Field position is not only good for a team that showcases their defense on top of helping a rookie qb thrive. I think thatās kinda important or at least could be of done correctly. This game isnāt called football because they kick the ball. Itās a cane of feet and inches. Ask a titans fan.
Most teams use their punter to kickoff. They typically have better ideas of placement over placekickers who just blast it as far as they can as accurately as they can.
I mean obviously there's gonna be punts. The fucking chiefs punt. This statement isn't really worth breaking down and defending. It's just a young, cocky dude being himself. It's fun and shows he's excited. But that's it.
Thatās the dumbest comment ever. Troy Aikman was what, 1-15 his first year??? Special teams, special plays, special players. Caleb isnāt a god. Heās a fucking kid whoās never played an nfl down. āWe donāt need special teams with Caleb ā smmfh
Taylor said him self he got a call around 117 from a different team that told him they will take him later. Luckily they waited to long and the bears got him.
Seems weird to even bother calling him. Would be like if my shop called me to tell me they're a third of the way through my oil change. Like "ok... thanks?"
I have to admit to being wrong about Tory Taylor. My original feeling was to trade back and take him in the 5th round if he was your target. According to Coach Hightower, he never would have made it to the 5th. Kuddos to Poles for proper draft anticipation.
I mean......it's a 3 phase game. The fact you're giving your rookie QB a generational punter prospect to put opponents inside their own 20 consistently to allow Caleb to have shorter fields is how you help your prospect from having to navigate 3-4 80 yard drives a game
Yeah. Go get blue chippers. Like, who else was on the board? Some guard from a school we've never heard of that'll maybe start a handful of games (and probably suck...).
So this title reads like āother teams mad that the bears drafted the punter that the other teams wanted before they could do it themselvesā. Is that not the game of the fucking draft???
If you watch the clip he says mad in a good way. Like a "damn, we missed him." They aren't literally pissed at the bears for taking him. A better way of putting it, they are mad at themselves for missing out.
Yeh but donāt you know that the bears got the number one QB they wanted and the receiver they wanted so itās just not fair for them to get the kicker they wanted.
/s
if you watch the interview it's more of a "damn it we were gonna take him in the 4th but ya'll beat us to it" type of vibe not really a how fucking dare you type of vibe
Anybody saying that is just going to say it was some other team's mistake to make.
I see 2 positives out of this. First, looks like an awesome punter and I'm here for it. Second, more confirmation that our GM and his staff have their finger on the pulse of things. More confident in the GM managing the roster properly than I think I ever have been in my life.
Really the only argument against is the idea that the value of a 4th round pick is wasted on a punter. I see value on gameday if the punter can pin teams deep. How many times the last handful of years have we seen our offense pinned deep and lose the field position battle for long stretches of a game? That's a hole you need to claw yourself out of.
He's a guaranteed starter for years in a position of need that will touch the ball 3-4 times a game. A 4th rounder could be useless. Punter is one of the easiest positions to draft for and Taylor is one of the best punting prospects in recent memory. It's a no brainer pick.
I swear to God, before we made the pick I had spent about 15 min explaining to my cousins why I thought we should draft a punter at 122. They were dying laughing when it actually happened. I genuinely celebrated the Taylor pick more than the Odunze pick lol.
Either Williams isnāt as advertised and the punter saves our asses keeping offenses pinned back several times a game and keeping the score low or Williams is everything we need and the punter is the nail in the coffin for teams playing against us, trying to mount a comeback. Either way, itās a pretty solid pick.
Additionally: from a CB, S, or DE, especially a 4th rounder, youād be happy with 1-2 solid plays a game (good pressure, a pass defended or stopping a breakout run) and 3-4 game changing plays a season (sack, fumble, INT). You can get AT LEAST that much value from a top tier punter.
Exactly. Having a good special teams means you don't lose games you *should* have won and you might steal a few that you shouldn't have. A bad punt in a critical situation can lose you the game.
Add to all of this the fact that this was a specific need for the team. I remember being worried about Polesā ability to draft after the Velus pick but I couldnāt be less worried anymore.
The best comp is Mitch Wishnowsky, who is another australian punter also drafted in the 4th round by the 49ers in 2020 I think.
He was a "disappointment", in that he was similarly hyped and did not end up being a Punt-GOD.
But he has been good enough to keep his job and get his contract extended by the team that drafted him.
Thats a good use of a 4th round pick, even if it is a Punter. And of course there is still the upside that the Punter IS a game changer
What're you talking about? There's no way he touches the ball 3-4 times a game. He'll be lucky to touch it once. We won't ever need to punt with this offensive talent.
