2011 NFL Draft: Should the Dallas Cowboys Draft Kicker Alex Henery in Round 2?

I think the last time I heard this much hype surrounding a kicker it was about Raiders sling footed Sebastian Janikowski. He was the tubby polish kicker from Florida State who was drafted 17th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Still—when I think of a kicker being taken in the first round it boggles my mind a little. I believe Janikowski would’ve been available in the second round or later but we can’t grab our click remote for a redo, can we? Oh, and not to mention Al Davis is as crazy as Charlie Sheen and Gary Busey.

At any rate that takes us to the debate of former Nebraska place kicker Alex Henery. Henery booted a 57-yarder back in 2008 for the Huskers, ended his time in Lincoln as the team’s all-time leading scorer with 397 points, and had an 89.5 career accuracy percentage.

My man knows how to kick a field goal.

Well, your local Dallas Cowboys do not perform this action that well. Last season the Cowboys put their faith in former USC Trojan David Buehler to kick field goals, touchbacks, and point after attempts.

He uhhh, he didn’t do the field goal part so well. I mean, he wasn’t awful at his job but he went 4-7 from 30-39 yards and 8-11 from 40-49 yards. For the year Buehler made 75 percent of his field goals and his longest was from 53. Oh, and he missed two extra points.

While Buehler may need a little more time to, ummm, develop it may not hurt to add a little competition to the fold. If the Cowboys plan to make a run at the Super Bowl next season, which I’m sure they do, having a field goal kicker make 75 percent of his attempts won’t get you there kid.

The downside in drafting Henery and having a so-called kicker competition is that if Henery wins he could be the 2011 version of David Buehler. Dallas hasn’t had much luck in the special teams foot department as of late and who’s to say that Henery will solve all of their issues?

Remember, the Cowboys had Nick Folk and gave up on him to early. Now he’s a New York Jet, owns the team, and was the major source of funding for New Meadowlands Stadium up in Jersey. Ok I may be exaggerating on the funding part but Folk really owns the New York Jets.

Well, maybe not own in the traditional sense but you get the picture.

Drafting a kicker so high in the selection process would put a huge doughnut hole in the team’s need to address other positions, like offensive line and the secondary. But let’s say the ‘Boys are down by two to the Giants and if they win they take the division and earn a playoff spot.

Would you want Buehler’s foot or a guy who scored 100 points three seasons in a row and can kick the pig skin off of the football in Henery?

At this point in the game, what do the Cowboys have to lose?

-JH