RUSTON - There might have been some question about his accuracy but there has never been a doubt about Josh Scobee's leg strength.

It's that weapon attached to the Longview, Texas, native's body that enabled Scobee to be picked by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft following a record-setting four-year career for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

The Jaguars used the fifth pick of the fifth round and the 137th overall pick of the draft to nab Scobee.

"The feeling was that this was the second best kicker in a limited draft, and we had a need at the position," said Jaguars personnel director James Harris. "Josh Scobee has a strong leg. He has a good upside. I like his toughness. He had four field goals (of over 50 yards this past year). Forty of his 60 kickoffs (last year) were for touchbacks."

Scobee joins Iowa kicker Nate Kaeding and Penn State kicker David Kimball as the only three place kickers selected in this year's NFL Draft as Kaeding was taken with the second pick in the third round by the San Diego Chargers and Kimball was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round.

During his four years as the Bulldogs starting kicker, Scobee scored a Louisiana Tech record 343 points, hitting on 145 of 153 extra points and 66 of 92 career field goal attempts. The 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pounder set a school record with six career field goals of 50-plus yards.

"I do believe kickoffs are a strong point in my game," Scobee told Jacksonville media following his selection. "I believe I'm as good as anyone in the draft and as good as anybody in the NFL in terms of accuracy and leg strength."

A pretty confident statement for a 21-year-old who hasn't played a game on the professional level; however, that has always been one of Scobee's best traits, confidence.

"I guess I spoke too soon," Scobee said when questioned about his statement. "You have to be confident."

With the selection, Jacksonville has the potential to enter the season with a rookie kicker for the third straight year as Tulane's Seth Marler held the job in 2003 while rookie Hayden Epstein held the job opening the 2002 season. Scobee will enter next weekend's min-camp competing against Marler and offseason acquisition Jeff Chandler.

"What I'm planning on doing is working as hard as I can and showing the Jacksonville coaches what I can do and how I can contribute to the team," Scobee said.



2003: Was Louisiana Tech1s starting kicker for all 12 games ... Chosen first team All-Western Athletic Conference by the league1s coaches ... Also voted first team All-Louisiana by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association ... Hit 21 of 31 field goals and all 31 of his extra points ... Led the team with 94 points on the season ... Hit 4 of 7 field goals from beyond 50 yards during the year ... A preseason Lou Groza Award candidate ... One of the strongest legs in the country as proven by the fact that 40 of his 60 kickoffs werenot returned ... Finished his Tech career as the program1s all-time leading scorer with 343 points ... Also made six field goals of 50-plus yards in his career, the most by any Bulldog kicker including the likes of current Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover and former Dallas Cowboys/Philadelphia Eagles kicker Chris Boniol ... Also finished ranked No. 1 in school history in field goals attempted (92), field goals made (66), extra points attempted (151) and extra points made (143) ...

2002: Started all 12 games at kicker for the Bulldogs ... Earned second team All-Western Athletic Conference honors ... Also on the Lou Groza Watch List ... Converted 16 of 21 field goal attempts while also hitting 30 of 35 extra point attempts ... His 78 points ranked No. 2 on the Tech team ... Hit a season-long 51 yard field goal at Clemson ... Kicked three field goals in a win over Tulsa while scoring 15 points ... Hit field goals in 11 of 12 games during the year ... Had 32 of his 65 kickoffs downed for touchbacks ... Ranked No. 7 in the WAC in scoring (6.5) and No. 2 in field goals (1.33) ...

2001: Named Second Team All-Western Athletic Conference ... Named Collegefootballnews.com All-WAC Team ... Named a Lou Groza semifinalist ... Named collegefootballnews.com honorable mention All-America ... Named Louisiana Tech Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 1, Oct. 13) ... Was the starting kicker for the Bulldogs in all 12 games ... Connected on 45 of 46 extra point attempts ... Made 19 of 23 field goals ... Led Tech with 102 points on the season ... Connected on a career-high three field goals against SMU and Oklahoma State ... Also made two field goals against San Jose, Auburn, Rice, Boise State and Tulsa ... Hit 14 of 15 field goals inside of 40 yards ... Was also four of six on field goals from 40 to 49 yards ... Hit a season long of 48 yards against Oklahoma State ... Scored 10 or more points in six of Tech1s games ... Moved into the Tech record books with 102 points, which ranks No. 4 in single season scoring ... Became only the fourth Louisiana Tech player to ever score 100 or more points in a season ... His 19 field goals made rank No. 3 on the single season list ... His 45 extra points made rank No. 1 on the single season list ... His 46 extra point attempts rank No. 3 on the single season list ...

2000: Stepped in as the starting kicker for Tech as a true freshman ... Was 10 for 17 on field goal attempts with a long of 51 at Miami ... The 51-yard field goal against Miami was only the 14th of 50-plus yards in Tech history ... Scored 69 points and was 39 of 41 on extra points ... Hit his first 33 extra points before missing against Central Florida ... Had 11 touchbacks in 59 kickoffs on the season ... Hit two field goals in wins vs. UL-Monroe and UL-Lafayette ... The 69 points scored were the seventh most by a Tech kicker ... Tied a school record with nine extra points made against Mississippi Valley State ...

High School: Graduated from Longview High School in 2000 ... Played kicker and punter for Coach Robert Bero and the Lobos ... 1st team all district kicker ... 2nd team all-East Texas punter ... Converted 23-of-23 extra points and six-of-nine field goals his senior season ...

Getting Acquainted: Sociology major ... Son of Darralyn Scobee ... Born June 23, 1982 in Longview, Texas ... Age 21.

Year G XP/XPA FG/FGA Long Points
2000 12 39/41 10/17 51 69
2001 12 45/46 19/23 48 102
2002 12 30/35 16/21 51 78
2003 12 31/31 21/31 53 94
Totals 48 145/153 66/92 53 343