spread punt

Previously: Podcast 11.0A, Podcast 11.0B, Podcast 11.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Offensive Tackle. Interior OL. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle. Linebacker. Cornerback. Safety.

Depth Chart

Michigan's got more specialists than you can throw a stick at, if you've got three sticks. They've also got an explosive punt returner and a knack for blocking kicks. Add it up and last year's special teams finished 12th nationally, per FEI, despite a mid-season field goal lull.

This is becoming something of a tradition. Michigan was 28th in 2017 despite a giant punting aberration, 3rd in 2016, and 11th in 2015. That's impressive longevity at the top of the rankings in a high-variance environment. USC special teams guru John Baxter seems to have rubbed off on Chris Partridge and Jay Harbaugh. (Also, having Jabrill Peppers and Donovan Peoples-Jones back to back helps.)

Looks like more of the same in 2019.

KICKER: IS MULTIBALL A THING YET

Rating: 5

all kicker pictures are the same [Bryan Fuller]

Chris Partridge just told the assembled media that Michigan's kicker competition was still ongoing:

“That’s ongoing, it’s awesome,” Partridge said. “When you’ve got two guys that are phenomenal and are duking it out, we’ll just keep it rolling. Both were really good in the spring through camp and I don’t think we’re pressed to make an immediate decision. We’re just going to let those guys keep working.”

It may well be, but this space is going to tell you who wins: JAKE MOODY. Moody got the nod after QUINN NORDIN's second consecutive midseason lull saw him miss 4 of 7 attempts after starting 8 of 9. Instead of having a yelling match on the sideline again, Harbaugh inserted Moody. Moody grooved all his attempts inside 40 and finished the year 10/11. He'll get the first shot, and will have to miss a few to open the door for Nordin again.

Normally this would be the part where we mention Nordin's enormous leg and speculate that he could be the designated guy for improbable bombs. Obligatory spring field goal goes here:

That may be the case. Nordin does have a track record from 50+ that Moody has not yet matched—only two of his attempts last year were even outside 40. But while Nordin has a track record of hitting bombs, Moody's leg is in the same general area. He hit three 55+ FGs his final year in high school (off a tee and at a bigger target, admittedly) and was fine from 50 in this spring's field goal contest:

There was no punting but there were a lot of field goals both in the game and a special post-halftime field-goal throwdown that started at XP length and went out to 60-yarders. Every field goal in the game and every one in the FG-off was good until the 60-yarders. Both Moody and Nordin left theirs two or three yards short.

It would have to be an extremely improbable attempt to out-range Moody's leg. If Michigan lines up for a 62 yarder at the end of a half, maybe. Otherwise it'll be Moody until such time as Moody gets wobbly. Which he hopefully will not. He's got a bit more of a track record than last year's 11 attempts. His 39 field goals as a high school senior is a state record and stands in contrast to Nordin's senior year, in which he was 2/3. Somehow.

FWIW, Nordin's 2017 wasn't too bad. He went 19/24 and finished 25th in FEI field goal efficiency. Unless the most #collegekickers college-kickering of all time goes down Michigan's floor here is reassuringly high. Except that's when the #collegekickers get you. Sleep with the light on.

[After the JUMP: onomatopoeia]

A few years ago it was de rigueur on this site to talk about how college rules allowed NCAA teams to use a different style of punting, and that this style (called spread or shield) of punting was demonstrably superior to NFL-style (tornado). Michigan has swung between them in recent years. Carr tested out something like shield punting in 2003 then scrapped it when it cost him a game against Iowa. Rodriguez took us to spread punting along with spread offense, and Hoke returned the program to pro-style as was his wont.

In 2015 Harbaugh brought in special teams guru John Baxter and the spread was once again installed, presumably for good. Then Baxter left, and this year Michigan used both. At first we wondered if this was, like under Hoke, some relic of a coaching staff that strove to be pro-like in everything. But as the punt blocks, and near punt blocks, and running-intos that by all rights should have been punt blocks piled up, a new thought emerged: maybe Michigan thinks they’ve solved the spread punt.

