Our punting feels like a negative and I would like to see Reed given a chance in game to change that. Would that be perceived negatively? there may be a huge in practice difference that represents the outcome has been meritocracy in action but we seem to be behind what Reed did in distance, hang time and placement last year… I loved the Aussie family angle for game 1 but we are gonna need to punt better as field position battles mount coming up in big SEC games.
He’s punted 12 times with four inside the 20 (meaning he was concerned with placement of those four rather than distance) and hit a nice one (47 yards) on his first kick last night.
It wouldn’t shock me if they made a change, but I don’t see anything that makes me clamor for Bauer.
I am for Bauer as the Aussie outkicked coverage and has made several questionable punts in my opinion.
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Good point. I am surprised the powers that be have stayed with the freshman. To me he seems inconsistent, and though potentially a boomer, he has matched Bauer’s placement performance from last year. I am not a special teams coordinator or punting coach, but he has not produced the field advantage edge this defense needs.
Last year several were clamoring for a new punter. But you point is well taken. I’ve not seen an improvement with the Aussie.
I’m guessing Max must be punting great in practice. But, I’d agree, if he doesn’t show marked improvement early in the A&M game, we should change. The coaches probably see Max as the long term punter for the Hogs and would prefer letting him work his way through this. But right now we are near the bottom in punting stats (ave and net), in the country, and could cost us a game if he doesn’t improve dramatically.
Frankly punting hasn’t been a huge issue, and wouldn’t have been why we lost last night if we didn’t come back. There are much more serious problems than Fletcher’s 37+ average.
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I agree Jeff. But holding calls on punt returns is an issue. We lost great field position twice for holds.
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I think I agree with you–should we change punters, we will definitely reduce holding calls on those punts. Makes sense to me.
I get that length is not necessarily a good measure and pinning inside the 20 or better the 10 is the best measure of all, but Max lacks hang time and our guys don’t seem to cover well with his punts compared to Reed last year. Since no one sees practice it may be that best punter is on the field by merit. Max looked like a capable tackler (unfortunately) which surprises me none from the 2 in person AFL league games that I watched at Gold Coast. I will say it is just a gestalt feel and leave it at that but there was no disparaging the past, just acknowledging we better have the best of what we have across the board as we hit the meat of the SEC schedule. For me, Reed outplayed my expectations last year and Max has underplayed my expectations this year. Punt coverage is a coordinated affair and last year we looked better positioned than we do this year. Max has yet to hit a boomer like his brother has and his father is a 75 yard Aussie legend. Am I guilty of hoping for too much from Max? probably.
Warming up, Fletcher outkicked Bauer by some measure. Probably an extra second of hang time. He has better height and distance potential. His issue is placement. He has yet to refine his ability to drop a punt into a bucket set out on the field. Bauer is better at that, but slower getting the ball off of his foot.
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