AU Special Teams

There used to be a common saying that your team’s special teams play was indicative of “next year’s team” …. meaning, your young talent breaks in on special teams.

Not so sure it’s that way anymore in the NIL era … but it’s hard not to notice that nearly all the playoff teams have good special teams units . The whorns kicker had a couple of uncharacteristic misses, but most everyone else has been noticeably good …. especially by comparison.

It was tough watching our PK unit this season, mainly because we’ve become accustomed to a much higher standard at Auburn. Dunno if McPherson will be back … McGough probably isn’t the answer. Vachon was a pleasant surprise, especially that 41 yarder against tamu .. but I dunno if we’ve seen enough to say he’s the answer.

One thing for certain, we’ve seen enough to know we need some talent and a lot of coaching on ST , so the extra practice afforded by a bowl game will be missed.

Is Tanner Burns the problem?
Is the fact that Burns is in an off-field position the problem? Seems a lot of teams are structured this way nowadays. Not as many on-field coordinators in ST these days.

How do we get back to a kicker that is “automatic?” We lost at least 2 games due to kicking this season, arguably 3 games. When the offense is struggling in the red zone, a good PK is a must.

I like the defensive recruits that we just signed … and I suspect they will strengthen our coverage units until they are ready as starters. But I’m still a bit worried about PK and P.

Current rank net punting = 21
Current rank FG% = not ranked in top 50
Current rank combined Kick Return = 34 (Cobb)
Current rank Kick Return Defense = not ranked in top 50


What say you?