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re: Bama worked out 12 Australian punters over the Summer
Posted on 9/28/18 at 9:42 am to jatebe
Posted on 9/28/18 at 9:42 am to jatebe
Saban explains Alabama's roll-out punts, talks Aussie punters (BamaOnLine)
(Continued next post)
quote:
Against Texas A&M, Alabama freshman punter Skyler DeLong rolled out to his right during his six punts this past weekend. A caller asked Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban about rugby-style punts during his call-in radio show Thursday evening, and Saban explained why DeLong’s drop was similar to the style many punters across the college football landscape choose to use.
“I think one of the reasons is it’s easy to protect, No. 1, because you’re rolling out basically when you punt,” Saban said. “It’s almost like if you’re blitzing the quarterback and he can roll out, if he gets by one guy, you have no pressure. Well, it’s a similar thing. The rugby punt is very difficult to field. You get a lot of roll. We don’t really want to rugby punt, aight. So, for those of you out there that think because we’ve rolled with our punter a few times -- we’re trying to get him to develop confidence into being able to punt.
“He’s a freshman. He punts very well in practice. We get in the game, he gets nervous and he’s moving the wall around and drops the ball bad, inside, outside. So, that’s a matter of confidence, so we’re trying to find a style that fits him. We don’t need to rugby punt. We can kick it right, we can kick it left, we can kick it down the middle. We have coverage patterns to do whatever he can do. He’s done a pretty job of Aussie kicking when we do the (end-over-end stuff). And we’ve downed some balls inside the 10-yard line.
“But his consistency is something that we need to work on. We tried the rugby style just trying to get him to be able to develop confidence in doing that, thinking it would be a little easier for him. So, it’s a work in progress, but I think if he develops confidence, he’ll be a good punter. But that is the advantage of rugby punts. It starts with the protection, it’s hard to field.”
(Continued next post)
This post was edited on 9/28/18 at 9:47 am
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Posted on 9/28/18 at 9:42 am to TidalSurge1
quote:
Saban noted that Australian punters, which have taken over the position in college football, are especially skilled at rugby punts. And even UA thought about adding one to its roster this offseason.
“We actually had 12 of them come here and work out, and we chose to go with the freshman rather than take an Australian guy,” Saban said. “But those guys that play rugby and soccer now, they can control the ball a lot better than an American punter can.”
DeLong was the nation’s No. 4 punter in the 2018 recruiting cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite. In his fourth game in an Alabama uniform, the freshman averaged 36.0 yards per punt with a long of 52 yards -- thanks to a home-team roll -- and a short of 13 yards.
Among punters that have played in 75 percent of their teams’ games and have a minimum of 3.6 punts per game played, DeLong ranks last in the SEC and 89th out of 90 nationally with an average of 35.93 yards per punt. That’s more than seven yards less than JK Scott’s 42.96 average last year and more than 12 yards less than Scott’s stellar freshman numbers (48.0).
But what DeLong lacks in confidence in himself, Saban makes up for in his confidence in DeLong. “The thing about Skyler is he’s been a lot better in practice and done a good job in practice and actually had a really good week in practice last week,” Saban said. “We know he’s capable.
“I just think that maybe his confidence in the game is not what he needs it to be right now, and I think we need to support him and try to help him develop the consistency in game situations that will allow him to have success. And we certainly need for him to do that.”
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