In-Depth ST review and Analysis... Good Read

[32EBoozer]

https://www.sny.tv/jets/news/bga-scouting-the-rookie-kickers/177402872

 

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This year, I've again been breaking down each of the Jets' draft picks in detail and will now be moving on to look at the undrafted free agent signings. Over the weekend, I took a look at one of the Jets' seventh round picks, Clemson wideout Charone Peake, but now I move on to discuss the other seventh rounder. Since he's a punter -- Lachlan Edwards from Sam Houston State -- I'll be reviewing him along with a couple of undrafted free agents who are also looking to make contributions in the kicking game: Utah punter Tom Hackett and Duke placekicker Ross Martin. I've been conducting research and watching game footage to try and assess what each of them brings to the table.

The 24-year-old Edwards is 6'4" and 209 pounds and spent the past two seasons punting for Sam Houston State of the Southland conference. By contrast, Hackett -- who is also 24 -- is just 5'11" and 198 pounds. He is a two-time Ray Guy award winner; the award given annually to college football's top punter. They're both Australian and have a background in Australian Rules Football. Martin, 22, stands just 5'9" and 183 pounds but has been one of college football's most consistent placekickers over the past two seasons.

Note: Some stats from this article are exclusively provided by Pro Football Focus.

Who are Lachlan Edwards, Tom Hackett and Ross Martin?

Edwards joined the Sam Houston State team in 2013 after having been discovered kicking a football around in a local park and being directed towards an Australian punting academy. He actually split duties with another punter, although he did get more of the workload after the first year.

Edwards was able to increase his gross average from 42.3 yards per punt in his first season to 44.1 in year two and only one out of every 16 punts was a touchback, as opposed to one in 10 in his first season. By contrast, his final season was statistically disappointing as his gross average dropped to a career-low 41.5 and one out of every nine punts was a touchback. However, he landed the ball inside the 20 at a greater rate, so it's possible the reduction in yardage was because he attempted more punts from closer to the end zone.

Hackett was on Utah's team for four years, having also joined a punting academy while in Australia. His gross punting numbers were more impressive than Edwards, especially over the past two seasons, where he had 46.7 yards per punt in 2014 and 48.0 in 2015. Hackett's overall numbers were good, too, as he landed the ball inside the 20 at a higher rate, although he did also have more touchbacks over the past two years (18 in 141 punts, as opposed to 13 in 154 by Edwards).

Martin, who PFF called the most accurate kicker in this year's class, actually missed four field goals from inside 40 yards in 2015. However, he was perfect from inside 40 in 2014. Over the course of the past two years, he's made eight of 10 from 50 yards or longer, although the longest was only 53 yards. He's been less impressive on kickoffs, with poor numbers and two that were returned for touchdowns last season.

Let's move on to look at some more in-depth analysis based on my research and film study.

Measurables and Intangibles

There's an obvious difference in size (five inches and 11 pounds) between Edwards and Hackett, with Edwards being closer to the prototypical punter size NFL teams tend to favor. Hackett once described himself as "fat" and said that he "runs like a penguin" but has actually displayed some impressive athleticism. I already shared one incredible fake punt run when I wrote the special teams BGA before the draft, but here's another:

All-in-all, Hackett has an impressive 106 rushing yards on just four carries. He also displayed superior physicality by recording 13 career special teams tackles -- 10 more than Edwards. As the above comments show, he's quite a character, although he made more controversial comments before Utah's bowl game against BYU.

Martin is smaller than current Jets kicker Nick Folk, but he pitched in with nine special teams tackles in college.

Injuries

I don't believe any of the three had any significant injuries while playing college football. Edwards did have a shoulder problem back in 2011 from playing Aussie Rules, though, which caused him to miss an entire season.

A difference in style

The Edwards-Hackett battle promises to be fascinating, with the potential to revolutionize the NFL kicking game.

Let's consider Edwards as the baseline. The Jets drafted what they considered to be the best conventional punter on the board before landing Hackett, a more boom-or-bust type of player, as an undrafted free agent.

Edwards' biggest strength is the hang time he gets on his kicks. Despite his Australian background, he uses a conventional punting style and is technically proficient, even in the face of a rush. He didn't have a punt blocked in his college career.

