Competition vs. Confidence: The Right Approach?
by Matt Conner on Aug 4, 2009 11:47 AM CDT
in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp
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PrintWe've kicked around the debate (pun intended) of Ryan Succop vs. Connor Barth or even some others still available on the market. Yet in the end, it seems our decisive Captain of the Watch went Gostkowski on us and handed the young guy the job on a silver platter. For many of us, we believe Pioli and Co. know what they are doing and the move feels a good vote of confidence to bolster the early career nerves of a rookie like Succop.
On the other side, we hail the signings of those like Mike Brown who will push our young guys and seize the job they believed to be "theirs" in the secondary before his arrival. The same could be said of the offseason LB and WR signings of veterans with enough left in the tank to still be productive on the field and push our young guys to new levels. It's the thought that confidence breeds the best (or worst) in a player and that's exactly what you need in training camp and beyond.
But it brings up an interesting debate. On one hand, you have the personnel move of instilling confidence in a guy by saying, "You have nothing to worry about. The job is completely yours." Most of the time, it's beyond pandering to a guy's ego. Instead, there's something uplifting - inspiring, even - about being told that you're the first and last option and it's up to you to get the job done. The hope, therefore, is that a guy like Succop realizes the gift he's been bestowed and goes out respecting it enough to work his butt off.
On the other hand, the beast of competition breathes fiercely down the necks of most NFL players. One bad game, one injury to sideline you for a few weeks, and your job is thrown onto the ground like raw meat before a pack of wolves. One minute, you're the team's definite starter at that position; the next, a groin pull reveals your "old age" (which in NFL terms is hilariously dubbed your late-twenties) and fans are calling for you to stay on the sideline. And that competitive thirst, hopefully, raises the level of gameplay in each and every guy praying they will get their chance on the gridiron.
It's not a formula. There's no front office flowchart that says give the kicker the easy time, give the unknown QB (as some have called him) a mega-extension. You'd think competition would be a beautiful thing for all involved, but, in some instances, the Chiefs new regime seem fine resting the mantle of leadership on a guy's shoulders and letting him own it completely with no thought of anything but being game-ready. And when you think about it, those approaches make sense.
Yet in these other places, it's interesting that in the spots on the field the Chiefs seem the most prepared or set, we introduce new players like Travis Daniels or Mike Brown to only further increase the level of competition and talent. And when we, as fans, see that happen, we applaud it as if it should happen at every position.
For some players, the vote of confidence will hopefully be the thing that raises their gaze, their stature and their playing ability. For others, it will be that looming threat over their shoulder that they better not miss this chance. And we can only hope in each case that the right cards have been played with the right positions.
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It is not Succop's job just yet...
Haley did say that he could be replaced or provided competition at any time through the many veteran kickers that are around at this time of the year. If Succop starts missing regularly…he could just have that competition on the field again.
The beast breathes upon them all
From Haley’s interview on 7/31:Q:
Has Ryan Succup won the job as kicker or will you still be looking?
HALEY: "The competition has definitely not been eliminated. I could probably pull out a list right now of veteran kickers that are staying ready. But with the roster numbers this year it definitely is a crunch to try to do what you want to do and who you can afford to lose. (Waived kicker) Connor (Barth) was a guy who worked really hard in the off-season and did a commendable job last year. The competition is on for everybody."
Q: So Ryan should continue to rent?
HALEY: "I told all the guys they’re competing not only with the guys on this practice field but really guys at every other training camp that’s going on."
I hardly call that telling a guy he has nothing to worry about and that the job is his. Competition is a good thing but they have only so many roster spots to maintain and he said this about the decision:
Q: You must have felt comfortable letting your field goal kicker from last year go to keep Ryan Succop, your draft choice?
HALEY: "I don’t know if I was necessarily comfortable. The numbers have to come from somewhere to get all these rookies signed. You may only have one field goal in a game in the pre-season. This was the best direction to go right now."
In terms of the kicker competition, there is just not enough kicking going on to truly evaluate two guys is how I read what Haley says. Would they prefer to have to kickers here and have them going at it? I think they really would. But as any of us who have sat down with the roster and started trying to figure who the right 53 are, it is not an easy task. Sure there are a few you could cut away right now and not feel bad about. But I think they are more concerned with having the competition focused on LB and OL and maybe WR than kicker right now. The only way to have max players competing for multiple spots is to only have one kicker. We already know how Barth kicks. We already know how a bunch of other guys kick. What we don’t know is just how the other guys will fit together.
I also really take Haley at his word that the competition is not only among the players in this camp, but among all the camps. There will be guys getting cut, and if who is here now doesn’t show us enough they will be replaced by guys who are cut elsewhere. Yesterdays tryouts were a strong indication that we are not done reviewing available talent. Nobody should be feeling that they have things locked down here.
Chiefs go 9-7. LJ makes 1400 yards. DBowe makes 1200 yards. Defense #18.
Take one kicker every year
The only exception is when you have two guys you believe would get scooped up immediately if they were released from the roster.
Other players need cohesion, practice with the playbook, and reps in order to understand situations during the season. Not just the threat of competition.
Regarding Cassel’s big contract and telling him the job is his? There will never be a better example of continuing to earn your spot than our current head coach with Leinart and Warner. Balance complacency and fear. Find the peak performance zone.
Regarding Brown, Pollard, Page. May be an excellent case of competition helping motivate players to continue improving. (Plus good depth. Not just a young guy on the roster who “needs to be ready to go.”)
Kicker are a different breed
they’re a lot like golfers. A large part of their success is what’s going on between their ears.
competition vs. roster spot
i think the issue here is that the chiefs don’t want to risk having the roster spot taken up by a “tryout” kicker just for the sake of competition for succop. they’d rather use the roster spot for competition at another position. Then, if succop doesn’t work out, they know they can find a kicker on the waiver wire or on a bunch of local high school fields most anytime…(hello, John Carney here…)
Smitty
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