| FTBL Leigh Tiffin - Poised To Become The Best Bama Kicker?

[It Takes Eleven]

I was pretty confident that Tiffin would rebound during the 2007 season and confirm that he's a good kicker, but his performance was better than good. His 25 field goals set a Bama record and his 75% accuracy is very good, particularly since he was just a sophomore. A perfect 35 for 35 in PAT's, his single season points total was also a Bama record.

Phillip Doyle is arguably the best Bama kicker of all time. With a Bama best 78 career FG, Doyle's accuracy was very good during his junior and senior seasons, including an incredible 22 for 25 junior performance. As a sophomore, however, Doyle was just 19 for 31 (61%).

I'm excited about Tiffin's potential. If his accuracy continues to improve, he should approach or eclipse Doyle's career FG total. With 33 career FG, Leigh's total currently place him just outside the top 5. Also, his leg strength is unusual, unless you're named Tiffin. By my count, there have been 18 field goals of 50 yards or more in all of Bama football history. Van (7) and Leigh (2) together have half of those. Leigh has never missed a 50+ attempt. If his "a-leg-grow" stronger, he will motor home more long range bombs. Also, be on the lookout for his younger brother, Arvey, to make a splash in the future.

RTR,

Tim

 

[Guest]

Nothing against Lee, but I'm not ready to elevate him to best ever until he has a signature gane winner like his dad's great kick against Auburn or Doyle's against the viles.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Nothing against Lee, but I'm not ready to elevate him to best ever until he has a signature gane winner like his dad's great kick against Auburn or Doyle's against the viles.

No problem there. That's the "poised" part. In the end, I think he'll be mentioned in the same breath with Doyle, Proctor, Bostick and Van Tiffin.

RTR,

Tim

 

[Guest]

Nothing against Lee, but I'm not ready to elevate him to best ever until he has a signature gane winner like his dad's great kick against Auburn or Doyle's against the viles.

No problem there. That's the "poised" part. In the end, I think he'll be mentioned in the same breath with Doyle, Proctor, Bostick and Van Tiffin.

RTR,

Tim

Proctor ended up being among the most disappointing to me. I saw him in high school, and he was phenomenal. He did very well his first two years, but disappointed me as a senior with his inconsistency. Rumor was that Stallings had gotten him off weed and it had an adverse affect on his kicking.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Good stuff Tim, I believe he will make a big impact this year also. He improved alot from his first year to last year no doubt.

 

[Guest]

I would rather he set the record for most PAT's rather than any FG records. More touchdowns baby!!! :lol:

All kidding aside, I too think he has the potential to be very good.

 

[BamaFan425]

I'm fully confident in Tiffin. When he has weaknesses, he seems to address them in orderly fashion. Problem-solution kind of mind. I like it.

 

[imported_Porter]

Leigh has never missed a 50+ attempt. If his "a-leg-grow" stronger, he will motor home more long range bombs.

Heh, heh.

One other thing about him, he forgets about the bad kicks (and games) and moves on, another sign of a great kicker. Good stuff Tim.

 

[shipley00]

Perhaps in the last 5 or 6 years, I've set the bar too low, but all I've wanted for some time is to have a kicker that would consistantly make ALL extra points (check) and make 90% off all kicks once we make it inside the 22. I don't have the number, but Tiffin was easily at 80%. If we have those two things in a kicker over the last 6 years, we would have won 8-10 more games than we did.

You called it. Tiffin is in position to make that kind of name for himself.

 

[reger60]

I would rather he set the record for most PAT's rather than any FG records. More touchdowns baby!!! :lol:

That's exactly what I was thinking.

 

[BamaFan615]

Nothing against Lee, but I'm not ready to elevate him to best ever until he has a signature gane winner like his dad's great kick against Auburn or Doyle's against the viles.

I agree, what makes a good kicker is hitting big time FG's when the game is on the line. For example, Mike Vanderjagt...kicker for the Colts a couple years back. If I remember correctly he was ranked very high as far as All-time percentage of FG's made, but he could never hit that clutch FG it seemed. And really what makes Vinatieri special are his signature Super Bowl winning kicks...although he just doesn't miss much at any time of the season.

I don't doubt for a second when Tiffin steps up, that he's going to hit it. I had my worries on him after the Arkansas game his freshman season, but he reassured me last season.

 

[Guest]

To me having a kicker with a lot of FGs means that the Offense failed to get their 6. No ill will toward Leigh, but I would rather see him kicking Extra Points for the rest of his career for all the right reasons.