PFF charted just six punts from Edwards in 2015 because he played just one game against division one opposition. However, his best hang time was 4.85 seconds, over two-tenths better than Hackett's best of the year. When interviewed, Edwards mentioned how crucial this is and that he wants to avoid out-kicking his coverage. He also noted that he would need to work on placement because NFL teams typically kick to one sideline or the other to limit the return man's options.

Hackett, on the other hand, often uses a rugby-style technique. This style has been used in the NFL but very sparingly and only by punters who primarily use a conventional technique. For various reasons, NFL teams don't like this style, but Hackett's numbers were so good in college that perhaps he has a chance to break the mold.

Let's first explain what a rugby-style punt is before we discuss what is good and bad about it. Instead of standing directly behind the long-snapper and kicking the ball straight down the field with a high leg-kick follow-through off a two-step walk-up, a rugby-style punter will run laterally and kick the ball from a lower drop point.

Here's an example of Hackett using a rugby-style punt, but because he kicks such a low line-drive, this gives the return man a chance to get some yardage on the return.

In Hackett's defense, he actually did a good job of limiting return yardage last year. Other than a 48-yard return against Arizona State, there was just 17 yards of return yardage all year, most of which was on the above play. In watching footage of Edwards, there were more successful returns, albeit primarily due to poor tackling by the coverage units and not kick placement.

That lack of hang-time is the obvious main disadvantage of a rugby-style punt. You also would need to overhaul your protection schemes and there are rule differences that could make this problematic in the NFL. Teams might also be concerned that there's more chance of something bad happening when their punter is required to run with the ball. Remember the end of Michigan v Michigan State?

There are some potential advantages too, though. By running laterally before the kick, the punter can mitigate the effect of lower hang-time by giving his coverage unit a couple of extra seconds to get down the field. Also, Hackett uses the lack of hang time to his advantage because he kicks the ball so far and so accurately that the return man often can't get to it before it bounces, which dissuades them from attempting a return.

Also worth mentioning is that the ability for a conventional punter to use a rugby-style punt from time-to-time could be an effective weapon. If the return man isn't expecting it, he might be more likely to misjudge the ball, let it bounce or even muff it. In addition, the ability to use that style gives a punter an effective emergency option to get his kick off in the event of a protection bust, because rugby players are adept at kicking "around" on-rushing defenders and still getting an effective kick off.

However, wouldn't it be easier to teach Edwards -- a good conventional punter -- how to use a rugby-style technique occasionally if you felt it could be a good weapon, rather than count on Hackett's ability to improve enough in terms of his conventional punting style to punt in the NFL?

Here's Hackett doing an effective job with a conventional punt, but he obviously lacks Edwards' textbook technique and impressive hang-time:

According to PFF, Hackett only used the conventional technique 20 times in 2015. And while I don't have a breakdown, I found he wasn't always as effective with it. Here's a bad shank:

What about Martin?

Martin's field goal kicking numbers are pretty solid, especially over the past two years. However, he had one major nemesis: Virginia Tech.

In 2013, Martin actually had one of his better games against Virginia Tech, nailing two early kicks from over 50 yards, including a career-best 53-yarder, as the Blue Devils clung on for a 13-10 upset win. However, they were his worst nightmare in 2014 and 2015.

In 2014, Martin was a perfect 12-for-12 heading into a matchup against the Hokies in the penultimate game of the regular season. He missed two field goals, and while one was from over 50 yards, the other was a 40-yarder that could have given the Blue Devils the lead with just over two minutes left in an eventual 17-16 loss. These would be his two only misses of the entire season.

Fast forward to 2015 and as Duke headed into another matchup with the Hokies, Martin was again 12-for-12: the only kicker in America with an active streak of 12 or more makes at that time. With the previous year's miss surely on his mind, he shanked an early chip shot, as the ball took an inexplicable Cary Blanchard-style right turn at the last moment.