Shield punting refresher

For a full explanation of spread punting and a comparison to NFL-style see my 2014 article or watch the Joe Daniel Youtube. Here’s a graphic:

The splits are huge: two yards between the snapper and the guards, and two more yards until the next guy. You don’t care who comes up the A gaps—the only thing the guys on the line of scrimmage have to do is redirect the man lined up outside of them then get downfield (you don’t want your snapper involved in blocking).

The three guys standing about 7 yards back are the “shield”. You want big burly dudes for your shield, and you tell them the Grand Canyon is just behind their heels so they’d better not give an inch. By not giving an inch, they create an eye in the middle of the storm for the punter to safely get the punt off.

Everyone else just has to force the attackers to widen to the point where they can’t get back inside in time to affect the punt. That’s why the guards split so far apart: anyone going outside of them should presumably be too far outside to affect the punt. Anyone coming up the middle will get stuck behind an immovable wall of beef.

In the linked video, Daniel mentions the way to attack it is put four guys into those big “A” gaps, because that could overwhelm the shield. The way the shield would deal with this is block out man-to-man, and let the guys in the A gaps try to get around the shield. As long as your three-man shield can still stop four A-gap rushers, you’ve got a sound punt blocking strategy with two to four more guys releasing downfield than you would in an NFL-style punt.

So…

[After the JUMP we get around the shield]

Previously: Podcast 8.0. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End And Friends. Offensive Line. Defensive End. Defensive Tackle. Linebacker. Cornerback. Safety.

[Eric Upchurch]

Depth Chart

John Baxter fled back to California after one Michigan winter and will get what's coming to him in the next ice age. Baxter is a uniquely good special teams coach and there wasn't an obvious replacement available; also Rashan Gary existed. So Michigan promoted Chris Partridge to a full-fledged assistant spot and split special teams duties between him and Jay Harbaugh.

There's probably going to be a dropoff in effort applied. Last year Michigan took timeout in a squib situation so they could insert Dymonte Thomas; they lined him up at the spot a squib should go and lo, he returned it to midfield. If that creativity persists it's evidence Harbaugh is pushing every available angle. I don't expect it to. John Baxter appeared to be a rare commodity: a difference-making special teams coach.

Even so, this should be a strength.

KICKER

Rating: 4

[Bryan Fuller]

The dread was palpable last year when scholarship freshman Andrew David wasn't even in the conversation. A couple of walk-ons vied for the job and were by all accounts somewhere between vexing and terrible. So of course when KENNY ALLEN locked the spot down he hit 18/22, with one miss a bad snap and a second due in large part to a downright supernatural gust of wind that pushed a probable make wide. Allen was also 46/46 on PATs.

The catch, such as it is, is that Allen rarely attempted a field goal from outside 40 yards. Just six of his attempts were in the zone of mild difficulty; he went 3/6. He did hit a 47 yarder and he's a booming punter so the leg strength is likely there.

Even if Allen is unproven at longer distances, I will take a #collegekicker who is near-automatic from 40 and in every day of the week and twice on Saturday. Some additional range is the only improvement required.

If that range is not forthcoming, QUINN NORDIN [recruiting profile] also lurks. Harbaugh is uncomfortable with having Allen take every last kicking duty so it's possible Nordin gets some longer kicks. If Michigan does decide to spread the load out, kickoffs are a more likely deployment for Nordin.

PUNTER

Rating: 4.

[Bryan Fuller]

KENNY ALLEN, yes that Kenny Allen, figures to win this job too. Allen in fact came to Michigan a punter, and a booming one at that. He's had two punts in games, both of which went 50+ yards, and since Brady Hoke's reaction to "you have to have an open practice" was to turn it into a special teams exhibition your author has seen Allen punt a ton. He's really good. He could challenge Will Hagerup and Monte Robbins for the all-time gross average, which currently sits at 45 yards even.

One department that figures to have a decline is pooch punting. Blake O'Neil's feathery touch on punts inside the ten was remarkable and unlikely to be repeated by any non-Aussie. When I caught Michgian's open practice at Ford Field, Andrew David was tasked with that nose-down pooch punting stuff that's all the rage. David's left the team since; that might signify Allen's not great at pinning the opposition deep.

QUINN NORDIN is also an option here.