Weaponized At Punter
November 14th, 2022
Congratulations to rookie Jake Camarda for just about forcing Joe to write about punting.
What’s more boring than punting? But that applies to average punting.
Terrible punting and exceptional punting, however, are meaningful and rare. Camarda is one of the best in the league and is steadily improving. He may finish the season as one of the greatest rookie punters in history.
The dude is proving to be a game-changer.
Consider that Camarda won the NFL special teams player of the week award last week for his showing against the Rams.
Then he comes back yesterday and has NBC Sports super insider Peter King labeling Camarda this week’s special teams star of the week.
Camarda cranked out two bombs yesterday — his only two punts — a 59-yarder and a 63-yard explosion that was fair caught at the Seattle 30 yard line with about 90 seconds left in the first half.
When’s the last time you saw a 63-yard fair catch?
General manager Jason Licht might be caught flexing his fourth-round muscles over the bye week. That’s where Licht snagged Camarda and starting rookie tight end Cade Otton, who already has 26 catches.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:01 pm
A 63yd. fair-catch would need around 6-second+ hang time.
Incredible!
Ray guy is smiling from heaven…
November 14th, 2022 at 1:01 pm
Back when everyone was perplexed after the draft , I thought he was the best pick of the draft and would actually be a game changer . check the tape !!
November 14th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
And there were a few commenters on this site who killed Licht for not drafting another punter who is currently out of the league and will never play again.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Punter!? I don’t even know her!
November 14th, 2022 at 1:03 pm
Stud this is how it should be when we draft a kicker.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:04 pm
Rich Eisen was speculating the Seahags would get the football at “mid-court” right before the punt.
Wrong!
That punt kept them off the board.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:05 pm
Really starting to see the rooks shine now!!
Rashaad White, Cade Otton, Jake Camarda, & Ko Kieft….
Still waiting for Logan Hall to shine a bit more…
Zyon McCollum I think will be good but needs reps…
I expect Goedeke to be improved next year as well….
Still think it was a SOLID draft for Licht..
November 14th, 2022 at 1:07 pm
A great draft pick who is producing right away…..and Camarda will be on a rookie contract for 4 years…saving us millions.
The guy has distance and hang time……and can tackle.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:13 pm
Yeah, it looks like recent DNA evidence is about to bite Punt God and his pals big time.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:19 pm
Remember all those dingbats that were upset about this pick? Jason Licht has earned the right to draft who he wants when he wants period. Sure he has had big misses but that is the NFL what big time GM hasn’t missed on a draft pick?
More often than not Jason is hitting and its HUGE.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:24 pm
The average reader was almost certainly a naysayer on draft day… and probably continued b!tching until last week. Still think spending a 4th rounder on a punter is dumb?
November 14th, 2022 at 1:27 pm
I was somewhat skeptical about this draft class but really besides Logan Hall this class is starting to make there mark in a positive way.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:31 pm
Seems like from the third round on we had a very good draft. Maybe we think about trading way down in the 2023 draft!
November 14th, 2022 at 1:37 pm
Where is Logan Hall? Did he even play Sunday?
November 14th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
He may already be the best punter in the league. He is certainly playing like a top 5 punter.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:44 pm
Oh wait, Rod munch doesn’t have a smart ass comment?
November 14th, 2022 at 1:45 pm
The ability to flip field position is a huge asset. I’ve seen some terrible punting this year. Nothing worse than a 35 yard shank, when you’re backed up. It’s demoralizing. Kudos Joe for bringing up an underrated and almost forgotten part of the game. A weapon at punter is more important than people think.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:46 pm
The usual blowhards are squeeching cos of Licht’s pick of a kicker a few years back. Well, he sure has redeemed himself. The ST played well yesterday. Succop missed a 52+yarder on slick, foreign grass. He made all his other kicks. Camarda…..wow. He’s got 2 weeks with the Bye to practice with his teammates.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:50 pm
Camarda is one of the best in the league and is steadily improving.
