post-mesko punter?
i think we have all been a bit spoiled over the past three years with zoltan as our punter. it seems very easy to overlook how important the position is to a teams success, and how invaluable zoltan has been for us. but to say that our current backups, who could potentially step in for mesko during the 2010 season, would be a downgrade is a rediculous understatement.
as of now i havent heard much in the way of punter recruitment. just today i saw an article on scout mentioning a MI kid named Mike Sadler, who they identified as one of the top punters in the nation. although he is entirely unrated, he does have offers from LSU and Alabama, which is enough to tell me that hes a hell of a kicker. my concern comes from the fact that he attended michigans kornblue camp yesterday, was said to have performed well, but still walked away without an offer. this is obviously a serious area of need for michigan. shouldnt we be all over this kid? hes expressed serious interest in michigan, declaring blue his "top choice right now." does anyone know if were looking at any other prospects? are we just looking to settle with a walk on? (in my opinion that would be a mistake.)
I was very thankful to have Zoltan the past few years (except for dealing with people that made the S shaped hand signals on 4th downs) however I don't think we need to actively pursue a punter. I feel that those kicking positions are often a crapshoot and you just hope to get lucky. I just don’t think there is a large enough discrepancy between an average punterand a great punter.
I think a great punter can be a huge weapon. I don't know how hard they are to project out of high school (any insight on this, people?), but I definitely have been frustrated with opposing punters pinning us deep time and time again. If you buy into the need to win the field position battle, I think you can't underestimate the value of a talented punter.
...that you just have to hope to get lucky, and that there isn't a discrepancy between an average and great punter.
Ohio State won the 2002 national title based on defense, Clarett, and special teams. A large part was pinning teams in their own end and winning the field position battle. You don't win that battle without a great punter.
Do you prefer your punter to pin teams back on their own 15, or provide the opposition with field position on the 40 due to crappy kicking?
As usual, punting and kicking overlooked. Be better than that.
Punters are definitely important, but it seems like telling the good ones from the mediocre ones, when they're in high school, is more difficult than we realize. There has to be a reason why we frequently see these elite teams saddled with mediocre to horrible kickers and punters so frequently. It seems like it's a crap-shoot.
arent that hard to project coming out of highschool. Coaches will look at tweaks to mechanics and factor in increased strength as main attributes for punters. Most decent punters will put it 45-55 yds down field but the good ones have the leg strenth to elevate their balls so they don't outkick their coverage.
Now it can be a crap shoot when you are trying to find a coffin corner punter, because very few have that precious of accuracy coming out of high school and have to hone their accuracy at the college level.
Punters can be a great weapon. Being able to flip field position puts alot of pressure on the opposing team knowing that even if you stop the offense, the punter comes on and puts you back inside your 30, making you drive the length of the field to get points. Some of the most frustrating games to coach are field position games because it shrinks your playbook exponentially.
If RR saw him in person and he wasn't impressed enough to offer him, I wouldn't worry about it too much.
....from which the OP is referencing (and I'm not sure why the OP didn't see this), Coach Rod said at the camp that the coaches were on their way to middle school camp, and that they would review the punters and make an offer in about a week. The Sadler kid knows all this and is accepting of it, and has Michigan as his #1.
I'm not sure why the OP didn't provide the whole story. This kid is ours if Coach Rod decides so, in about a week.
Punters can be a terrific weapon. Especially when they're playing on the other team and kick to Michigan, whereupon we invariably fumble. Its like a free 50 yards!
We need to coat Odom's gloves with glue...
Just kidding...once RR's offense is fully installed, we won't need a punter.
Special teams are like free throws. If you're good at them, you will win games because of them.
There is another scout article
($)http://michigan.scout.com/2/873982.html
It is about another punter at the camp, Brandon Tarpley who did a better job punting the ball than Sadler. Sadler edged him slightly in field goals and they were about even in kickoffs, but the article states that Tarpley was better during the punting portion of the competition aspect of the camp.
(For a sarcastic note) Tarpley is also from Florida, so of course we want to sign him as opposed to Sadler, who is from MI. We don't have the ability to land instate recruits, all it will take is an offer from MSU and Sadler will commit there. RR suckz at recruiting and only cares about Florida.
Also, apparently Tarpley was much better at the rugby style punting that RR and company are so fond of.
I would be cool with offering either Tarpley or Sadler.
...part of the reason he was so great last year was because of field position - he had many, many opportunities to just sit back and kick the hell out of it. he didn't have to worry about aiming or about touchbacks because our offense was so inept.
it's a really important position, certainly - just look at teams like virginia tech, who actually steal games on special teams. we need to focus on the heir apparent, no doubt.
part of the reason he was so great last year was because of field position - he had many, many opportunities to just sit back and kick the hell out of it. he didn't have to worry about aiming or about touchbacks because our offense was so inept.
No - what made him great was his net average. His gross average was solid but not out of this world. But because his punts were rarely returnable, he had a fantastic net average. A lot of punters outkick their coverage, and end up giving up some return yards every time. Zoltan doesn't do that.
Because even in June, and even (yes, punters are important) discussing future members of our team, I could care less about this topic.
Look at the draft if you think there are many elite punters. I just think most punters are average and if you find one that turns out to be elite you are somewhat lucky.
say that with any position. Most are average and if they turn out to be elite you got lucky. You don't see punters/kickers drafted until the later rounds because they play a maximum of 10ish plays a game. Much better value to take a flier that could help you on offense/defense and sign a good punter/kicker as a undrafted FA.
some of the reasons why punters dont typically get drafted are that:
1. each team only needs 2 punters max
2. punters can last in the league for a very long time. whereas age is a significant factor for other positions (WR, RB, etc.) many punters and kickers have been able to maintain their abilities well into their forties. Teams arent really looking to reload on punters that often
lists a kid from Wisconsin, I believe his brother punts at Indiana and he is considered nations #1 P right now.
Chrissailerkicking.com lists the Sadler kid as the #1 uncommitted punter. My son was at the camp and I know why this kid is rated so highly. He told me he had a so-so day and still was dominant. Kornblue named him the best at the camp. With Michigan needing a punter from this class...WHY HASN'T THIS KID BEEN OFFERED YET?????? He said Michigan is his top choice. We better offer fast before it's too late...
6/22 at 6:00am or so.....they'll make an offer in a week.
Let's not underestimate the power of a good walk on punter...I've been giving it a shot 4 straight semesters, but still no luck.
to winning football as it can keep your opponents backed up and fighting uphill all day, so I understand the consternation with having not offered this kid especially after we've been so carefree in offers to date. Maybe RR wants another athelete at the punter position for his rugby style kicking that gives the element of a fake punt for the return teams to respect. Maybe he's going to convert one of the slot ninjas into a punter ninja and have them punt the ball as well. Sometimes, I just can't tell what is going on over at the Hall, but I do think these guys have a plan and they are executing the pland and I surrender the fact that they are way more knowledgeable about football and football players than anyone on the internet, blogs, or pay sites combined.
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