James Collins

[UDFootballFan]

Has entered the portal.....I wish we would give the DE kickers a chance instead of bringing in transfers yearly.

[77HEN]

Has entered the portal.....I wish we would give the DE kickers a chance instead of bringing in transfers yearly.

Agreed, but kickers are unique. You don't need to question the quality of competition that they go up against. You can judge kickers in a vacuum if you like. Although, admittedly, you need to judge how they do under pressure to perform.

[UDFootballFan]

You dont know how they perform in a game situation if they arent given a shot to perform in a game.

[dovetail]

I never saw the practices but I can say this kid was almost automatic from any distance in H.S.

[77HEN]

You dont know how they perform in a game situation if they arent given a shot to perform in a game.

True dat. But there are existing kickers and the staff has had the chance to see how they perform in a game. If they are happy with that and they have compared basic kicking abilities, then they have some basis to make decisions.

[Caldwell Chicken]

We need to remember there are adjustments to make moving to college kicking. First, you cannot use a block for place kicking. If you have not prepared for that prior to college, it is an adjustment. Second, the uprights are narrower than high school. This is also a big adjustment. Finally, and no surprise, the pace is much quicker. The entire operation of snap, hold and kick is based on time. The kicker is moving before the ball is set. In high school, you have more time.

Practices contain live reps. If a receiver cannot catch the ball in practice, they will not play. It is safe to assume the same applies to other positions. You have to perform in live reps in practice to get your game shot.

[Udforever1]

You dont know how they perform in a game situation if they arent given a shot to perform in a game.

Were you at each practice watching the kickers kick? He was a true freshman and we had two guys ahead of him last year. Nothing wrong with that.

I wish James the best and hope he lands somewhere!

[HENJOHN]

We need to remember there are adjustments to make moving to college kicking. First, you cannot use a block for place kicking. If you have not prepared for that prior to college, it is an adjustment. Second, the uprights are narrower than high school. This is also a big adjustment. Finally, and no surprise, the pace is much quicker. The entire operation of snap, hold and kick is based on time. The kicker is moving before the ball is set. In high school, you have more time.

Practices contain live reps. If a receiver cannot catch the ball in practice, they will not play. It is safe to assume the same applies to other positions. You have to perform in live reps in practice to get your game shot.

These are all great points. As someone who was able to get into a few practices and scrimmages along with the Spring games, Collins wasn't getting many of the reps especially when Schmoke was here last year. Looked like a nice kicker though. Best of luck to him.

[77HEN]

Timmy Tomlinson is a Hen! Surprise, surprise, surprise. Best of luck to Mr. Collins too.

[Hengrad07]

Collins was a walk-on. As a 1st team all state kicker why not check and see if there is anywhere he can get on the field & maybe get a little $$$.

Good Luck to the former Sal.

[UDFootballFan]

One day Delaware coaches will realize that this state has some talent and not just with one or two players at a time.

[Udforever1]

One day Delaware coaches will realize that this state has some talent and not just with one or two players at a time.

There’s nothing wrong with rooting for DE homegrown players. As a coach at a DE high school for another sport, I root like heck for all DE high school players to have success at the next level, whether it’s at UD or somewhere else, and regardless of the sport.

But you seem to think that DE players should be playing no matter what, whether it’s football or baseball. I’d love that, but there’s also a ton of talent in neighboring states where we recruit from.

You remind me of my buddy years ago who would get mad that Monte or MI was not recruiting in state players, only for that player to wind up sitting the bench at Wesley for four years. Sometimes we have to take the blinders off.

This is no slight at all to Collins and he’s not the example that I’m using. We had two guys ahead of him last year and one returns this year. Sounds like he wants to play right away. Nothing wrong with that. Wishing him the best.