Tag: Justin Rohrwasser

Patriots waive 3 players, including kicker Justin Rohrwasser

Justin Rohrwasser was among several Patriots waived on Tuesday.

The New England PatriotsPatriots waived several players on Tuesday, with the most prominent one being kicker Justin Rohrwasser.

Rohrwasser was drafted by the Patriots with the 159th pick in the 2020 draft. He was one of three kickers drafted in 2020. He never played a game for new England.

Rohrwasser had success at Marshall University. He made 79-of-82 field goals during his two seasons for the Thundering Herd. He made 35-of-36 extra points in 2019 and went 18-of-21 on field goals.

Linebackers Cassh Maluia and Michael Pinckney were also part of the trio waived on Tuesday.

With Nick Folk and Roberto Aguyao at the position for New England, there was not a ton of room for Rohrwasser on the roster. With Folk’s consistent performance in 2020, the Patriots were able to find consistency at kicker for the first time.

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The 5 most disappointing Patriots from the 2020 season

These guys didn’t make the season any better.

It’s tough to live up to the expectations of New England Patriots fans after two decades of unprecedented success with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick at the helm.

So, when the 2020 season began, many thought the Patriots could be a borderline playoff team, even though the team clearly lacked talent at many key positions.

Those who tempered their predictions knew that New England would be closer to the first overall pick than the Super Bowl, and that’s exactly where they ended. Their 7-9 record was enough to earn them the 15th overall pick in the draft, the highest the team has drafted since 2008 when they drafted Jerod Mayo who is now on the coaching staff.

Any season that finishes with more losses than wins has to have some things that went wrong, and, in the Patriots’ case, that list could go on and on. So, just to keep it simple, these are five of the most disappointing Patriots from this past season.

Bill Belichick provides explanation for signing kicker Roberto Aguayo

This makes sense.

Bill Belichick made a peculiar move last week by signing kicker Roberto Aguayo to the New England Patriots’ practice squad.

Nick Folk is having the best season of his career with 26-of-28 made field goals (92.9%) and 26-of-29 extra-point attempts (89.7%). The Patriots kept rookie Justin Rohrwasser on the practice squad the entire season — so, signing one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history seems odd.

Why’d Belichick make this move at the end of the season with no playoff opportunity ahead? He explained while speaking with reporters on Wednesday.

“He’s a pretty impressive guy, so we wanted to work with him,” Belichick said. “So we’ll work with him here and see how it goes.”

That’s it. He’s a pretty impressive guy.

Aguayo was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round and made only 22-of-31 field goals as a rookie. He was a kicking sensation at Florida State, making 69-of-78 field goals over a three-year span.

Since that rookie season, Aguayo hasn’t kicked in one regular-season game. He spent time in preseason games with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers, while having a practice squad stint with the Carolina Panthers. His last chance with an NFL team was in September of 2018, until that changed last week.

Folk, 36, wants to continue playing going forward, but he’s going to hit free agency this offseason. The Patriots would be smart to keep him and have some consistency in any facet of the team they possibly can.

Aguayo becoming the team’s kicker next year is unlikely, but the year of 2020 proved that the unlikely can happen at any moment.

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Who will Bill Belichick use as Patriots’ kicker in Week 1?

Bill Belichick settled on Nick Folk as his kicker for the opening game against the Dolphins.

Bill Belichick pushed things almost as far as he could.

He cut both draft pick Justin Rohrwasser and Nick Folk last week, then re-signed each to the Patriots’ practice squad. Finally, Saturday, the great coach settled on his kicker for Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins in Foxboro on Sunday.

The Patriots decided to promote the veteran Folk to the active roster Saturday.

Folk kicked in seven games for the Patriots last season, replacing Mike Nugent who was signed after Stephen Gostkowski went down with a season-ending hip injury. Folk went 14-for-17 on field-goal attempts and made all 12 extra-point attempts.

Report: Patriots cut both kickers ahead of Week 1

The New England Patriots have cut both of their kickers.

In what has been a surprising day of cuts for the New England Patriots, they have overhauled their kicking game. Kickers Justin Rohrwasser and Nick Folk were both cut with the opener against the Dolphins a little more than a week away.

