Draftageddon: The Special Teams Edition
This is the final round of this year's All Big Ten roundtablish preview. It's short and you don't need to read it and we might have skipped it altogether except it's bumping the Offensive Tackles preview off the front page. You're welcome.
Previously:
- Quarterback and Running Back
- Receivers and Tight Ends
- Offensive Line
- Defensive Line
- Linebacker
- Cornerback and Safety
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KICKER
Ace: Get healthy soon, Rafael Gaglianone’s back.
Seth: Just because we can't escape them this year. Dude's going to break every record because he got a season's worth of kicking into the season he got medshirted.
Ace: …if he gets healthy.
Ace: Otherwise, it’s Quinn Nordin or OSU’s Sean Neurnberger, I think?
Seth: Nope, there's another guy from the Big Ten West. Purdue has twitter legend who transferred from Baylor and was really good last year.
80 Yard Field Goal @SportsCenter @espn @NFL @BleacherReport @CBSSports #SCtop10 @ESPNCFB @FOXSports @YahooSports pic.twitter.com/uXoUuUdtio
— Spencer Evans (@Spencer_J_Evans) September 7, 2016
Ace: That is a long field goal.
Seth: Evans missed three long ones last year and that was it I think. Brohm doesn't kick field goals unless he has to.
Ace: lmao I had my laptop hooked to my speakers and my brother’s dog fell off the couch when I hit play. (She does this not infrequently.)
BiSB: Miguel Recinos was 11/13 for Iowa. And Iowa will kick them some field goals.
Seth: Anyway WILD THING is going to be the best kicker in the country or terrible and there's nothing in between.
BiSB: Yep, he's #1 with a bullet.
Ace: Northwestern had a freshman who went 13/15.
Seth: Charlie Kuhbander. Does he punt too? That's a great punter name.
No offense to banders/benders.
Ace: None taken. I would’ve happily been a punter.
Speaking of which,
[AFTER THE JUMP]
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PUNTER
Ace: I still have nightmares of PSU’s Blake Gillikin. Taken the Punt God mantle. And… OSU’s Drue Chrisman is also up there.
BiSB: Although Drue Chrisman actually averaged more...
Seth: Chrisman is also a god of bottle-flipping:
Water bottle flipping isn't dead pic.twitter.com/zraTNiiOll
— Drue Chrisman (@DChrisman91) July 7, 2017
BiSB: DAMMIT ALL.
Ace: (throws all the things)
THE MYSTERY PUNTER WILL SAVE US.
We’re fine. This is fine. Everything’s fine.
Is anyone else worth noting or should we just list players before we do further damage to ourselves and others?
BiSB: FWIW, There are some Big Ten teams looking at Michigan's "problems" and screaming loudly into the void.
Seth: What happened to Wade Lees, the 40-year-old Aussie Maryland brought in?
Ace: Couldn’t crack a 40 yard average.
Not net.
Gross.
BiSB: Maryland could have brought in the ghost of Richard Nixon as a punter, and we wouldn't have noticed. Takes a LOT to break through in Maryland news.
Ace: Hey man a Maryland punter played a huge role in one of my favorite MGoGIFs.
Seth: I'm putting Lees on my list anyway? Aussie who coffin-cornered well and never gave up returns is more useful than whoever's taking advantage of all the space you get after an Illinois offensive possession. Seventeen kicks inside the 20 to two touchbacks. Also he's older than Ace.
Ace: Maryland: 116th in punt success rate last year.
Seth: Oy.
Ace: Brad Robbins had a better average.
Seth: Yoy. Okay, Lees is off my list.
BiSB: According to PFF, all punters were terrible and should feel terrible.
Ace: PFF might be right after the first couple guys this year.
BiSB: No, them too.
EVERYONE IS AWFUL.
Seth: Alright, kick returner doesn't exist anymore thanks to the anti-Foug, so let's do our punt returners and call it a 'geddon.
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SLOT RECEIVER AGAIN, PRETTY MUCH
Ace: If I’m putting my money where my mouth was during the podcast, I should mention DPJ.
Seth: I feel like you've been talking yourself further than you planned to on that.
Ace: Nah, I’ll again mention how much I saw him play in high school. A few rough plays by a true freshman skewed a lot last year. He also had moments of brilliance.
