Why are there 2 separate players who each specialize in the placekicking and the punting in American football?

Question

Why should Ben Graham miss out?

I find it a pain in the *** because Ben Graham (Australian) may well be a great placekicker for the New York Jets however Mike Nugent takes all the glory because a the silly structure.

Answer 1

Because each is a very specialized position, and it is best to have one player spend all of their practice time improving skills relevant to the position. In lower levels of football, it is less specialized (when I played in high school, our kicker was also a fullback and defensive end). In the pros, so much rides on a given kick or punt that they figure it is worth the salary cap space and roster slot to have a specialist who can down a punt inside the opponent's ten, or who can hit a 55 yard field goal. Some teams even have two kickers, one who is a kickoff specialist (and possibly does some of the long field goals), and one who kicks extra points and most field goals within a given range.

Answer 2

It's two different styles of kickng. A pnuter needs more of a strong leg, but not necessarily as much accuracy. THe placekicker needs to be more accurate and only needs a strong enough leg to kick the ball roughly 50 yards or so.

Answer 3

there's 2 kinds of kicks, one that produces a tip over tip roll, like a forward somersault. This is hard to catch and is preferred for punting to make things harder for the opposing team

Then there's the spiralling kick, a certain motion that makes the ball travel through the air like a spiral pass. This is for distance and accuracy, and it's for goals.

Teams can often afford one kicker for each situation.