Tetsujin Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 (edited) You'd think some kickers could passably punt and save a team a roster spot. At least pooch punt towards the corner in shorter field situations instead of the sky high punts, which I don't like in those situations. So many punts by professional punters are prone touchbacks anyways. Edited June 28, 2023 by Tetsujin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 I have asked myself this question so many times. In the pros, I get not having it be a thing, but you'd think at least in college there'd be some. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterCallSaul Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 27 minutes ago, Daniel said: I have asked myself this question so many times. In the pros, I get not having it be a thing, but you'd think at least in college there'd be some. There have been a few. Matt Bosher did both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterCallSaul Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 Also, body type does play a factor. Punters are usually super tall. Kickers are built like horse jockeys. Speaking in generalities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Tso Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 48 minutes ago, Tetsujin said: You'd think some kickers could passably punt and save a team a roster spot. At least pooch punt towards the corner in shorter field situations instead of the sky high punts, which I don't like in those situations. So many punts by professional punters are prone touchbacks anyways. Good question, it's basically answered in this adjacent question by Bill Belichick One of the biggest considerations is, if you're punter/kicker gets hurt, you're out of luck for that game, and you never want to be in that situation. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetsujin Posted June 28, 2023 Author Share Posted June 28, 2023 Just now, General Tso said: One of the biggest considerations is, if you're punter/kicker gets hurt, you're out of luck for that game, and you never want to be in that situation. I get it, but punter has to be by far the least injured position in the NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 8 minutes ago, General Tso said: One of the biggest considerations is, if you're punter/kicker gets hurt, you're out of luck for that game, and you never want to be in that situation. And sometimes the kicker gets injured and Chad Ochocinco does the PAT's lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWil23 Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 I’m old enough to remember when punters had swing value, like a third string quarterback. See: Tom Tupa It saved you a roster spot and usually those guys were holders for the kicker or backup holders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 (edited) All-Pro Punter Pat McAfee stats at West Virginia: 210/212 on XPs 58/79 on FGs 126 punts averaging 43.7 yards per punt. IIRC he wanted the Colts to let him handle some kicking duties, specifically XPs and redzone FGs. He felt his athleticism would open up better scoring opportunities with fakes. They declined. Edited June 28, 2023 by Dome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4L Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 7 hours ago, Daniel said: I have asked myself this question so many times. In the pros, I get not having it be a thing, but you'd think at least in college there'd be some. One reason for it is that you want your LS/Punter/Kicker to be able to practice on their own. If you had a backup C as your LS, your backup QB as your holder, and then you Punter/Kicker be one person, they would struggle to find practice time. This is why the vast majority of holders are punters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakuvious Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 I know that this has been asked of actual kickers and punters before, and the response is typically that the mechanics between the two processes are different enough that it's difficult to properly manage both, especially at an NFL level. I'm not the person to speak on the intricacies of this, but I've read this opinion voiced by a few guys before. Additionally, I imagine the increased reps could take a toll over time. The Packers last year were a fairly average overall team, and they totaled 29 field goal attempts, 39 extra point attempts, 52 punts, and 80 kickoffs. So 200 kicks on the dot. Add in practice reps, preseason, postseason, etc., and it could add up to a lot, honestly. There's the point mentioned above, that if you have one guy do all of it, and he gets hurt, then you're totally screwed. And said increase in reps raises the odds of that happening, also. And then honestly, is it even worth it if they could do this? I think it's safe to assume that specialists are going to be better, right? So a guy who just kicks will be better at kicking than he will be at both. A guy who just punts will be better at punting than he would be at both. We'll just call it the Isaiah Simmons theory. Ask a guy to do multiple things, they'll do them all worse than they would have done just one. Barring the truly exceptional. All you really gain from doing this is a back end roster spot and a little bit of cap space. If you cut a veteran punter or kicker, maybe you save $1M - $2M? Because you'll pay the next guy that bumps up to the top 51, so you don't save the full salary, even. And then in the end, maybe your punter turned kicker misses 3 more FGs, 2 more XPs. Maybe your kicker turned punter goes for 5 yards less per punt, shanks an extra punt or two over the year. Might not seem like much, but what are the odds that that bottom of the roster roster spot that you added is going to carry more impact than that? Will that 6th WR or 9th OL or 4th TE add 10+ points or a couple hundred yards of field position? Probably not, honestly. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.UFO Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 I wondered the same thing. If the kicker and punter was the same guy, you would have to find a holder on field goals and extra points, since the punter is always the holder. But that shouldn't be much of a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_DeBerg_Fan_420 Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 17 hours ago, General Tso said: Good question, it's basically answered in this adjacent question by Bill Belichick One of the biggest considerations is, if you're punter/kicker gets hurt, you're out of luck for that game, and you never want to be in that situation. I've never been so bored, yet so interested at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerbertGOAT Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 On 6/28/2023 at 9:48 AM, Dome said: All-Pro Punter Pat McAfee stats at West Virginia: 210/212 on XPs 58/79 on FGs 126 punts averaging 43.7 yards per punt. IIRC he wanted the Colts to let him handle some kicking duties, specifically XPs and redzone FGs. He felt his athleticism would open up better scoring opportunities with fakes. They declined. I believe the Cowboys liked McAfee coming out of the draft and told him they thought he could potentially handle FGs, XPs, Punts, and Kickoffs. Not that they'd actually try it, but that he had the talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterCallSaul Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 On 6/28/2023 at 10:46 AM, MWil23 said: See: Tom Tupa Fun fact: His son destroyed our secondary like it were a joke in my first season with our school. Destroyed. Toughest WR we had to game plan for & we’ve faced some stud D1 kids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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