2018 NFL Draft – Punter

Complete NFL Draft Rankings – P:

You are currently viewing the 46 best punters in the 2018 NFL Draft. Our top punter prospects are selected after thousands of hours carefully scouting the best specialists in college football. Even though no more than 4 will get selected in the draft, several more are signed as free agents, and many receive a training camp invite. Find who is an early round talent, and who is likely nothing more than a training camp body. Find draft sleepers, draft stars, who will be a bust, and who is being undervalued.

BNB Football is the best place for in-depth analysis of 2018 punter prospects at all levels of college football. To view other positions, follow the links below.

(Last Updated: April 26, 2018)

2018:  | QB | WR | RB | FB | TE | OT | G | C | DT | DE | OLB | ILB | S | CB | K | P | LS | OVERALL |

Michael Dickson is the rare punter prospect who can do it all, and the only reason he isn’t given a 3rd or 4th round grade is because he can sometimes be overconfident in his abilities. Dickson utilizes a few different types of punts, allowing him to increase spin, distance, or hang time depending on the situation. He makes punting an art and takes pride in it. His 47.4 average is incredible, especially since he had enough height on his punts to force fair catches 40% of the time. He also downed the ball inside the 20 on 42 occasions. The only problem is he might get too fancy and get some touchbacks by trying to down people inside the 5.

2017 Stats

47.4 gross average, 42 inside 20yd, 8 touchbacks, 39.3% fair catches forced, long punt of 76.

Johnny Townsend has great leg strength and accuracy on his punting. His 47.6 average was the highest in the nation, and he had a solid ratio of Inside the 20 to touchbacks, at 27 to 5. His average was even higher the previous year at 47.9. Townsend has a huge leg but needs to alter his technique slightly in order to get better hang time. He allowed a lot of return yards by out-kicking his coverage, and will need to get better in this regard. Townsend has the leg strength to kick higher, he just needs to practice it more.

2017 Stats

47.6 gross average, 27 inside 20yd, 5 touchbacks, 20.3% fair catches forced, long punt of 70.

JK Scott got the starting job at Alabama as a true freshman, and was great from day 1. He led the nation is punting average as a freshman at 48 yards. Since then, Scott has refined his punting ability and greatly improved his hang time and placement. While his accuracy is still not great, he had good athletes on his team to compensate for it in coverage. His average was down to 43 this past season, but it was simply because he was added more hang time. Less than 10% of his punts were returned which is incredible. The biggest problem will be his slightly slow punting speed, as it takes a while with his long limbs to get the kick off.

2017 Stats

43.0 gross average, 27 inside 20yd, 4 touchbacks, 50.0% fair catches forced, long punt of 64.

Trevor Daniel has an incredibly strong leg, but needs to work on his consistency and hang time. His 47.5 gross punting average is incredible, and he did a good job of avoiding touchbacks. Daniel punts really quick and is unlikely to ever have his punts blocked. He is a big guy who put up 23 reps, and with hold his own as a tackler. Despite his strong leg, he isn’t very accurate with directional punts, and will out-kick his coverage. Much like Townsend, he’ll need to alter his form slightly to kick the ball higher.

2017 Stats

47.5 gross average, 28 inside 20yd, 5 touchbacks, 21.4% fair catches forced, long punt of 72.

Joe Davidson has the size of a tight end, measuring 6’7" and 232 pounds. Along with the anomaly that is his size, he is also a lefty punter which can throw off some returners due to opposite rotation. He has exceeded a 44 yard average each of the past 3 seasons, and has been consistently good at downing the ball inside the 20 without getting touchbacks. He can sometimes be too conservative avoiding touchbacks and doesn’t have many kicks downed inside the 10. His hang time needs improvement, but it isn’t too poor. In most drafts Davidson would be a top 2 punter. He doesn’t have quite as much leg strength as some of the other elite punters, but still has a strong and consistent leg.

2017 Stats

44.0 gross average, 28 inside 20yd, 2 touchbacks, 30.0% fair catches forced, long punt of 65.

Complete draft rankings for 2018 – Punter

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2018:  | QB | WR | RB | FB | TE | OT | G | C | DT | DE | OLB | ILB | S | CB | K | P | LS | OVERALL |