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Improving is key. Earlier in the year, he always seemed to be trying to aim the punt out of bounds at the one, which meant the ball kept going into the endzone. He seems to have backed off that and is just making sure its well inside of the 20.
Also, obviously, the distance on punts has improved a lot from the preseason when he was literally the 2nd worst punter in net yards after week 2, and was also, I believe, the worst punter in average. What a huge turnaround.
Not sure if he’s just in the zone at the moment, or if he’s going to always be this good going forward, but if he stays like this, then they got a great weapon. Assuming Leftwich doesn’t wear out his leg.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:53 pm
OK, so just to confirm, I looked up the stats… in the preseason he was the worst punter in football in NET average, was bottom 7 in total average.
Now he’s 8th in average, and 6th in net.
What a turnaround – and the big thing is that over the last month or so, he’s greatly improved from early in the year, so he’s only going to move up that list.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:55 pm
Punter ? where is Hunter ? 🙂
November 14th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
Such a great weapon! He is quite the athlete too so I smell a critical fake punt coming up soon, when there is a clear path.
November 14th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
orlbucfan Says:
November 14th, 2022 at 1:46 pm
The usual blowhards are squeeching cos of Licht’s pick of a kicker a few years back.
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Also if he doesn’t get ancy and cut Gay, you got a pro-bowl placekicker to maybe got with a future pro-bowl punter.
I understand why they cut Gay, you can’t have an all-star team with a punter who has yet to ever make a pressure kick, but as I stated at the time, all you got to do is look at history, and if kicker is clearly a good kicker, but has, in spots at least, a rough rookie year, generally those guys are much much better their 2nd year, and by year 3, that’s when they’re pro-bowl players. Which is exactly what happened with Gay.
As for Roberto, unlike Gay, he didn’t miss any pressure kicks. They should have kept him around and see what happened. Nick Folk, of course, didn’t do anything either, so why not just see what your high draft pick can do?
November 14th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
csidedave Says:
November 14th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
Such a great weapon! He is quite the athlete too so I smell a critical fake punt coming up soon, when there is a clear path.
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Highly doubt it. The kid runs a legit 4.5 40, and I said all preseason, have him run a punt fake, just to have it on tape, so that’s something other teams have to prepare for. But this team isn’t going to run any fake punts, I can’t even think of the last time they did (maybe I’m forgetting one).
November 14th, 2022 at 2:28 pm
Based on historically anemic offense and its predictable coordinator the fact we have a stud punter is crucial to not always giving up good field position.
His 70 yarder from our end zone yesterday was epic…and timely!
November 14th, 2022 at 2:35 pm
Kudos to Jason L for finally drafting a kick ass Punter!!
November 14th, 2022 at 2:38 pm
Fake Punts are ineffective and seldom called because for them to work because your primary ball handler even in short yard situations at the sticks, needs 15 yards off the LOS so to turn a 4th & 1 play w/o any involvement from the upbacks into a 16 yard pass/run tp convert on 4th down and it would be reductive af.
You might as well line up the offense and go for it on 4th down, faking a punt just puts you in worse field position should the play NOT succeed. There’s no reason to put THAT on tape loooooool.
November 14th, 2022 at 2:50 pm
Dooley – You’re not wrong about the percentage, but that’s also why I thought they should run at least one (hopefully more) of them in the preseason, just to force other teams to have to waste special teams time defending for something that is never going to happen.
But, with that said, seemingly every time a team runs a fake punt vs us it works. I’m certain that I’m forgetting ones that failed, but it seems they always work vs us. Probably says a lot about our special teams coaches over the last few years.
November 14th, 2022 at 3:01 pm
Speaking of punting, why don’t the Bucs even try to rush the punter? The linemen take a couple of steps, then start backpedaling. I could understand that if they actually had a great return game, but they don’t. It’s average, at best. Opposing punters have all the time in the world, so they almost always have really good results. Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to put a couple of speedsters on the edges (Miller, Perriman) and rush the punters? If they fail to block the punt, at least the punter will have to rush and that my cause them to shank one now and then.
