Position Previews: Kicker/Punter
Nov 9, 2013; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Julien Obioha (95) blocks a field goal attempt by Mississippi State Bulldogs kicker Evan Sobiesk (64) during the second half at Kyle Field. Texas A&M won 51-41. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s start out our position previews with the biggest question mark on the team: placekicker. And we’ll do punter at the same time.
Field Goal Kicker
It hasn’t been good in a while. Or at least consistent. While we haven’t lost a game on a last second field goal attempt, we have had some serious problems lately that have hurt.
In all, MSU kickers were 10 of 21 on FG attempts in 2013. That’s a .476 percentage, and was 122nd in the country. It was bad.
5 of 7 from 20-29 (that is just horrible), 3 of 7 from 30-39 (even more horrible), 1 of 6 from 40-49 (I’m willing to live with this if they’ll just make the FGs inside 40 yards).
There were a lot of missed kicks last year, but I’ll go back to the ones that really hurt –
- vs. Auburn: missed 35 yard FG attempt, and we went for two later on because of it and failed. If MSU gets that FG and extra point the last minute drive only ties the game instead of wins it.
- Last second FG missed vs. Arkansas. Fortunately the Dawgs were able to win in overtime.
- Last second FG missed vs. Ole Miss. Fortunately the Dawgs were able to win in overtime.
Thank goodness we won the Arkansas and Ole Miss game. But we may not be tied next time that kick is in order – we may be down by one, two or three points and need the kick. It must be made. Texas A&M, Auburn, Ole Miss – these types of games could come down to a field goal attempt in the waning seconds.
So who we got?
- Evan Sobiesk
- J.J. McGrath
- Westin Graves
- Devon Bell
- Logan Cooke
Sobiesk is the leader for the job going into camp. That’s because Devon Bell will now focus on punting and Sobiesk is the only one with experience. I don’t know what happened to Taylor Earhart who made one field goal last year (and three kickoffs), but he’s gone.
Sobiesk was 3 of 6 last year. 1 of 2 from 20-29, 2 of 3 from 30-39 and 0 for 1 from 40-49.
J.J. McGrath is a walk-on transfer from Michigan. He redshirted his true freshman season there last year. Can he kick – I have no idea. I don’t know about walk-on Westin Graves either – he’s a true frosh from Flowood.
If all else fails we’ll go back to Devon Bell probably. He has the leg but I honestly don’t know if his heart was in placekicking – he wants to punt the ball. Logan Cooke is an incoming freshman who will receive a scholarship, but he’s more of a Devon Bell type: punting and placekicking.
So, all that to say I’m still very insecure about this position. We are likely to see any 4th & 1 or 4th & 2 just being handled by Dak Prescott unless it’s a glorified extra point and we need the points. I’m just praying no games come down to a field goal or I’m going to throw up.
Punter
For all of Devon Bell’s shortcomings as a placekicker he is a good punter. He had 24 of them last year with a 41.2 yard average and more importantly 14 of them were inside the 20.
Logan Cooke will likely get redshirted, but if he is needed he should be a good option here. I’m not too worried about punter.
Kickoffs
Bell will likely handle kickoffs again. He has the leg to get in through the endzone, the question is will he? Only 25 of 66 (38%) kicks went for touch-backs last year. In 2012 he was 13 for 64 (20%). We could use a better percentage – being able to kick it through the endzone gives you one less thing to worry about.