A Blair Walsh clone.

Well, not exactly uncharted if you're a geezer and still sort of have your wits about you. Ya see, *snaps suspenders* from 1968 when Don Chandler retired to 1971 when the Packers drafted Chester Marcol it was Kickerfest in Green Bay, and boy oh boy was it ever an ordeal. It's a saga filled with names like Booth Lusteg, Mike Mercer, Errol Mann, Jerry Kramer, Chuck Mercein, Joe Runk, Skip Butler, Tom Dempsey, Charlie Durkee, Dave Conway, Lou MIchaels (yes, that Lou MIchaels) and many, many more! If you struggled to kick a football, we're a self-taught kicker, or even an "ambilateral kicker", Green Bay was the place to be.

Cliff Christl has a great accounting of that dark time. Search "packers kicking woes 1968 to 1971." There were far more awful twists and now laughable events than I remember living through at the time.

Here's hoping we don't revisit that era anytime soon.

Carlson has been Bisaccia's folly. My guess is that Bisaccia used his standing to persuade Gutekunst to draft Carlson in 2023. Perhaps Bisaccia thought that he was getting a younger version of Daniel Carlson. Except no two persons are exactly the same despite their similar genotype. For instance, Wayne Gretzky had 2 brothers - who were little more than minor leaguers. While Jose Canseco had a twin brother - who only played a handful of MLB games. Even the great race horse “Secretatriat” - had several brothers and sisters. All of whom did nothing special.

Nor do I blame Carlson for the Packers tenuous kicking situation. In college he was just a mediocre kicker who tried to perform above his abilities in the NFL*. No, this blunder is on Bisaccia. And with his special teams dropping down 7 places in 2023 – to 29th overall. Perhaps while Gutekunst scouts for a better Kicker – he should also be considering a better special teams coach.

* Kickers should rarely be drafted. They often do not succeed in the NFL.

Ranking kickers' seasons by total number of points scored is, um, pointless.

There was a comment by Mike Spofford over at packers.com relating to Carlson and Joseph. He mentioned the ball came off Joseph's foot with more zip than Carlson's. Maybe the thought process was Joseph would have more success in the colder weather. I just know starting in the second half of last season, I got nervous every time they attempted an extra point or field goal, and I think probably most fans, team mates, and coaches did the same.

I'm sure the first few games, the trepidation will creep in, until Joseph can prove he's the man. We can always hope.

I keep pointing to the folly of special teams. You would think people would recognize the inherent futility of paying $$$$to your QB, WR, etc., and then letting a minimum wage, bottom-of-the-roster, 22 year old go there, amped full of adrenaline, and do something to screw it up, and it happens a helluva lot more often than a "big return".

I don't know what people want in a kicker anymore. The new kickoff rules de-prioritizes having a leg that can kick it out of the endzone, so now we're just looking at what he does with the goal posts. Obviously, being automatic from inside the 40 isn't enough.

Me? I would do what I could to prevent special teams ...theirs or ours....from hurting us. That means I wouldn't attempt long FGs unless it was the end of the half or the game, since a missed FG is a turnover. I'd go for two points after TDs, and I'd go for it on 4th down inside the 40. I'd take the kicker out of the game except for automatic FGs (inside the 23 yard line, a 40 yard kick),and most of the time I'd go for it instead of taking the short FG. I mean, FGs are nice but TDs win games.