Punting Issues

roadkill

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He takes a lot of heat but he averaged 43.5 over 73 punts which seems pretty good to me. 🤷‍♂️
His distance has been pretty good, but there are several areas (hang time, situational awareness) where he could improve. I wouldn't doubt that he could benefit from good coaching. That said, he is the only punter on the roster and only has two years of eligibility left, so taking another punter from the portal makes sense.
 

kg01

Get-Bak! Coach
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He takes a lot of heat but he averaged 43.5 over 73 punts which seems pretty good to me. 🤷‍♂️

I'd be curious to hear if folks think the issue we've had are due primarily to the blockin'..

I tend to think that's the case ... in which case, as you mention, we may already have a good punter. Just need to give him adequate protection.
 

yeti92

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He takes a lot of heat but he averaged 43.5 over 73 punts which seems pretty good to me. 🤷‍♂️
Yea, I don't think he's the greatest ever, and haters will say his average benefits from our often poor field position which is true to some extent. But we started the year giving him very little protection which lead to a lot of blocked punts, and then we overcorrected the other way, leading to nobody getting down field to stop a return, and the center has had a handful of bad snaps that screwed everything up. The punt team as a whole played poorly this year, but just like the QB, if the play goes poorly the punter or kicker tend to take the blame.
 

Papa Foxtrot

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I'd be curious to hear if folks think the issue we've had are due primarily to the blockin'..

I tend to think that's the case ... in which case, as you mention, we may already have a good punter. Just need to give him adequate protection.
That, and some long snapper issues. Hoping he spends his summer at a punter's camp.
 

leatherneckjacket

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He takes a lot of heat but he averaged 43.5 over 73 punts which seems pretty good to me. 🤷‍♂️
The first problem I see is that he is extremely slow, which leads to the number of blocks. A lot of this appears to be footwork as he looks like he is taking extra steps. Perhaps he was taught by a right footed punter, and has never been taught to kick as a left footer. I do not know, but he need to improve his footwork and speed.

As for the average, you can get lost in a sea of averages. I am more interested in the quality of the punts given the situation. If he punts 60 yards from our own 40 into the other end zone and 30 yards from our 10 to our own 40, that averages 45 yards per punt, but both are bad punts.
 

Papa Foxtrot

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The first problem I see is that he is extremely slow, which leads to the number of blocks. A lot of this appears to be footwork as he looks like he is taking extra steps. Perhaps he was taught by a right footed punter, and has never been taught to kick as a left footer. I do not know, but he need to improve his footwork and speed.
I often thought that he was thinking(or overthinking) his way though the kick versus relying on practice/muscle memory to kick instinctively. With the right coaching, he could have significant upside. Limited time tho' with just 2 years left.
 

Root4GT

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Yea, I don't think he's the greatest ever, and haters will say his average benefits from our often poor field position which is true to some extent. But we started the year giving him very little protection which lead to a lot of blocked punts, and then we overcorrected the other way, leading to nobody getting down field to stop a return, and the center has had a handful of bad snaps that screwed everything up. The punt team as a whole played poorly this year, but just like the QB, if the play goes poorly the punter or kicker tend to take the blame.
GT was 131 out of 131 in Net Punting for FBS Teams. That is on the whole team and for sure a lot of it is on the Punter. Bringing in a punter to compete is a no brainer. When you are the worst at something every facet of the issue needs to be worked on.
 

roadkill

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I'm pretty sure that no one is claiming that it is....
I'd be curious to hear if folks think the issue we've had are due primarily to the blockin'..

I tend to think that's the case ... in which case, as you mention, we may already have a good punter. Just need to give him adequate protection.
Ok, @kg01 didn't actually say it's all due to bad blocking...
 

LongforDodd

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Folks, Shanahan is simply not trained properly in American football punting. Simply, his footwork is ineffective. And there seems to be poor coordination between his riverdance approach to delivering his foot to the ball and his front three blockers. I believe there were only two to start the year but after Key took over, he added one. There are many rugby style punters in the college game and they all make their style much, much more effective than our punter. In addition, I think that our opposition noticed our weakness in our punt game and made a more concerted and consistent effort to come after our punter that put more consistent pressure on him. We definitely need someone to work with our punter to improve his footwork and to work with the unit as a whole or find the kid some good competition.
 

roadkill

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As has been the case for at least 2 decades, GT desperately needs a good Special Teams coach. Hopefully, that's high on CBK's Christmas list...
Something that I don't quite understand is that when we had PH3 punting in 2019-20, I don't recall many complaints about the punt team. Yet this year it seems we are underperforming in all aspects of the punting unit - Net Punting (which I assume includes run-backs), blocks, and snap problems.

Could it be that having an outstanding punter covered up issues that were always there?
 

IM79

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419
His distance has been pretty good, but there are several areas (hang time, situational awareness) where he could improve. I wouldn't doubt that he could benefit from good coaching. That said, he is the only punter on the roster and only has two years of eligibility left, so taking another punter from the portal makes sense.
If he is the only punter on roster, we def need a backup. What if he, God forbid, gets a hangnail.
 
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