A chance for redemption came with one minute left and a chance to kick the go-ahead field goal. However, Martin pushed his kick to the right and off the upright:

Ultimately, Martin would come up with the goods in overtime, making two field goals, although Duke eventually, won 45-43, on a two-point conversion in the third overtime period. One of his makes was this impressive 38-yarder, which had more than enough distance:

Martin did have a few more misses before the end of the season, including one the following week against Miami. It's interesting to note that, as with his missed kick at the end of the Hokies game, the kick was at an angle he'd never encounter at the NFL level due to the wider hashmarks in the college game. You can also see why he might not push the ball far enough inside the near upright, having pushed one too far and hit the far upright in the previous game:

What about his poor kickoff numbers, though? The average start-line for the opposition was a disappointing 28.3. How much do these numbers hurt his chances?

The first thing to note is that while 24 touchbacks on 84 kickoffs is not great, the numbers were skewed by a number of things. That included the two touchdown returns, and you can't really blame him on of those. It was the final play against Miami that saw him squib the ball down to the Miami 40 and then watch as Miami threw eight laterals and got away with multiple rules violations to run it back for the win. Also, he had this failed onside kick attempt to further skew the numbers.

Maybe one of the punters can be turned into a kickoff specialist, but the only experience either of them has is that Hackett has kicked off four times in the past two years and the only one from last year was a botched onside kick. In a similar vein, Martin could punt in an emergency because he did it in high school.

Now that the ball comes out to the 25-yard line on touchbacks anyway, there's some sense that this means teams are better off laying the ball up short of the goal line and trying to make the stop before the runner reaches the 25. So maybe you don't want a touchback specialist -- something Folk has never been anyway.

Conclusions

It's obvious why Hackett earned cult status among the draft community and the temptation to base your kicking game around him would be so high. You need only watch the Oregon game last year to be sold on him as the best punter of all time -- after he boomed a 76-yarder over the return man's head, ran 33 yards on a fake punt and landed two punts inside the five.

Alternatively, you could just watch the second quarter of the bowl game win over BYU and you'd see him nailing a 55-yarder and a 56-yarder before landing his next two punts inside the five like a golfer landing a seven-iron on the green:

Jets fans have wanted a flip-the-field type of punter for years and years and Hackett actually admitted that's not what he is in a recent interview. Could he be something more than that, though? If not, could Edwards be that guy?.

It's going to be extremely interesting to compare and contrast their work in camp, especially with the difference in style. Ultimately, if both perform well, the final decision might come down to how much of a chance new special teams coach Brant Boyer and the coaching staff in general are prepared to take on Hackett.

Let's not underestimate or forget about Edwards, though. He seems to have a lot of talent. In a best-case scenario, they will both shine in camp and the Jets will be able to recoup a future pick for one of them from a punter-needy team.

As for Martin, does he have a realistic shot to beat out Folk? While Rex Ryan may have trusted Folk because he never cost them a game until Ryan's final season, Folk didn't attempt any vital kicks under Bowles and then got hurt and missed the end of the season. And that actually resulted in his cheaper replacement, Randy Bullock, making crucial kicks in three games. Bowles, therefore, has no emotional ties to Folk and might prefer to bring in someone younger and save some cap room (about $2 million this year and $4 million over the next two).

If they both perform well, maybe the fact he's cheaper and younger will give him the edge over the incumbent Folk.

[flgreen]

Not real interested in  Martin.  Weak kick offs, inconsistent out side the 40?  I'll stick with the Folk hero.

 

Bent describes one of Hackett's punts as a" bad shank".  Ball was kicked from Utah's 33, and went out of bounds at Utah St's 30. That's a 37 yard net.  if that's the worst kick he could find, sign me up.  i'm used to punters who shank balls for 15 yards

 

 

[32EBoozer]

1 hour ago, flgreen said:

Not real interested in  Martin.  Weak kick offs, inconsistent out side the 40?  I'll stick with the Folk hero.

 

Bent describes one of Hackett's punts as a" bad shank".  Ball was kicked from Utah's 33, and went out of bounds at Utah St's 30. That's a 37 yard net.  if that's the worst kick he could find, sign me up.  i'm used to punters who shank balls for 15 yards

 

 

Agree about the shank. This guy should watch Quigley video to see what a real shank looks like '

[77DRAFT]

What happened to Bullock, though he was pretty good, maybe not.