FOXBORO, Mass. — Ryan Allen may not be the one New England Patriots specialist affected by the workforce’s choice to pick punter Jake Bailey within the fifth spherical of the 2019 NFL Draft.
In addition to dealing with punting duties at Stanford for the final three seasons, Bailey, who will problem the incumbent Allen for a roster spot this summer time, additionally served because the Cardinal’s major kickoff man. If the Patriots consider Bailey can ably pull double obligation on the NFL stage, they may look to reduce veteran Stephen Gostkowski’s workload by having the rookie take over kickoff duties.
Gostkowski, who’s 35 and getting into his 14th professional season, has dealt with all three aspects of kicking (kickoffs, area aim and additional factors) since he succeeded Adam Vinatieri in New England in 2006. And if he had his selection, he’d want to maintain it that means.
“I personally love kicking off,” Gostkowski stated Tuesday at Gillette Stadium. “It offers me one other likelihood to be on the sector. The hardest factor about kicking area targets typically is you don’t know while you’re going to play, you don’t know what state of affairs you’re going to be in. I keep in mind within the Atlanta (Falcons) Super Bowl, it’s two weeks of the largest build-up of your life, and I didn’t step on the sector till there was two seconds left within the second quarter.
“Those are the things that you have to deal with at my position, and the more I get on the field, the more comfortable I am. So I love kicking off. Just like anyone else, after a while, you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t want to practice this.’ But I love kicking off, and I want to try to do it as long as I physically can do it.”
Removing kickoffs from Gostkowski’s plate could possibly be smart, although. The Indianapolis Colts did so with Vinatieri years in the past, and he’s nonetheless going sturdy at age 46. Twenty-four-year-old punter Rigoberto Sanchez takes care of Indy’s kickoffs, because the now-retired Pat McAfee did earlier than him.
Having the posh of focusing solely on kicks on the uprights quickens Vinatieri’s restoration time following video games and practices, the ex-Patriot stated in a 2016 interview, in addition to eradicating the apparent risk of struggling an harm on a deal with or block.
“I would say you always practice field goals a lot more than kickoffs,” stated Gostkowski, who re-signed with the Patriots on a two-year deal earlier this offseason. “I might equate kicking off to hitting on the driving vary. I imply, clearly we work on issues like hitting it brief and hitting it in a nook and hitting it excessive. But on the finish of the day, I’m actually simply swinging as onerous as I can. Field targets are a lot extra consideration to element that goes into it. And plus, if a kicker had been to get injured, 9 instances out of 10 it’s on a kickoff.
“So it’s one of those things like you have to kick off enough to where you’re comfortable with your rhythm and your steps, but you can go out there and kick field goals all day. You kick too many kickoffs, it’ll tire you out a little bit more, so you have to watch out how much you really do kickoff-wise. … It’s all effort, balls to the wall, and then field goal is more just like a smooth stroke.”
Bailey, whom the Patriots traded as much as choose final month, recorded touchbacks on 173 of his 291 collegiate kickoffs, together with 60 of 72 (83.three %) as a senior in 2018. The greatest touchback share amongst 2018 NFL kickers with no less than 20 kickoffs was 80 % by the Washington Redskins’ Dustin Hopkins.
Gostkowski’s touchback share final season was 53.eight % (50 of 93), although the Patriots typically tried to pin opponents close to the aim line fairly than booting the ball by means of the top zone.
Thumbnail photograph through Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Images