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It’s easy to forget about specialists in football. Kickers only get noticed when they’re drilling 50-yarders or missing kicks. Punters on good teams are only on the field three, maybe four times per game, and they are almost certainly the least-noticed players on the field unless they do something remarkable.
Fortunately for fans of special teams play, the SEC does have some remarkable punters.
In 2014, the most outstanding of them was a true freshman: Alabama’s JK Scott. Even as a Ray Guy Award finalist, Scott flew under the radar. That’s easy to do when your job is to clean up after one of the most efficient offenses in the country.
It took until Alabama’s loss in the Sugar Bowl for the nation to truly recognize Scott’s greatness. In a game that featured a bevy of star players, the announcing crew couldn’t stop gushing over Scott’s leg. That’s what happens when you boom seven punts for a 55-yard average, including a ridiculous 73-yard blast. In a game the Crimson Tide ended up losing 42-35, Scott was arguably the most valuable player on the field for Alabama.
Scott isn’t the only Ray Guy finalist in the conference. In 2013, Texas A&M’s Drew Kaser had just as stellar of a year as Scott had in 2014, averaging 47.4 yards per punt. Kaser fell short of that lofty figure in 2014, but still finished 15th in the nation in punting average while downing more than a third of his punts inside the 20-yard line.
Kaser and Scott are the two biggest punting names in the conference, and the two could very well both be at the College Football Awards next season duking it out for the 2015 Ray Guy trophy, giving SEC fans the best-case scenario of a punting rivalry. If Kaser has it his way, the former All-American will be in New York in early December as well.
Those two aren’t alone, though. The SEC returns an excellent crop of punters. Seven of the top eight punters in the conference by punting average return in 2015. Jamie Keehn of LSU, another in Les Miles’ line of Australian punters, Mississippi State’s dual-threat kicker Devon Bell and Ole Miss’ Will Gleason were all stellar in 2014, and they’re all back to pin teams deep in their own territory once again in 2015.
Could punter be the deepest position group in the SEC come fall? It’s not out of the realm of possibility. Defensive end will be up there, just as the position was in 2014. Running back might be the biggest competition for the punters, with several pre-season award candidates, national rising stars like Leonard Fournette and Nick Chubb.
Whether or not punters rule the SEC in 2015, the legs lined up deep will be well worth watching.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
