Ravens waive Kracalik, Hauschka

Although the Ravens had a day off today, the personnel department was active. Steve Hauschka, a rookie kicker from North Carolina State, and Mike Kracalik, a second-year tackle from San Diego State, were waived ...

[dyno don]

Good to see Edgar Jones back. It appears he could be that rare player who can play well on both sides of the ball.

[Ray]

Sorry to see Hauschka waived. Perhaps insignificant at first glance, but Stover's short kickoffs last year often gave the other teams an additional 10-15 yards in starting field position. I thought Harbaugh, as a special teams guy, recognized the value of having a guy who can kick it deep. Apparently only for one game.

[Chris from Baltimore]

Too bad for Kracalik....he worked very hard for the last three years to try and make the club. He's been on the practice squad for the last two. He finally made last cuts this year, only to get the ax after the first game.

Good luck #74, and I'm sure you'll land on your feet soon. Plenty of teams are looking for good, versatile offensive linemen.

[itssteeven]

offensive Lineman?......who needs em....j/k....i thought they would have kept him over Derrick Martin......

[skaybaltimore]

Ray wrote:

Sorry to see Hauschka waived. Perhaps insignificant at first glance, but Stover's short kickoffs last year often gave the other teams an additional 10-15 yards in starting field position. I thought Harbaugh, as a special teams guy, recognized the value of having a guy who can kick it deep. Apparently only for one game.

I agree. They did the same thing last year with Rhys Lloyd -- cutting him every other week, then bringing him back -- until finally the Panthers grabbed him, and he's their starting kicker now with a multi-year contract.

(I also wonder why they did nothing about Piotr Czech -- who didn't miss a field goal attempt the entire preseason/training camp.)

[Ace]

Unfortunately a 2nd kicker is not a great use of a roster spot. While a great field goal kicker might be harder to find, I would imagine that there more than a few solid kick-off specialists emerging from the college ranks every year. Now if a guy like Czech or Lloyd goes on to have a career like Matt Stover, we can then ask ourselves what we missed.

[Ali Vali]

we need Czech in our Practice Squad. Dude can KICK. Stover is about to be done so a young gun like Czech is what we need. Rhys Lloyd has a monster leg too, but we didn't see it I guess.

[skaybaltimore]

Ace wrote:

Unfortunately a 2nd kicker is not a great use of a roster spot. While a great field goal kicker might be harder to find, I would imagine that there more than a few solid kick-off specialists emerging from the college ranks every year. Now if a guy like Czech or Lloyd goes on to have a career like Matt Stover, we can then ask ourselves what we missed.

Riiiight....just like RTs are easy to find.

Not.

[Bruce]

Ali Vali wrote:

we need Czech in our Practice Squad. Dude can KICK. Stover is about to be done so a young gun like Czech is what we need. Rhys Lloyd has a monster leg too, but we didn't see it I guess.

I stated in here the first time I ever saw Lloyd kick, that they were crazy if they ever let Lloyd go. I still can't figure that one out.