The quiet time of the NFL offseason means you sometimes miss stories, unless they concern another player being arrested. But last week, two interesting things happened: First, the NFL moved extra points from being snapped from the two-yard line to the 15-yard line, and second, the New Orleans Saints cut kicker Shayne Graham.
Now, extra points in the NFL will be between 32 or 33 yards, depending how the kicker lines up, instead of a 20-yard kick. Also, the extra point is a live play, meaning if the defense blocks an extra point, it can return it back to the opposite end zone for two points.
The idea behind the rule change was to add some drama to the game. Extra point attempts had become nearly automatic for a long time in the NFL, so if teams want to go for two points, the ball will still be at the two-yard line.
The Saints deciding to part ways with place kicker Graham about the same time of the rule change was a surprising move for the team. That leaves them with two unproven kickers on the roster: Zach Hocker and Dustin Hopkins. Neither has kicked in a regular season game.
Graham stumbled at the end of last season, finishing two for four in field goal attempts last December and made 19 out of 22 field goal attempts over the season. Even with the slump, the Saints had resigned Graham as a free agent.
The new kicking change should really show up when the weather starts to turn bad in the later part of the season. Here's some good news for New Orleans Saints fans, though: The team doesn't play a potential bad weather game after a Nov. 15 trip to Washington.
After the Washington game, New Orleans finishes with trips to Houston, Tampa Bay and Atlanta. The only other potential bad weather game is an October 11 trip to Philadelphia.
Of course, the Saints shouldn't have any problems kicking at home in the dome, and four of their road games are in domes. The outdoor ones at Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington and Tampa Bay add a degree of difficulty for a new kicker.
The team will need the winner of the Hocker-Hopkins competition to make the new extra point automatic again. I have a feeling some teams will miss the playoff because of a missed extra point or two next season. Lets hope it isn't the Saints who miss the playoffs after they change from a veteran kicker to two unknown kickers. New Orleans needs to get things right to make the most of the last couple of championship years still available with quarterback Drew Brees.
Follow Bryan Flynn at jfpsports.com, @jfpsports and at facebook.com/jfpsports.
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