Comments on: Broncos Will Release Two More – Punter Ernster, Safety Harris

By: MN Bronco

MN Bronco — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:33:12 +0000

I gotta say I don’t understand all the dismay over cutting Ernster. He had a season long audition last year and stunk. After the Broncos decided to keep him over Saurbrun, he promptly went in the tank, the 28th ranked punter in the league. Meanwhile, like him as a person or not, Saurbrun has a career as consistently one of the top punters in the league. The Broncos don’t need a “great guy” punting the ball for them, they need someone who can bang the crap outa the ball and also drop it inside the 20 when needed. 28th outa 32 isn’t good enough. Personally, I was relieved Todd was able to get out of New England. I remember him saying when he was cut last year that he wanted to come back to Denver, he loved it here. I know watching Ernster tank last year, the coaching staff felt burned by the decision to keep him. This is just a case of them not making the same mistake twice.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:25:49 +0000

Keep in mind that all we see are the preseason game stats. Both Ernster and Sauerbrun will have kicked extensively in practice, which the coaches have to factor in too. Performance in practice may or may not be as telling as performance in a preseason game, but the sample sizes are small enough that numbers can get skewed one way or the other, and it may be that including practice Sauerbrun was tops.

By: TCH

TCH — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:44:32 +0000

I don’t think Ernster was in the dog house. Shanny let him go early enough in pre-season that he could be picked up by another team. I just hope he doesn’t go with a team we play often. That situation could come back to bite us!

By: Jonathan Douglas

Jonathan Douglas — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:12:28 +0000

OBF, Good points on both the averages and making the team during practice. Having only watched the games (not practice or camp), I felt like Paul had a better handle on the kicking game. But, you're right. If Todd had consistantly better practices and just happened to tank a couple of preseason punts, he'd still have the inside track for the job. I guess I'm just surprised that they didn't want to see both of them in his last preseason game -- And I certainly agree with Kyle that some team will snatch Paul up quickly after his preseason preformance! -Jonathan Douglas -BroncoTalk.net

By: OBF

OBF — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:52:35 +0000

First off nine punts for TS in preseason games, is WAY to small of a sample to make any judgements from, particularly when taken in the context of both of their careers and career numbers. Also with samples that small the two extremes HAVE to be taken out of the average otherwise you get a very unrepresentitive sample. So the adverage should really looks something like this:

Ernster Sauerbrun
Kickoffs: 71.8 71.2
Punts 45.25 42.1

Finally, this job was won or lost in practice (where the coaches saw many many more punts that in the few pre season games) and on the negotiating table. Todds salary pretty much garunteed that he was going to be the starter from the very beginning, and of course Earnster totally crapping the bed in the second half of last season didn’t help his cause much.

By: Jonathan Douglas

Jonathan Douglas — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:38:16 +0000

WOW! I'm also surprised by Ernster. After that preseason, I thought he was the top guy. ...I guess you can't underestimate the effect of Shanahan's doghouse: "Players go in... but they don't come out!" -Jonathan Douglas -BroncoTalk.net