Tag Archives: Punter of the Week

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TSR’s Punter of the Week
Bryan Anger – Jacksonville Jaguars

Who is he?
Anger’s most well-known pro punting credential at this moment is probably his lofty entry point into the NFL. Taken in the third round of the 2012 Draft (70th pick overall), Jacksonville raised eyebrows with the pick. College punters simply don’t get selected that early in the current era. Anger’s draft slot is the highest used on a punter since Todd Sauerbrun was taken by the Bears in the second round (56th pick overall) in 1994. Anger’s college career was solid although not so wildly exceptional you’d expect him to go in the third round. Anger played all four years at Cal and left that institution with a degree in integrative biology. Anger turned 24 last Saturday. A Fox Sports reporter has tweeted that Jaguars teammates have given Anger the nickname “Banger.”

Stat line vs. the Bears 10-7-12:
6 punts. 291 yards total. Avg. 48.5 yards per. 47.2 net.

The punts in detail:
1. With a strikingly deep sun-tan on his arms and face, Anger’s pre-punt routine is notable for the length of extension on his warm-up kicks. At the apex, Anger’s kicking toes reach a point well above the level of the top of his head. For a rookie, Anger appears to have great composure and confidence. Hunched over a bit when he took the snap on his first punt of this game after an opening three and out by the Jags O, Anger‘s right-footed kick followed an unhurried two and a half step propulsion. The pigskin traveled straight away with a 3.9-second hang time. It was a pretty solid 49-yard blast with a four-yard return. Football’s best return man Devin Hester of the Bears usually relishes long punts with short hang times but the Jags coverage team cornered him nicely on this one.

2. It was a hot and muggy late afternoon in Jacksonville but the natural grass surface there makes the heat a little more bearable for the big guys tapping heavy energy on long drives. Punters generally don‘t mind the heat given the briefness of their appearances and relative lack of physical exertion. Anger’s second punt four minutes into the game was a poocher. Standing an unusually deep fifteen yards behind his long snapper, Anger rotated the nose of football downward after he caught it and launched it to the nine. 4.2 hang time. Fair catch Hester. A 34-yard punt.

3. Standing six yards deep in his own end zone, Anger really aired this one out. It was a thing of absolute beauty. What made it even more special was the FOX Sports television angle on the play. A roving operator set his camera on the ground and opened the lens wide. The fan at home got a spectacular view of Anger from behind as he unleashed the boot. Hester caught it at his own 27. The ball actually traveled 75 yards plus. Amazing. Yes, Anger out kicked his coverage but the Jacksonville punt united forced Hester to consider his options horizontally and contained him. It was 5.0 on the hang time. 65 yard punt. 4 yard return. It’s the nicest looking punt I’ve seen all year.

4. Still a ballgame at this point despite a horrible game from Gabbert, Anger faced another big punt out of his end zone. A third down sack put the ball on the two, leaving Anger no choice but to stand with his heels just ahead the back of the end zone stripe. A heavy Bears rush forced Anger to rush his kick but it was still a dandy. Again, the ball surpassed coverage leaving Hester in good position to make a dash. But Jags cover men seem to have an uncanny ability to close running lanes. A flag for holding on the Bears was called but it still was a dead end return for Hester. 55 yards on the punt and the 12-yard Hester return was negated on the penalty.

5. Emboldened by the effectiveness of his coverage unit, Anger’s fifth punt of the game didn’t aim to elude or trick Hester. After the hapless Jacksonville offense stalled at midfield, Anger put up a floater. Hester caught it at the 13 and tried to make something happen, reversing field a couple times. Again, punt coverage was great. Hester was chased out of bounds at the 11 and grabbed a face mask on the way out. It was a 38-yard punt with the mask grab by Hester taking the ball back half the distance to the Bears six-yard line.

6. Anger’s final punt came in garbage time. The Bears were up 31 with six and a half to play. Deep in his own zone, Anger failed to hit it square but got a kind bounce. It went in the books as a 50-yard punt with no return. Anger (with significant credit to his mates on coverage) neutralized Hester completely in this game. We’re talking about the best punt returner in the history of pro football with just eight yards on four returns and one fair catch.

The Sound of a Punt:
Brian Sexton has been the radio play-by-play voice for the Jaguars since the franchise came into the league. He’s solid. If you listen closely to the clip of Anger’s third punt, you can hear foot hit ball. Saucer shaped microphones on the sideline are what gets this kinda sound. It’s a technical aspect that’s expected on a big time sports broadcast. Often that layer of sound is lost in the mix. Sexton’s call on this boomer is well done. You can briefly hear the voice of his partner and former player Jeff Lageman. WOKV in Jacksonville is the flagship station for the small network that carries Jags games on radio.

The Punt-osis:
Credit whoever it was on Jacksonville’s personnel staff who drove the selection of a punter in the third round. It’s certainly unconventional. Only one other punter was selected in the 2012 draft (Brad Nortman by Carolina). Look at the Steelers. They snagged Drew Butler as an unsigned free agent as soon as the draft was over. That’s how it usually goes. But Jacksonville scouted punters, found one they liked and filled a need with an elite player. The game’s handful of truly great punters can seriously impact a game. Anger has so far lived up to the expectations aligned with his draft position. Playing on a team with lots of holes on both sides of the ball, Anger will get lots of chances to punt this season and he appears to be surrounded by great gunners and wall builders on the punt unit. At his current rate of achievement, Anger will be the AFC’s Pro Bowl punter.

