field goal accuracy rates of 75.0% with Cologne (NFL Europe) in 2005 and 70.2% with Rhein (NFL Europe) in 2006.
The other kicker on the roster, non-import Brian Devlin, had a career field goal accuracy rate of 62.9% at Laurier.
The better CFL kickers have a field goal accuracy rate in the range of 80 to 85 per cent. Boreham, Setta and Devlin are not even close to that level at this point in their careers. The Ticats need to keep looking for at least one more field goal kicker to compete with Boreham, Setta and Devlin at training camp.
It's only in the past couple of years that the top CFL FG kickers have been putting up numbers in the 80% + range - McCallum, DeAngelis, Duval and the rookie Congi all had great seasons FG kicking last year. A CFL career 80% + number would be phenomenal - i doubt there is any CFL kicker with those numbers over the long haul (*edit - just looked it up - Dave Ridgway is the CFL's all-time most accurate FG kicker at 78 per cent (minimum 150 attempts); prior to last year, there was a long stretch of a lot of CFL FG kickers having average or mediocre or poor seasons. (Vanderjagt is the NFL's all-time most accurate FG kicker - at 86.5 per cent - and the hash marks are closer together down there and the coaches play it safe more often and don't try as many long FGs - FG kicking is tougher in the CFL, IMO.)
Vanderjagt?
(TCTD) As surprising as this may be, Jamie Boreham had a slightly better field goal accuracy rate than Troy Westwood in 2005 and 2006:Very valid points, TCTD. I also wasn't aware of the fact that he was 40 years of age.
What - you don’t know the guy i mean? Lost without a spell checker?
It is a one word answer NO
The positive about Westwood is that he handles both punting and kicking and frees up cap space under the SMS on top of being a NI starter. The negative is that his misses are usually clutch.
To improve, Hamilton will need to win close games, and clutch kicking is key. Teams don't turn it around by going from worst to first and blowing everybody out. Westwood does not seem to have much strength left in that leg.
It would be an interesting move though, because in a sense, Hamilton gets into the dance by finishing ahead of Winnipeg. The move would force them to fill two roster spots and take money away from every down positions.
LMAO… hows that for a “kick” in the pants of all the boreham bashers…
I like the idea of bringing Westwood to the Cats for the purpose of having one guy handle all the kicking duties but having said that, I don't know if you want to tie up that much money on your kicker.
Nobody likes the idea of paying a kicker a lot of money…Until your team’s “low” priced kicker loses the game or you watch a team that has a “high” priced kicker win the game! A good kicker is worth his weight in gold and often can have more influence on the outcome of a game/season than the other positions that are well paid!!!
why wud we bring a guy into hamilton who hates this place, last year in a article he called us grimmey, n that we r a straight up dirty city... no way wud i want that hick playing 4 my team unless he wants me n i kno sum of u were affended by it booing him on n off the feild regardless of how good he is.