November 14th, 2022 at 3:30 pm
@WillieG
setting up blocking is a higher priority than the low % chance of blocking a punt, and consistently going after the big play to block the kick can get your returner 86’d from the game. The last guy to block a punt for us, also blocked a FG this season and that’s Pat O’connor back in 2020 @Denver and the FG was this season versus the Ravens. As an interior DLmen, O’Connor probably has the shortest A-B point from the LOS to the punter, and dedicating guys off the edge is one less blocker for 1 of 2 gunners.
Iirc Dekoda Watson had a year in 2012 or 2013 he blocked like 3 punts himself, you almost have to stumble on a player on special teams who has a knack for getting off the ball, getting to the kick point, and routinely willing to sell out for a ball that’ll be going form 0 mph to about or > 60-75 mph once it leaves a punters toe.
November 14th, 2022 at 3:57 pm
WillieG Says:
November 14th, 2022 at 3:01 pm
Speaking of punting, why don’t the Bucs even try to rush the punter? The linemen take a couple of steps, then start backpedaling.
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Well, as I pointed out, seemingly every time a team runs a fake punt against us, it works. A lot of punts have been 4th and short and I believe, a lot of times, they’re running a fake punt defense. Otherwise, it is setting up the return, which is actually paying off.
Also, everyone complains about Darden, here’s a fun fact — he LEADS the NFL in punt return yardage — and he’s now moved up to 6th in average returns.
Darden is not a good returner, yet he’s one of the best now paying. Says everything about the current state of the NFL special teams.
November 14th, 2022 at 4:14 pm
As soon as we drafted this punter, with 4.5 speed, I immediately thought: “At a critical moment in our season, perhaps the playoffs, when we MUST have 1-2 yards on 4th, watch this guy tuck and run.”
Still waiting for it, and I’m glad we haven’t seen it. WAIT for it! Wait until it’s very important to have that first down.
In the interim, keep practicing it behind closed doors so nobody will have a clue it’s coming.
You see, I’ve been thinking this through for a few months. 🙂
November 14th, 2022 at 4:33 pm
All that and he didn’t even have to assault a woman like the “Punt God”.
November 14th, 2022 at 4:38 pm
Rod Munch- if it’s 4th and short and the d-linemen are backpedaling, wouldn’t it be easier to run up the guy for the 1st down?
Dooley- if the punter is rushed and has to punt under pressure, wouldn’t that help the return too?
I know the odds of blocking the punt are slim. But I think the odds of rushing a punter and causing a bad kick are very favorable. I could be wrong, but it seems to me, rushed punter= bad kick a lot of the time.
November 14th, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Okay Jason, you got payback for the FSU kicker miss from a couple years ago. I know that faux paw is old news, but it should officially NEVER be brought up again. Brilliant pick!
November 14th, 2022 at 5:27 pm
Awesome!
But… Im still waiting on a fake punt run to the sidelines in a short yardage situation. Kid has 4.4 speed!
Or even in a field goal situation since he can kick those too. As soon as the ball gets to the holder’s hands, he flips it up into Jakes hands and he’s off to the sidelines at just the right angle to stay away from tacklers long enough then cut back up for some gains. They should be practicing it!
I hope they’re working on it! Get busy BL! And no more throws to Brady….that was just flat out stupid!!!! Come on man, lol.
November 14th, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Punt God
November 15th, 2022 at 10:24 pm
He is 8th in punting at 49 yards (1st is 53.4).
He is 6th in net yards at 43.8 (1st is 46.4).
He is 11th of inside 20 punts at 16.
His longest was 74 yards which is tied for 3rd with 3 others (83 yards is longest).
So yeah, he is good, but not the best. A top 10 punter.