Beyond the Draft: Meet Mike Dragosavich (P)

by Marima on May 30, 2008 8:00 AM EDT in Player Profiles Comment 6 comments

Another punter? Apparently veterans Chris Hanson (picked up from Jacksonville in 2007) and Scott Player (recently signed this past April from Cleveland) are in for a bit of competition since the Patriots signed undrafted rookie free agent Mike Dragosavich out of North Dakota State.

Dragosavich was invited to the Patriots rookie mini-camp on a strictly try-out basis, and merited an official acknowledgment from Belichick during a post-practice press conference before being signed.

"Mike's pretty athletic, he's a tall guy and he can generate some leg speed there," Belichick added. "I've worked with a couple of long punters like that, like (former Giants' and Jets' punter Dave) Jennings, a small-school guy from St. Lawrence, 6'4" or 6'5", played receiver in college, and turned out to be a great punter."

At 6'5", 212 lbs, Dragosavich hasn't only impressed Belichick. The Draft profilers at both SI.com and ESPN are effusive in their praise for the personable punter, noting especially his long legs, overall strength, terrific hang-time on kicks , explosive punts and athleticism. He has the quickness to get him downfield to support the coverage squad, and has worked hard enough in the weight room to be an effective wrap-up tackler . Focused and cool under pressure, he's had no problems kicking in poor weather conditions or into the wind. Dragosavich also possesses soft hands to secure the snap and a strong arm to throw the option pass. With experience as a receiver to be a threat on fake punts, he shows the athleticism and versatility consistently prized by the Patriots.

What's not to love? "The trouble with tall punters," according to Russ Lande of the Sporting News, "is that the smallest thing can throw off their technique ." ESPN agrees, suggesting that Dragosavich "must refine his technique to a two-step approach [from a three-step], as his long legs and stride get him too close to the line of scrimmage before he is able to get his punts away." SI.com adds that he "must improve as a directional punter", and "quicken his release time" to cut down on blocked kicks.

Asked if he believed he had shot at making the team, Dragosavich responded, "Basically, I just have to have the mentality to work as hard as I possibly can , and devote my life to this, and just see what happens every day. I'm going to be a sponge, take everything I can in, do whatever the coaches tell me and just be as good as i possibly can."

Playing for the New England Patriots is one opportunity this rookie doesn't want to punt away.

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Update on Drago

Ask PFW this week had some observations from Paul Perillo after watching Dragosavich kick during the last minicamp.

Q: Not that it’s exciting to be punting the ball, but could you tell me what the odds are that rookie free agent Mike Dragosavich is the starter on opening day? I think he was a steal in this draft, Mel Kiper had him ranked an 89 out of a potential 100. Any player who ranks that high, at any position, and we sign as an undrafted player, is stellar. A punter with the power Dragosavich has can be a game changer, and we all know special teams win games. I for one am excited to have him.
Paul Pritchard

A: Too early to tell. Last week at passing camp he looked terrible on the first day and then brilliant on the second day. He worked a lot with special teams coach Brad Seely that first day and he was so inconsistent it looked like perhaps they were tinkering with his mechanics a bit. But whatever the reason those problems were gone the next day when he was booming several majestic kicks all over the place. Dragosavich has great size and obviously has a strong leg. Whether those attributes will be enough to win a job won’t be known until training camp.
Paul Perillo

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jun 4, 2008 8:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dragosavich Released

The Patriots announced the release of rookie free agent punter Mike Dragosavich today.
Dragosavich, of North Dakota State, was originally signed May 5. He was competing against veterans Chris Hanson and Scott Player, with Hanson the incumbent after punting wire to wire for the Patriots last season.

The Patriots probably would have liked to bring Dragosavich to training camp, but with a roster limit of 80 players (instead of the 86, with exemptions, from years past), there is more of a premium on back-end roster spots this year.

Taking three punters to camp under those conditions was likely a luxury the team felt it couldn’t afford.

Source: Reiss’ Pieces

by NESilver on Jun 5, 2008 6:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But I'm not really hungry right now

I was hoping it would take a little longer before I had to start eating my words. Thanks NESilver, for the update to my update.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jun 5, 2008 10:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was hoping...

Dragosavich would stick around a little longer than that, as he sounded like a pretty good prospect. Do you think they’ll try to bring him onto the practice squad?

by NESilver on Jun 6, 2008 1:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I hope so too

I don’t know too much about Scott Player, the veteran punter picked up by the Patriots in April, except as the guy who wheres the one-bar face mask. He’s 38 years old and has been in the league for 10 years, 9 with the Arizona Cardinals and 1 year with the Browns where he only played 3 games before being released. His stats look decent when you look at both career averages and in his last few seasons, but he can’t be the guy the Patriots are looking for long-term.

Chris Hanson is 31 yrs old and a 9 yr veteran, playing for Miami and Jacksonville before coming to the Patriots in 2007. The funny thing is that I liked him a lot simply because he was just miles above Ken Walter. Of course, any punter would have been better than Walter in his last year(s) so my opinion of him may be somewhat skewed.

I’ve really liked what I’ve read and watched of Dragosavich so far even though he’s raw and untested. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Pats brought him back, and I hope that they do.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jun 7, 2008 10:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs