Packers sign P Pat O'Donnell

[Deleted member 6794]

According to Tom Pelissero the team has signed the former Bears' punter.

 

[tynimiller]

Honestly he's been a solid and consistent punter for years...don't dislike it.

*Edit: clearly I am misremembering him. Seems he struggled last year and ranked 31st in net average and 32nd in average hangtime....not necessarily what you'd want...

 

[Pkrjones]

A lot depends on what the Bear's coaches needed from him. If the main goal was to flip the field & bail out a stalled offense (which I'm guessing happened A LOT) then lower, line drive punts for distance may have been a reason for low hang-time. I always thought he was a solid punter so let's see if Bisaccia brings out his best in GB?

 

[milani]

According to Tom Pelissero the team has signed the former Bears' punter.

I am satisfied. He knows how to punt. We will not see any 80 yard boomers but hopefully our ST coach can get us to protect and cover. Not sure if he was a holder in Chicago.

 

[milani]

Honestly he's been a solid and consistent punter for years...don't dislike it.

*Edit: clearly I am misremembering him. Seems he struggled last year and ranked 31st in net average and 32nd in average hangtime....not necessarily what you'd want...

Numbers are not there but he knows how to punt. I imagine if he comes out very ineffective the Packers will not hesitate to make another change. But face it, he comes at doable price and he has plenty of experience in cold, windy Soldier Field.

 

[McKnowledge]

Punters punt. As long as he has quality blockers upfront, someone who can hold the damn ball in pressure moments, and he remains calm and does his job...then its all good.

 

[milani]

And if our offense moves the ball as it did in 2019 and 2020 he may not be punting as much as Bojo did in 2021.

 

[tynimiller]

Punters punt. As long as he has quality blockers upfront, someone who can hold the damn ball in pressure moments, and he remains calm and does his job...then its all good.

JK Scott proves this isn't the case.....

 

[Pkrjones]

JK Scott proves this isn't the case.....

The only thing wrong with Scott was consistency. He'd have 3 pretty nice punts and then #4 would be a 25 yard shank, usually at an inopportune time.

 

[tynimiller]

The only thing wrong with Scott was consistency. He'd have 3 pretty nice punts and then #4 would be a 25 yard shank, usually at an inopportune time.

But he knew how to punt, and had adaquate blocking...

 

[Dantés]

They will carry 2 punters into camp on the 90 man roster. O'Donnell could be no more than a place holder. They could draft one, sign one in UDFA, or sign one that gets cut later, or all of the above.

 

[tynimiller]

They will carry 2 punters into camp on the 90 man roster. O'Donnell could be no more than a place holder. They could draft one, sign one in UDFA, or sign one that gets cut later, or all of the above.

I concur, an UDFA will be added to compete.

 

[milani]

JK Scott proves this isn't the case.....

True, but O'Donnell must have done something right to stick around for 8 years in a league in which there are only 32 jobs with a lot of applicants. JK Scott proved this isn't the case and lost his job barely into his career.

 

[tynimiller]

They will carry 2 punters into camp on the 90 man roster. O'Donnell could be no more than a place holder. They could draft one, sign one in UDFA, or sign one that gets cut later, or all of the above.

Nevermind I disagree now seeing the deal is 2 years for $4M with like $1.6M guaranteed....yeah he is being given the job.

 

[gopkrs]

I don't know how so many can disregard the really bad stats he has. And the Bears let him go. A lot of you are already making excuses for him. A head scratcher for me.

 

[tynimiller]

I don't know how so many can disregard the really bad stats he has. And the Bears let him go. A lot of you are already making excuses for him. A head scratcher for me.

FTR he wasn't let go, his contract ended. I am very hesitant on him as well personally.

 

[Pkrjones]

FTR he wasn't let go, his contract ended. I am very hesitant on him as well personally.

I'm guessing Bisaccia had some input into this signing, so maybe we should trust the highest paid ST Coordinator that he knows something about Punters? I'll put slightly more weight into Bisaccia's opinion than some forum skeptics.

 

[KiDcUdI]

I don't know how so many can disregard the really bad stats he has. And the Bears let him go. A lot of you are already making excuses for him. A head scratcher for me.

Thats just Packers fans. They use some weird copium techniques to rationalize some of the putrid decisions this team makes.

I wasnt a fan of Bojo. He started off hot but really sucked as the year winded down. On top of that he was just a really bad holder somehow. I never understood how you could be bad at just a simple task. Gotta say Im not thrilled with this one either on first glance. Ill have to see how it shakes out but its a decent contract for a punter. O'Donnell is the 11th highest paid punter in the league as of now. I just want consistency from the position. I dont care about big booming punts or pinning them deep inside the 20. Just punt fair catches and touchbacks and Ill be happy at this point. Im just tired of the shanks. I think its safe to say at this point Gute is clueless on evaluating punters. He hasnt found one yet and was part of the previous regime that couldnt get one either.

 

[milani]

Nevermind I disagree now seeing the deal is 2 years for $4M with like $1.6M guaranteed....yeah he is being given the job.

I think Gute had so much work to do with the salary cap and deciding who goes and who stays that he just wanted this one out of the way. We probably can live with adequate and satisfactory level punting but we cannot afford ST units that cannot block for the kicker or the punter or cover downfield. Now that burden will start with the new ST coach.

 

[tynimiller]

I'll take a middle of the road punter on punting but he better dang well mesh good as the holder with our LS and Crosby - otherwise jettison his butt quick.

 

[tynimiller]

I mean I'll go as far as to say there is a chance (no guarantee) we win more with JK Scott than Bojo because it was clear Bojo was worse at place holding than Scott was without question.

 

[milani]

I'll take a middle of the road punter on punting but he better dang well mesh good as the holder with our LS and Crosby - otherwise jettison his butt quick.

Well, O'Donnell did hold for the Bears over the years for numerous kickers including Robbie Gould. He also was used 15 times to kickoff and had 10 touchbacks. Now that may be something to consider if we think Crosby is starting to fade on kickoffs.

 

[milani]

I mean I'll go as far as to say there is a chance (no guarantee) we win more with JK Scott than Bojo because it was clear Bojo was worse at place holding than Scott was without question.

True. Scott had bigger hands than Bojo.

 

[lambeaulambo]

lets get buggys assessment b4 placing blame or assessment....my initial thought is that buggy will be angry...lol

 

[gopkrs]

FTR he wasn't let go, his contract ended. I am very hesitant on him as well personally.

I don't know if they offered him anything but obviously they did not go very far out of their way to keep him. That is kind of like letting him walk imho.