New York Jets: Why drafting a punter in mid-rounds makes sense

It may not be as glaring as the need at quarterback, but the New York Jets need a new punter, and Texas Longhorns product Michael Dickson should be the guy.

Very few positions in football statistically translate from college to the NFL, and punter is one of them. The reason stats can be a more useful to judge punters than any other position is because there isn’t a dramatic increase from college to the pros in rushers actually reaching the punter. New York Jets punter Lachlan Edwards had a decent season, but not good enough to warrant an automatic spot on the team in 2018.

In the world of real estate, they say three things matter: “location, location, location”. In football, field position is the holy grail. It’s difficult to win when you constantly find yourself behind the eight ball in terms of field position. Edwards was in his second season. With that said, he doesn’t get a pass for being near the bottom of three major categories.

He only forced a fair catch on 24.5 percent of his punts. Moreover, only 35.1 percent of his punts landed inside the 20-yard line, and the difference between his net and gross punt average was 6.1 yards. He was one of six punters to be over six.

The punter plays a key role in establishing field position for both the offense and the defense. When he puts the other team in bad field position, it makes it easier for the defense to get stops. Consequently, that helps the offense by giving them greater field position on many of those defensive stops. Texas Longhorns punter Michael Dickson can do just that.

Dickson had a difference of 3.2 yards between his gross and net punting average, and that would’ve been sixth-lowest in the NFL. He forced a fair catch on 33 out of 84 punts. That percentage would’ve raked sixth. He would’ve been only one of two punters to have at least half his punts finish inside the 20.

Under normal circumstances, selecting a punter before the final rounds of the NFL Draft makes no sense. However, the Jets are going to have substantial roster turnover. New faces means it will take time to get to know each other’s tendencies. The best way to mitigate the massive roster turnover is to play the field position game. The best way to do that is to bring in a good punter.

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Dickson is better than any of the free agents available. So, he’s a must grab for the Jets, even though he’s a “just a punter”, and even if it means taking him in the middle rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft.