Last year we did a punters-only mock draft, and correctly predicted the Ravens to draft the first punter, in the 4th round. We were scorned and rejected for it (jk no one really cared, it’s fine). This year, there are neither enough draftable punters, nor enough teams for whom it makes any sense to draft a punter for us to repeat the exercise. Instead, we’re just giving you our best fits for our top-5 guys. There are very, very few teams left with question marks at punter (probably some foreshadowing about what the NFL sees in this draft class). It would not be a shock if only one punter gets drafted. That said, read on for some PUNTER CONTENT! (or read our full Punter Big Board here
The Rams currently employ zero punters and have three fifth round picks, three sixth round picks, and two seventh round picks. They’re a great candidate to draft a punter, and their wealth of picks in the fifth and sixth round make them a good bet to draft the first punter. Barringer’s elite ceiling should make him an attractive pick.
The Jake Bailey era in New England was a rollercoaster, and that’s putting it mildly. Belichik over-corrects here and opts for a safe, high-floor, pro-ready prospect in Brad Robbins. Armed with four sixth rounders and one seventh rounder, the Patriots have plenty of late draft capital to justify taking a punter. They pass over Michael Turk’s upside for a guy they hope can be the second coming of Ryan Allen.
The Cardinals have less draft capital and one of the greatest punters of all time on their roster, in Andy Lee. They nab Turk after the draft hoping for a Drue Chrisman-esque trajectory. (Also like Drue Chrisman, Turk will be drafted to play in a state where he also played college ball!) Turk learns from Lee in the offseason, starts the year on the practice squad and takes over for Lee by week 10. Smooth transition completed.
The Eagles could opt to bring in Rutgers punter and 2022 Ray Guy Award winner Adam Korsak to compete with Aryn Siposs, but they’ve had enough time with pin-deep specialists who struggle to uncork long-balls to know that they’d like something different (plus they never punt from beyond their 40, so why even go for a pin-deep guy). Instead, they go for wild-card, and official prospect of Puntalytics, Ty Zentner. Zentner combines a monster leg with some serious shank issues. Fans see both on display in the preseason, and though he doesn’t beat out Siposs in 2023, the Eagles finally give themself a respectable pipeline.
The news of former Jets punter Braden Mann signing with the Steelers took them out of the running for a high quality UDFA punter, so we’ll pair Korsak with his local Jets. He gets to spend at least a year under Thomas Morstead’s wing (probably the best active vet to learn from, and yes we’re basing that mostly on the Morstead-Gillikin transition in New Orleans, but also TMor is a star, a pro’s pro, and we’d all be lucky to be mentored by him). Korsak was a terrific college punter, but there’s a lot mechanically that needs to be sorted out before he can face an NFL field. Here, he gets that chance.
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