Tag: Dominik Eberle

Panthers acquire K Ryan Santoso from Giants

The Panthers’ kicking competition has now become a triple threat match with the trade for Ryan Santoso.

After what’s gone down in the sudden Carolina Panthers’ kicking competition over the previous two days, we thought we had a heated one-on-one battle on our hands. Now, it’s a triple threat!

The Panthers announced the acquisition of kicker Ryan Santoso on Thursday afternoon. This trade, one that’ll send back a conditional 2022 seventh-round pick to the New York Giants, comes less than 48 hours following the signing of the German-born boot Dominik Eberle.

Santoso, a big boy of a kicker at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, cracked into the league out of the University of Minnesota with the Detroit Lions back in 2018. He’d also go on to brief stints with the Tennessee Titans and the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes before joining the Giants.

New York did like the work Santoso put in for them during his time there, most recently having converted on an extra point attempt and bombing three touchbacks in three tries in this past week’s preseason contest. But, with (old friend) Graham Gano having clamps on the kicking job, there was no room for the 26-year-old.

He now joins Eberle and Joey Slye, the struggling incumbent, in what’s quickly become the Great Carolina Foot Fight of 2021.

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Panthers K Joey Slye struggles in practice vs. Dominik Eberle

Dominik Eberle is already gaining ground on Joey Slye in the Panthers’ sudden kicking competition.

The Carolina Panthers, more than likely, signed Dominik Eberle on Tuesday just to give Joey Slye a little kick in the butt. Now, we could instead be looking at a situation where Eberle ends up kicking Slye in the butt and out of the door.

Slye’s struggles continued into Wednesday’s practice, where the current starter missed each of his first three field goal attempts during 11-on-11 drills. The misses came from 39, 44 and 49 yards out.

Eberle, in the same spots, went for 2-for-3 on his tries. His miss came on the 49-yarder.

All was not completely lost, however, as Slye did come back to nail his next two kicks in a pair of high-pressure scenarios. Eberle would follow suit, finishing his day hitting on four of his five attempts.

After practice, head coach Matt Rhule still expressed confidence in Slye, but did leave a little cliffhanger out there following today’s performances.

“I know that Joey can do it. I just hope he can get through the lull he’s in,” Rhule said. “We are keeping all options open.”

The Panthers have stuck with Slye throughout the offseason. They hadn’t forced him to face any type of competition almost all summer and continue to vocalize their support for the troubled kicker. But how much longer, as he has yet to turn it back around, will that last?

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Panthers give K Joey Slye competition, sign Dominik Eberle

You wanted competition for K Joey Slye? Well, you got it, Panthers fans.

Although the Carolina Panthers have professed their confidence in kicker Joey Slye, they do believe that he still needs a little nudge. So, here it is.

That nudge will come in the form of Dominik Eberle. Eberle, a German-born leg ( . . . Das Boot?), was most recently a member of the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder set a number of records during his collegiate career at Utah State University, where he is the Utes’ all-time leader in points scored. He was also perfect on extra point attempts over his four seasons there, going 167-for-167 on such tries.

Slye, who hasn’t been perfect, has been given votes of confidence by head coach Matt Rhule and general manager Scott Fitterer. Fitterer did tell reporters on Tuesday that the team was looking at other kickers, hence the Eberle signing, but still believes in Slye.

The kicking incumbent for the Panthers has struggled this preseason. He is a combined 5-of-8 on all of his attempts, including a missed 37-yarder at home against the Baltimore Ravens that helped spur this latest move.

In the corresponding move to signing Eberle, the Panthers have released safety LaDarius Wiley.

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Saints work out 3 free agent kickers on Thursday, including pair of rookies

New Orleans Saints work out free agent kickers including two rookies:

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The clock is ticking on the New Orleans Saints. Literally — at the time of writing this post, they had fewer than 99 hours until their next preseason game, and they still haven’t found a healthy kicker. Wil Lutz is recovering from core muscle surgery. A similar injury landed Brett Maher, signed to replace him, on injured reserve. There aren’t many other positions that you can plug into the lineup and hit the field for a game, but the Saints really were taking this down to the wire.

So it’s good to see them take some action and bring in three free agent kickers for a group workout on Thursday. We’ll see if any of them end up signing with New Orleans, but for now here’s what you need to know about each of them:

Raiders sign punter Corliss Waitman with unique backstory

Raiders sign punter Corliss Waitman with unique story

On the eve of veterans to report to training camp, the Raiders are swapping out some legs. They added former undrafted punter Corliss Waitman and in a corresponding move waived former practice squad kicker Dominik Eberle.

Waitman is an interesting individual. His family is from the South American country of Suriname. His father Jose played pro basketball overseas. So, Corliss was born in Belgium. When Corliss was young, his father signed with a team in the Netherlands, so that’s where Corliss spent his childhood.

At 15, Corliss moved to 15 with his family where he switched from soccer to football as a punter and attended his father’s alma mater at South Alabama. Last year Waitman was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent. He was released in May of this year.

Oh, and he’s left-footed.

That’s all unique enough. But to top it off, Waitman is a black man. Which we know is rare for punters or kickers in the NFL. The Raiders had Marquette King at punter for a few years and he is still one of just a handful of black punters in the history of the NFL.

It doesn’t seem like it should be so rare, but it just is. And it makes Waitman that much more unique. Along with all the other details of his life’s journey.

As for Eberle, he too went undrafted in 2020, signing on with the Raiders and spending all of last season on the practice squad.

