On Sunday Derrick Frost the Punter for the Washington Redskins called me and informed me that he had been cut by the Redskins and already a couple teams were talking to his agent about flying him in for workouts this week.
When I talked to Derrick, he had no idea the Green Bay Packers were interested.
Early Monday morning I received a call from Gil Scott the agent for Jon Ryan informing me that his client had just been cut from the Green Bay Packers and that one of my long time students, and former players, Derrick Frost had just been signed to replace him.
I was shocked when Gil told me the news. Jon Ryan had just completed an excellent training camp and put up some good numbers and made some big plays!
However, in several published articles, management sited slow get offs, his inability to directional punt and inconsistency as the reasons to make the change.
This Spring Jon's agent Gil Scott was trying to get Jon to Arizona to work on some of these skills, however, we were unable to get together for various reasons.
Tuesday night Jon Ryan and I talked and he confirmed that he is flying into Scottsdale, Arizona for some One on One Punting Lessons.
Jon would like me or another set of eyes to check out his punting style and make an evaluation.
When I was the Special Teams Coach with the Arizona Cardinals we played the Packers and I thought Jon had a very strong leg and was a pretty good punter, especially punting on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.
I don't know how many punters that punt in Green Bay, Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo and New England put up big numbers consistently. The key for most of these punters is consistency and punting for the situation of the game. The weather is such a major factor in passing, kicking and punting in some of these cold weather NFL cities.
Derrick Frost was cut because the Redskins said he trailed off the last couple games of last season. I saw about three of those games on T.V. and the wind was blowing at about 25 to 30 miles per hour.
Derrick out punted the other teams punter but management and press sometimes only look at the stats not the situation.
Jon might have gotten the boot but there will be another team that needs a strong legged punter and it might be a team in a warmer climate.
I'm looking forward to meeting and working with former Green Bay Packer Punter, Jon Ryan this weekend and I hope I can help him with any issues that need to be addressed.
Also, coming into town on Thursday is Ryan West for some One on One Snapping Lessons. Ryan was the long snapper for the University of Tennessee for the last couple of years. He signed a free agent contract in 2007 and was in camp with the Atlanta Falcons. I am also looking forward to meeting and working with Ryan on his snapping technique.
Stay tuned for more of Coach Zauner's Blog!
