Crapigna kicks aside early season struggles
Tyler Crapigna trusts his fundamentals.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ placekicker focuses on the basics of the position, whether he’s riding a streak or battling a rare slump.
“You just can’t too caught up in everything and you have to keep to the fundamentals,” Crapigna said in advance of Friday’s CFL game against the visiting Montreal Alouettes.
“Even when you’re missing kicks, you know that you can make those kicks because they just aren’t going your way at the time. I’ve been focused on my follow-through, on my leg position, locking my foot and all of the normal progressions a kicker would on an any kick. Right now, it’s just working for me while focusing on the basics.”
Crapigna is second in the CFL with an 89.2 per cent success rate while connecting on 33 of 37 fieldgoal attempts.
Rene Paredes of the Calgary Stampeders leads the CFL at 90.9 per cent (50 of 55).
Crapigna has also made 18 consecutive field goals and all 42 converts this season. The third-year Rider hasn’t missed a field goal since Aug. 25, when he was 1-for2 (missing from 43 yards away) in a 54-31 win over the host Edmonton Eskimos.
It’s quite the streak considering how Crapigna started the season.
On June 22, he was wide on a 45yard attempt at a game-winning field goal on the final play in Montreal. The Alouettes won 17-16.
One game later, when the Riders faced the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium, Crapigna missed when a 33-yard field goal attempt hit an upright in overtime. Justin Medlock then hit a 28-yard attempt to give Winnipeg a 43-40 win.
“I’ve already forgotten about those two kicks and so has Rider Nation for a bit there,” said Crapigna, who hit on seven of nine field-goal attempts in the Riders’ season-opening losses. “I’m just going to continue doing with what I’m doing right now.”
Things can quickly change for a placekicker.
Medlock, the most accurate kicker in CFL history, has struggled as of late. He’s last in field-goal efficiency among full-time CFL kickers, hitting on 46 of 60 tries (76.7 per cent).
Medlock missed a 40-yarder without any time remaining in Saturday’s 29-28 loss to the Toronto Argonauts.
“Justin was the most accurate kicker in CFL history and a couple of kicks later, it’s not going his way,” Crapigna said. “Everyone is pretty quick to judge when a kicker is in a slump. He’s an excellent kicker and is still the best kicker the CFL has ever seen. Stuff like that happens and you just have to keep working your way through it.”
Other than the misses against Montreal and Winnipeg, Crapigna has been riding the wave of a successful streak. His production is tied into the effort he puts into training.
“In the off-season, I like to train as hard as possible,” Crapigna said. “I try to focus on kicker-specific stuff, but I still want to be able to bench 225 pounds.
“I still want do all of the things the other guys do so I just don’t focus on one thing in particular. That way I come in as an overall athlete.”