Rohrwasser played in 13 games in the 2018 and 2019 seasons with Marshall. His best season came in his senior year of 2019. He went 35-of-36 on extra points and 18-of-21 on field goals.  In both seasons, he scored 89 points. New England drafted him in the fifth round of this past April’s draft.

For Folk, this was about to be his second go-around with New England. In the 2019 season, he went 14-of-17 on field goals in seven games with the Patriots. He went 12-of-12 on extra points.

This currently leaves the New England Patriots without a kicker. It will be interesting to see who they pick up and how soon they make the acquisition.

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Bill Belichick cuts both kickers from Patriots’ roster

The New England Patriots cut both their kickers as NFL teams reached the 53-man limit Saturday.

It is only called football. But who is to question a man with eight rings? Bill Belichick went through the final cuts for his New England Patriots Saturday.

And, he cut Nick Folk and Justin Rohrwasser among the two dozen names sent packing.

Why are Folk and Rohrwasser both being cut noteworthy? Because for the time being the Patriots have no kickers on their roster.

What is remarkable is how the kicking situation in Foxboro has changed in less than 12 months. For decades, Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski were the only kickers New England knew.

And then last year Gostkowski was injured, IR’d and eventually released. He actually signed with the Tennessee Titans to be their kicker. He will be reunited with former Pat and current Titan coach Mike Vrabel in Tennessee.

So now, the always mysterious Pats have created another drama. Who will kick for New England?

After last season that saw the Patriots use four kickers, one can surmise Belichick wants to nail down the one who will help New England win without much excitement.

This crucial Patriots position battle isn’t getting enough attention

Let’s look beyond the quarterbacks.

The New England Patriots may be settling their position battle at quarterback, with Cam Newton taking a comfortable lead. The running back and receiver jobs may be fascinating to fantasy football owners. But at kicker, the Patriots seem to have a competition that’s just getting underway. New England signed Nick Folk this week after a shaky training camp from rookie and fifth-round draft pick Justin Rohrwasser.

Folk has been instantly more consistent than Rohrwasser.

“I think both players are good kickers,” Bill Belichick said Wednesday during a . “We’ll see how it goes. That’ll be up to them to decide. … Those two guys will both get as much opportunity as we can give them, and we’ll evaluate them and go from there.”

Tuesday’s session served as a nice example of what’s taking place between the two kickers. Folk’ kicks didn’t blast through the uprights, but he was efficient, hitting all three of his kicks in 11-on-11 team drills. Rohrwasser, meanwhile, hit his kicks with power, but looked erratic when it came to accuracy, hitting just 2 of 3 in the same scenarios as Folk.

Belichick explained he’d stayed in touch with Folk this offseason after he was 14 of 17 in 2020 after Stephen Gostkowksi, who is currently a free agent, suffered a season-ending hip injury.

“We’ve talked to Nick throughout the course of the spring and even training camp, and things worked out here last week,” Belichick said. “It’s great to have him. He certainly came in and did a good job for us last year. But things just didn’t work out until recently with Nick. I’m glad they did. I’m glad he’s here, and we’ll see how it turns out. I don’t know. …

“But we’ve been talking to Nick since back in March, so this isn’t something that just came up a couple days ago. It’s been an ongoing conversation for several months, actually.”

Regardless of how long the Patriots had been in touch with Folks, he’s in camp at a time when Rohrwasser is showing signs of weakness. It’s beginning to look possible that — if the rookie doesn’t recover from his case of the yips — Folk could win the job and bump Rohrwasser to the practice squad, which has expanded to 16 players amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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4 things to know about Patriots rookie kicker Justin Rohrwasser

Get to know the new Patriots kicker.

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On the third day of 2020 NFL draft, the New England Patriots selected Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser with the 159th overall pick. The need was apparent after the team released Stephen Gostkowski earlier this offseason. This will be the first year the Patriots enter the season with a new kicker since Gostkowski’s rookie year in 2006.

Rohrwasser is the first Marshall kicker to be drafted in NFL history and hopes to make his alma mater proud at the next level. He is the first Marshall player drafted by New England since wide receiver Aaron Dobson was selected in the second round of 2013.

