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PK Olindo Mare, Seattle Seahawks
HT: 5-10, WT: 195, Born: 6-6-1973, College: Syracuse, Drafted: ---
2008 Projections
Best Case
To win the Seahawks' job, Mare will need to beat out rookie Bandon Coutu. More so, he'll probably need Coutu to "lose" the job, since Coutu should have the advantage as he is drafted, younger and cheaper. Mare's leg strength remains his best asset. He has made at least one 50+ yard field goal each of the last six years. He has averaged 63.9 yards on kickoffs during his career, included 65.6 yards in 2006. He's averaged 16 touchbacks a year during his NFL career and that hasn't diminished after ten years. In 2006 he tied his career high of 24 touchbacks, and last year he had 15 despite only handling kickoffs in 11 games. At the other end of the spectrum, he has been perfect on PATs the last four years, after having missed one each of the four previous years.
Worst Case
What factors are working against Mare? It is now nine years since Mare's 1999 career year with 46 field goal attempts, an 84.8% average, and 144 points. Mare followed up his big year with impressive 90.3% and 90.5% averages, but he has since dropped to 77.4%, 75.9%, 75.0%, 83.3%, 72.2% and last year's career low 58.8% (10 of 17). Mare has missed kicks from both short range and long range the last five years. In his final year with the Dolphins in 2006 he missed ten field goals: 55WR, 30WR, 40B, 50WR, 51SH, 52LU, 37B, 50WL, 44WL, 42WL. Although as he will tell you, many of those were from long range, and some were on poor field conditions or the baseball infield dirt. Last year with the Saints he missed seven field goals: 52WL, 38WL, 20B, 54WL, 43WR, 52WR, 57SH. During the 2004 season Mare battled injuries. During the 2007 season Mare battled injuries. He suffered a groin injury in camp, and was unable to handle kickoffs during two regular season games. He later dislocated his hip, missed the final three games and was placed on injured reserve. He had hip surgery during the off-season.
Outlook
Seattle used the franchise tag on Josh Brown last year, and then waited nearly a year to put a big offer on the table. Meanwhile in St. Louis, the aging and injured Jeff Wilkins decided to call it a career. Seemingly before he was finished announcing his retirement, the Rams signed Brown to a huge deal. The Seahawks quickly suggested they would get a veteran and a rookie to compete for the job opening. They followed through by signing the free agent Olindo Mare and drafting Brandon Coutu in the seventh round. Whoever wins the job will be kicking for a team that has done fairly well over the last five years. From 2003 to 2006 Seattle ranked 9th, 11th, 13th, and 13th in kicker scoring. Last year was the best of the bunch as they scored 127 points and ranked 6th in kicker scoring. They did well despite having some longsnapping issues. They're hoping they solved that when they drafted Tyler Schmitt in the 6th round this year.
