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PK Josh Scobee, Jacksonville Jaguars
HT: 6-1, WT: 190, Born: 6-23-1982, College: Louisiana Tech, Drafted: Round 5
2008 Projections
Best Case
During warm-ups before the first game last year, Scobee injured his kicking leg quadriceps and was used sparingly during the game. He then missed the next eight games due to the injury, and veteran John Carney was brought in to substitute. When Scobee returned he did very well, except for a missed PAT. In half a year's work, he was 12 of 13 (92.3%) on field goals and 26 of 27 on PATs. The Jaguars also did well when Scobee returned for the final seven games. They scored 8.3 kicking ppg during that homestretch, after having scored only 5.7 kicking ppg during the first nine games. If Scobee and the Jaguars can pick up where they left off last year, he could return to being a top ten kicker.
Worst Case
Coming off a year in which Scobee missed eight games is an obvious reminder that a player needs to remain healthy to be fantasy contributor. The Jaguars' special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis commented on Scobee's situation, "Obviously, he was better than the year before. I feel good about him. We have to get him healthy for an entire OTA, training camp and regular season. We have to get him to where he understands that he's got to be a good workout guy in the offseason."
Outlook
The Jaguars languished in the bottom third of the kicker scoring rankings (24th, 25th, 25th, & 28th) from 2001 to 2004. In 2005 they improved to 15th, and in 2006 they jumped up to 6th with 119 points. It was their first top ten finish since 1999. Last year the combination of Scobee and Carney scored 109 points, and the team ranked 19th in kicker scoring. The coaching staff and offensive personnel once again remain intact. Scobee has a very realistic chance of returning to the top ten. The Jaguars re-signed Scobee to a five-year deal prior to the 2007 season, and for good reasons. Head coach Jack Del Rio noted, "He made significant improvement with his mechanics and accuracy. We've asked him to kick a lot of long field goals. He's a really good young player at that position." In his first two years after winning the original epic preseason battle over Seth Marler, Jeff Chandler, and Steve Christie in 2004, Scobee was an adequate placekicker. In his third year he showed signs of improvement. After missing three field goal attempts from under 40 yards during his rookie year, he has missed only one in each of the next two years, and none last year. He has also improved his long range accuracy. Over his first two years he was only 13 of 23 on field goals from 40+ yards. The last two years he was 17 of 23. Scobee's biggest strength is kickoffs. He had a big leg on kickoffs in college and was able to immediately make the transition to the NFL, something which not all kickers do. He has averaged over 65.3 yards on kickoffs, and had 11, 20, 21, and 12 (in eight games) touchbacks.