Here’s what Patriots fans should know about their new placekicker.

Rohrwasser was a great extra point kicker in college.

At Marshall. Rohrwasser hit 79 of 82 of his extra-point attempts in his two seasons with Marshall. It is a little different transitioning to the NFL because of the distance of the kicks. The college extra-points were similar to the old NFL rules. They attempt from 20 yards at the college level, and in the pros, the attempt is now 33 yards out. The Patriots will hope that the extra distance isn’t too much for the kicker to overcome.

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Should the Patriots bring in competition for K Justin Rohrwasser?

Is Justin Rohrwasser the surefire answer as New England’s kicker in 2020?

The New England Patriots are heading into the 2020 season with many changes ahead of them. Tom Brady’s departure is the most apparent, but losing Stephen Gostkowski sits up there on the list.

Gostkowski missed most of the 2019 season with a hip injury and the Patriots released him this offseason after spending his 14 NFL years with the team. New England relied on Gostkowski and Adam Vinatieri to hold the position down since 1996 and last year was the first glimpse without either player on the field — and it was ugly.

New England trotted out four different kickers throughout the season and didn’t stick with any of them by the end of the season. Moving forward, they drafted Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. He spent two seasons at Marshall and finished his senior year with 18-of-21 field goals made and 35-of-36 extra point attempts made.

The most important thing Rohrwasser boasts is his tendency to make long kicks.

So, should the Patriots add some competition on the kicking department, or is Rohrwasser the solidified starter going forward?

Given the fact that Rohrwasser was the first kicker drafted this year, and the Patriots haven’t signed a free agent yet — no. Bill Belichick has clearly done his research on Rohrwasser and viewed him as the best option available for the team going forward. Belichick had faith in fifth-round punter Jake Bailey last year and released six-year veteran Ryan Allen — who won three Super Bowls with the team. Bailey quickly proved his worth.

There is still a handful of veteran free agents available, a few of which played for the Patriots in the past. There are and there will be options for the Patriots to select if Rohrwasser doesn’t pan out, but the need to force his hand with competition isn’t there.

Rohrwasser has the trust of Belichick and the resume to back it up, so the job should remain his and solely his until he loses it.

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Patriots’ Justin Rohrwasser vows to remove controversial tattoo in emotional interview

Justin Rohrwasser took his vow one step further by saying he’ll remove his controversial tattoo.

New England Patriots rookie kicker Justin Rohrwasser was met with a field of questions the day he was drafted, and many of them weren’t related to football.

Rohrwasser has a tattoo on his forearm supporting the right-wing militia group, the 3 Percenters. He was asked if the tattoo was associated with the group and he quickly said that getting the tattoo was a misunderstanding and he should’ve done more research. He finished fielding questions about it by saying it involved something he didn’t want to represent and that he’d get it covered.

He took it one step forward on Monday in an emotional interview with WBZ’s Steve Burton.

“We were celebrating and hugging (on Saturday). So happy. I went on to Twitter. I saw that someone had taken a picture of me and put it with my tattoo and linking me to some horrific events — obviously Charlottesville and these horrible things,” Rohrwasser said.

“As soon as I saw what it was linked to on Saturday, it was exactly that time I knew I had to get it totally taken off my body. I said cover it up (to reporters), but I want to get it removed from my body. It’s shameful that I had it on there ignorantly.”

He spoke about his military background and how it influenced his decision to get the tattoo.

‘Wow, that is such an American sentiment, a patriotic sentiment.’ Coming from a military family, I thought that really spoke to me. I always was proud to be an American. I’m very proud to be an American,” he said.

Rohrwasser was very emotional by the end of the interview and apologized to his family for ‘putting them in a compromising position.’

“I’m sorry for all my [friends] and family that have to defend me,” Rohrwasser said. “Putting them in that compromising position is one of the biggest regrets I’ll ever have. To them, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m going to learn from this. I’m going to take ownership of it. This is not who I am. No matter what, that’s not who I am. Hopefully, you will all find that out.”

Rohrwasser was a clutch kicker at Marshall and seems to be the replacement for Stephen Gostkowski. He’ll make an immediate impact on the team and will have large shoes to fill.

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