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2020 NFL Draft Profile: Utah Stake K Dominik Eberle

Contact/Follow @SamMcConkie & @MWCwire With great kicking comes great opportunity Though Aggie fans are doubtlessly fond of him (for good reason), Dominik Eberle is a potential sleeper in this year’s NFL draft. Eberle holds numerous school and …

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Contact/Follow @SamMcConkie & @MWCwire

With great kicking comes great opportunity

Though Aggie fans are doubtlessly fond of him (for good reason), Dominik Eberle is a potential sleeper in this year’s NFL draft.

Eberle holds numerous school and conference records, including most individual career points scored at USU and most field goals made in Mountain West history with 64, ahead of Utah’s Louie Sakoda. He was a finalist for the Lou Groza award in 2017 and a semi-finalist in 2018.

Eberle also became just the sixth player in NCAA history to kick three 50-plus yard field goals in a game, a feat he easily accomplished against New Mexico State in 2018. Needless to say, he has a powerful leg.

Now that his college career has concluded, Eberle has set his sights on the NFL. Though there is not a consensus that he will get drafted, Eberle is a surefire bet for a solid undrafted free agent contract or at worst a tryout.

The New York Post has Eberle listed as the third-rated kicking prospect in this year’s draft, ahead of Wyoming’s Cooper Rothe. More than one source also have the New England Patriots interested in picking up a new kicker with the recent release of kicker Stephen Gostkowski.

In a recent interview, Eberle stated he is just looking for opportunity:

“…I just got to go out there and do my job. I mean there are so many tremendous guys out there that, you know, all it takes is an opportunity and that’s what I’m working for.”

Strengths

Throughout his career, consistency has been Eberle’s biggest hallmark. A three-year starter for the Aggies, the Nuremberg, Germany native made all 167 PATs out of 167 attempted. In his senior season, he went 21 of 24 on field goal attempts, good for 12th in the country. Consistently producing at a high level should not be an issue for him if an NFL team gives him a shot.

Weaknesses

For all the good points Eberle has, he does have a couple of areas he could stand to improve. In close range, he’s made most of his career kicks. Beyond short and intermediate kicking range, Eberle has struggled a bit more. His made kicks from the 40-49 yard range  an uninspiring 19-of-28 field goals

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Utah State Football: Aggies’ Best moments from 2019

Best plays and moments from USU’s up and down season from 2019.

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Utah State Football: Aggies’ best moments from 2019

Counting down the top moments from USU football

What was the best moment?

Contact/Follow @SamMcConkie & @MWCwire

The 2019 season had some genuinely great moments for USU’s football team. Despite an up and down year with stretches of unbridled frustration, the Aggies did put together some incredible plays and keyed up a few noteworthy wins. Without further ado, let’s look at the best of the best this season had to offer for Aggie fans.

1. Beating SDSU on the road

San Diego State had themselves a rock solid season, getting to 10-3 and winning a bowl against Central Michigan in what would be Rocky Long‘s last game an Aztec. San Diego State nabbed a good road victory against UCLA (a school they had historically not beaten until this tilt) and fielded a truly stifling defense, holding their initial opponents on the schedule to 0, 14, and 10 points.

The Aggies came to town looking for their first win against SDSU since 1967. USU dominated the first half of the game and held a 23-3 lead to begin the third quarter. The rest of the game would see the Aggies blow several big plays on defense and allow the chippy Aztecs to get within six points in the closing minutes.

Dominik Eberle missed a sure game-winning kick and SDSU appeared to be on the way to a crushing comeback… until Ryan Agnew decided to sprint backward chasing down a wayward snap. Years of blown chances in close games wouldn’t nip the upset-minded Aggies this time.

Altogether, it was a roller coaster game with a terrific ending, which makes this the best win USU got in 2019.

2. David Woodward‘s Strip-six vs CSU

In what turned out to be an incredibly wet and gusty evening, USU weathered the storm (no pun intended) against the feisty if beleaguered Colorado State Rams. Though Utah State went on to win the game 34-24, there were a lot of mistakes along the way that prolonged the fight and kept all in attendance nervous.

The offense didn’t click much despite a great rushing attack from the Aggies. Jordan Love threw a pick-six and Bright lost a fumble early in the game. Late in the game and with a tenuous lead propping up the Aggies, linebacker David Woodward decided he had enough. He forcefully stripped the ball from Rams’ runner Marvin Kinsey and returned it eight yards for the game-clinching score. Great stuff from a stud defender.

3. Eric Munoz vs Wyoming

In another nail-biting game, USU toppled the Wyoming Cowboys in dramatic fashion. Former walk-on linebacker Eric Munoz had his coming out party in Logan with a sturdy 13 tackle, two-interception performance against a resilient Cowboy offense.

After the game ended, Munoz had a memorable and tear-filled press moment where he detailed his struggles to make it in college. The former walk-on went on to earn a scholarship less than a week later. Great win and a great person helped make it possible for USU.

4. Eberle kicks Fresno State to the curb

The Aggies have had a long and painful history of missed opportunities, especially when it comes to field goal kicking. Against Fresno State, Dominik Eberle ensured Utah State would get a needed walk-off win. It was not only the first game-winning kick in Eberle’s storied career with the Aggies, but it was also the first time since 1998 the Aggies had won a game on a last-second field goal.

So, THAT is what it feels like to win one of these things.

5. Scarver just returns kickoffs for touchdowns

In an otherwise forgettable game, Savon Scarver racked up his fifth kickoff return for a touchdown in his career. This set the school record, passing the previous mark of four that was set by Kevin Robinson. The blocking and coverage downfield was flawless and the junior speedster made it look easy against the Wolf Pack. Aggie fans are fortunate they have this guy around for one more season. Enjoy him, Aggie nation.

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