Most Intriguing Training Camp Battles, No. 3: Placekicker

To say the battle between Jay Feely and Dan Carpenter intrigues me isn't really accurate. Rather, this battle worries me. It worries me because of the fact that it's even a battle at all.

As laughable as it is now, I actually had to defend replacing Olindo Mare with Jay Feely to Dolphins fans last offseason. As we all know, Feely was outstanding last season, setting the Dolphins' single-season field goal percentage record at 91.3. Meanwhile, Mare was horrible beyond words. (Though not beyond numbers, ones like 58.8 percent.)

Despite Feely's fantastic performance last season, it seems that Parcells doesn't take kindly to his outspoken nature in the media. I for one could not care less. If my kicker does as well as Feely did last year, he can go on profanity-laden tirades daily. But Parcells does not agree, and he's exerting his authority over arguably the Dolphins' MVP of the 2007 season.

Admittedly, Feely is not that strong on kickoffs and that is another reason for this competition. In 2007, he ranked 31st in the NFL in kickoff average and 15th in touchbacks. (Note: numbers exclude players with fewer than 10 kickoffs.) That being said, 90+ percent field goal kickers are hard to find, and it's a trade-off I'm willing to make.

With Dave Rayner having been released, the lone challenger is undrafted free agent Dan Carpenter. Carpenter has a hell of a leg with a career long field goals of 54-yards at the University of Montana. He progressed each of his four years in terms of field goal percentage, from 62.1 as a freshman, 66.7 as a sophomore, 80.0 a a junior and 82.6 as a senior. He also handled full-time punting duties his junior year.

The position(s): Placekicker

Number of spots: One

The contenders: Jay Feely, Dan Carpenter

Predicted winner(s): Feely

Reason: Kickoff struggles or no, Feely was just too good last season to cut loose. Carpenter would have to blow him away in camp to earn the job, and that just does not seem likely. Carpenter would be a strong kickoff specialist, but I've never been a big fan of using two roster spots on kickers. If it's all that important, why not just have punter Brandon Fields, who also has a great leg, work at it?

Catching up

Well the summer isn't over by a long shot, but it's already been pretty eventful for me. Unfortunately, that has caused me to fall a little behind on my updates here. It feels like I say this every time I post actually, but oh well. Gotta work on that.

So, on that note, let's catch up on some Dolphins-related happenings.

PK Dave Rayner released

Three kickers heading into camp was a little excessive, and the Dolphins decided to give undrafted rookie Dan Carpenter a shot at unseating Jay Feely instead of journeyman Dave Rayner. Parcells has said that Feely's job is far from safe, due primarily to his talkative nature off the field. I for one do not believe Feely loses this job, as he was simply too good last year and Carpenter would have to be flawless to show he's the better guy for field goals. Carpenter definitely has the edge when it comes to kickoffs, but in the end I'm more concerned about the points and Feely was one of the best in the league last year. If he's not Miami's placekicker come September, I'll be surprised.

People finally figure out Tab Perry is on I.R.

A while back when Tab Perry was waived/injured, I explained here that if he cleared waivers (which was practically assured) he'd revert to injured reserve. A bunch of media outlets reports this story wrong, and even the Dolphins website deleted him from the roster altogether for a few weeks. It seems everyone has caught back up now, as the site has re-added Perry to the reserve list section of the roster. Good job, guys.

Cameron Worrell signs with Jets

Former Dolphins safety Cameron Worrell, who missed part of last season with a torn ACL and was released on April 24 after failing a physical, has signed with the division rival New York Jets. I'm actually pretty surprised Worrell was able to pass the Jets' physical. He's by no means a lock to make the team, or without the injury. He abilities are really limited to special teams, and all I can say is if he's starting on your defense then your team has problems.

2008 Draft Analysis: Undrafted Free Agents

This is my final video out of the six that I did to catch back up, and it's on the 17 undrafted free agents the Dolphins have added since the conclusion of the 2008 NFL Draft. 15 are still on the roster so it will be interesting to see who makes the final cut in 2008.