Seth: I saw the one against King at Ford Field. Play of the game in one of the greatest high school games in the state's history.
Ace: He also had the most punt return yards in the conference last year. DeAndre Thompkins finished one yard short with a much better average.
Seth: Thompkins is probably the best punt returner in the conference, unless Maryland deigns to use one of their running backs there or...what's his name I drafted from OSU?
Ace: KJ Hill.
Seth: It wasn't Hill and wasn't Parris Campbell either. Demario McCall supposedly beat those guys out in practice.
Ace: Oh, he’s got major potential. J-Shun Harris of Indiana is absolutely electric but he’s coming off his third ACL tear. Had two PR TDs in seven games before the injury. If he’s healthy he deserves a spot but talk about an if.
BiSB: Oh man, Athlon has Mikey Dudek as 4th team. WHY would you wish a risky venture like returning punts on poor damn Mike?
Seth: Fourth year in a row I'm going to beat the drum on Shoulda Transferred to Michigan Mikey.
BiSB: Yep, Michigan doesn't have any issues with injury-plagued receivers.
(Too soon?)
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Kicker
Tm | Seth | Ace | BiSB |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Rafael Gaglianone, UW | Quinn Nordin, MICH | Rafael Gaglianone, UW |
2 | Quinn Nordin, MICH | Rafael Gaglianone, UW | Quinn Nordin, MICH |
3 | Miguel Recinos, Iowa | Miguel Recinos, Iowa | Sean Nuernberger, OSU |
4 | Spencer Evans, PU | Sean Nuernberger, OSU | Miguel Recinos, Iowa |
Punter
Tm | Seth | Ace | BiSB |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Blake Gillikin, PSU | Blake Gillikin, PSU | Blake Gillikin, PSU |
2 | Drue Chrisman, OSU | Drue Chrisman, OSU | Drue Chrisman, OSU |
3 | Jake Hartbarger, MSU | Blake Hayes, Certified Australian, ILL | Caleb Lightbourn, NEB |
4 | Caleb Lightbourn, NEB | Caleb Lightbourn, NEB | Super-Secret Michigan Punter, MICH |
Punt Returner
Tm | Seth | Ace | BiSB |
---|---|---|---|
1 | DeAndre Thompkins, PSU | DeAndre Thompkins, PSU | DeAndre Thompkins, PSU |
2 | DeMario McCall, OSU | Donovan Peoples-Jones, MICH | Donovan Peoples-Jones, MICH |
3 | Ty Johnson, MD | J-Shun Harris, IU | Demario McCall, OSU |
4 | Donovan Peoples-Jones, MICH | DeMario McCall, OSU | Ty Johnson, MD |
BiSB: Excluded J-Shun Harris for health reasons.
Seth: Ditto.
BiSB: DAMMIT we didn't do long snappers.
- Cameron Cheeseman
- Who
- Dafuq
- Cares
Ace: 5) is Taybor Pepper still around? wait I don’t care
BiSB: Mike Onwenu for punt returner.
Ace: I THINK WE’RE DONE.
August 30th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
Sees new post during preview week. Oh.
August 30th, 2018 at 9:48 AM ^
what about the holder?
August 30th, 2018 at 9:50 AM ^
You guys mailed in this #content real good. Back to Draftageddon next year!
August 30th, 2018 at 9:51 AM ^
No KO returner?
Also, Ya'll be trolling readership hard with a Draftegeddon post this week. Well done
August 30th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
Latest rule change is going to kill kickoffs dead. They'll be glorified rituals.
August 30th, 2018 at 9:51 AM ^
More serious note: Where would ND players fit into these?
August 30th, 2018 at 9:53 AM ^
Screw osu, but I've got to say that the water bottle flipping video is mesmerizing.
August 30th, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^
Our punting woes put even more importance on Nordin developing consistency with his strong leg.
If we gradually start to lose field position battles as games wear on due to lousy punting, those long successful FGs would be clutch.
August 30th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
I don't even understand the basketball one. Like, how?
August 30th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
Was waiting on the DE preview. Nope.
August 30th, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
Scariest long snapper:
August 30th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
This could go south quickly...
August 30th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
Umm I care a helluva lot about long snapper
August 30th, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
Well, I think you're all a special team.
August 30th, 2018 at 1:42 PM ^
But I want holder rankings!
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