Next week’s Punter of the Week:
Mike Scifres – San Diego Chargers

-What a crazy night it was at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night for game three of the ALDS. I picked up a pair of LF bleacher seats on Stub Hub for face value and went with a friend. The two ropes from Cool Raul turned the place upside down. Said WABC-AM’s John Sterling after the game: “It will go down in Yankee lore as one of the Yankees’ greatest playoff games. If you weren’t here, I’m sorry because it was fabulous. We’ll remember that game for the rest of our lives.” The Yanks went down in order 1,2,3 in seven of the game’s twelve innings. Girardi’s decision to sit A-Rod in the ninth to give Ibanez a crack is something I wouldn’t expect in a million years. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. On his show Thursday afternoon, Francesa called the Ibanez heroics the single best playoff performance by a Yankee in the history of the franchise. He also called it the greatest postseason game involving the Yankees since the run of championships started in 1996. “It was as dramatic, unlikely and stunning as any as I can remember,” said Mike. The left field beer stand selling $12 cups of jumbo brews limited sales to one per customer. It shut down at the end of five innings. The other news of significance to beer drinkers is that Ball Park Lanes (across the street from the site of the old Stadium) appears shuttered for good. Known to me as “The Bowling Alley Bar,” this was the best place to down a few before or after a ballgame.

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TSR’s Punter of the Week
Chris Jones – Dallas Cowboys

Who is he?
Jones is a highly-touted left-footed punter who suffered a sprained left knee in week three against the Bucs. It wasn’t known Jones would sit out against the Bears when he was selected by TSR as “Punter of the Week,” but his situation serves as a wonderful example of the delicate and transient nature of the punting profession. Listed as “doubtful” going into the Monday nighter with the Bears, the Cowboys brought in two punters last week in case Jones was unable to go. The jobless former Lions punter Ryan Donahue was called in and worked out. As luck and good timing would have it, the great Bills punter Brian Moorman was cut by Buffalo the same day. Moorman is a two-time Pro Bowler who played 11 full seasons and the first three games of this year with Buffalo. He’s been one of the game’s best punters. Completely out of nowhere, Moorman was run out of town by Bills special teams coach Bruce DeHaven over directional efforts. So, just a day after termination from a team he spent more than a decade with, Moorman found himself in Dallas. Then with Jones deactivated for the Bears game, Moorman played and performed spectacularly. With the Cowboys on a bye this weekend, Jones hopes to heal in time for week 6 but the question now is whether Jerry Jones (unrelated to Chris) and company opt to stick with a quality veteran punter who fell in their lap? Will Moorman stick in Big D? Or will Jones retain the job he temporarily lost due to injury? Most NFL fans don’t pay much attention to the daily transactions column but punters come and go often. It’s a game of musical chairs. The developing career stories of Moorman, Jones and Donahue are not unlike hundreds of punters who change uniforms and/or fade in and out of obscurity

Jones’ stat line vs. the Bears 10-1-12:
Out with the sore punting knee, Jones didn’t play. Moorman replaced him and aced his three punts. It was an incredible performance by Moorman considering his Cowboys debut came against the best return man in the game. Devin Hester of the Bears is just one punt return for a TD shy of the all-time record of 19 held by Neon Deion. Two of the three Moorman punts were placed inside the ten with no return. So much for poor directional punting by Moorman. Teammates and coaches embraced Moorman’s efforts despite a lousy Cowboys loss. An ESPN camera showed Moorman drinking a purple-colored sports drink after one of his pin jobs.

The Sound of a Punt:
63-year-old Mizzou grad Brad Sham calls Cowboys games on radio. This is his 34th season in the booth. The first seven years of Sham’s Cowboys run were alongside Verne Lundquist. He took over the play-by-play mike in 1984. Sham exited for three seasons in the mid-90’s after a spat with Jerry Jones but his popularity in Texas runs deep and his descriptions are crisp. The clip below captures this conciseness. It’s Sham’s call of Moorman’s first punt as heard on KRLD-FM (The Fan) in Dallas.

After Moorman’s third punt, Sham made a failed attempt at humor by citing the Broadway play “The Book of Mormon.” One of the things I really like about KRLD’s radio broadcast is how Sham weaves recorded player interviews into his call.

The Punt-osis:
The immediate Punt-osis on Jones won’t likely be clear until sometime next week. Will the injured young punter with great potential keep his job after Moorman’s great Cowboys debut? And what about Moorman? He converted a rude and abrupt boot out of the door into a smooth transition to another team. Moorman said on KRLD-FM that he views his chance with the Cowboys as temporary. “It’s another chapter in my life. Another chapter in my career. I’m excited to be a part of this organization whether it’s a short time – or whatever. Fillin’ in for Chris (Jones), I told him: Go get healthy, man. You’re doing a great job. I’m just here to hold it down for ’ya.”

Next week’s Punter of the Week:
Bryan Anger – Jacksonville Jaguars