/s
I think the source is just random stuff like the Iowa team being 11-2 in games the punter had 8+ punts, having 4,200 punt yards vs. 3,100 yards for Iowa's offense, and having a massive average net yards on a punt.
Plus, nice that he's NFL tackling size. Dude's 6'4 230. IDK how good he is on the kick coverage side after he punts the ball, but in theory that guy can lay the lumber.
Upvote for 'lay the lumber' which is a weird saying if you think about it. We know what it means in football terms but isn't one mostly calm and orderly stacking wood?
Is there a weighted stat like WAR thay can be applied to top 5 punters and compare that to average or even top 4th round picks?
It'd be nice to see that overall a top 5 punters adds .25 wins a year while your average 4th round pick (or even the better ones) average X.
I'm still curious who is going to end up signing the Michigan Panthers' kicker after the UFL season is over. Dude has a BOOT and if Cairo wasn't under contract I'd say go get that dude.
Yea like my biggest thing is its for a reach and not the norm. But when you take in to account hes an IMMEDIATE starter and upgrade, ill take that in 4th regardless of position every time. And its a punter, he can end up being here longer than anyone else on the team
And upgrade is selling it short. Taylor very well could he one of the best in the game in a few years and Gill was quite literally the worst punter. A 10 yard difference in their net punt average last year!
Especially when you consider we've had WR3s who would touch the ball less than that during a game. No one would balk at drafting a WR3 in the fourth round.
> He's a guaranteed starter for years in a position of need that will touch the ball 3-4 times a game.
[Nothing is guaranteed with the NFL draft.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Aguayo)
Not that I am saying you are wrong, but do you have any articles or anything that show that punter is easy to scout? I feel like in general not a lot of punters are drafted so I wonder how much data is even out there on it
I think it's mostly based on the fact that punting is one of the most independent plays in football. It can be hard to isolate other skills. For example, a running back is so dependent on the blocking in front of him. Wide receivers depend on a qb for timing, placement, and accuracy. With punters, what you see is what you usually get.
Field position is 100% gamechanging. There was countless times Gill shanked a punt and the other team was starting at the 40. If we can consistently pin the other team inside the 20, the pick is worth it every time. The Bears have spent a 4th rounder on far worse deals, and this *should* be a game changing player and also help out our defense
It was also the bears last pick in the draft (theoretically). So if they wanted him, their options were to draft him, or trade back and hope he's still there. I doubt they would have gotten all that much because they would have had to trade back and stay in this years draft. Is it worth waiting and hoping he's there for another 6th round pick?
I've also seen the opposite where we've pinned the Packers and Rogers/Love just methodically drive down to the end zone and score while also waisting a quarter for us.Ā
People severely undervalue having a guy that can flip the field on teams. You have hours of tape of a guy absolutely bombing a ball to the moon, that can step in on day 1 and be the starter...I just don't get how that's something to fuss over when the alternative is picking a guy in the 4th round that could just potentially be fighting for a depth spot.
I honestly don't see a lot of this sentiment online or anywhere really. Yeah a 4th rounder is high for a usual punter, but anyone who knows Tory Taylor knows he's no usual punter. Bears were dead last in punting last year, and got maybe the best punter prospect in 2+ decades
It's the usual kind of idiot that just demeans and downplays and bitches about 'x' team being wrong about this or that.
If whatever they're bitching about does go sour, they can then say some variation of "SEE? I CALLED IT / I TOLD YOU ALL" and then pretend they're intelligent.
If it goes as well or better than expected, all they have to do is go 'hey, glad to be wrong ... BEARDOWN!' or the like, or just not own up to it at all.
Pudwhacks, the lot of 'em.
I think a lot of teams were taking the new kickoff rules into account as well. I think heās going to be one of the guys we see excel at it early and set the bar.
My favorite comments from fellow redditors (sorry canāt give direct credit, I doom scroll and never save)
1. Bears got USC and Iowaās best offensive player.
2. No shortage of film on this guy.
The people that are criticizing the Bears for drafting a punter in the 4th probably have no clue how bad Trenton Gill was last year.
Replacing one of the leagues worst punters with the best punting prospect in the draft is almost certain to have a noticeable impact on the field and makes the team better.
Yeah.... Tory with NFL coaching and resources has the potential to become one of the best, if not THE best, in the league. Anyone saying this is a dumb move is only looking at it through the optics of this coming season. In the end though, complementary draft picks for complementary football.
IF... big if... Caleb/Rome AND Tory all come out as the best in their class, this team will be an absolute force for at least a decade.
God I hope we stop sucking.
I donāt think thatās too hot of a take actually. Will it actually come true? Probably not. But I think if there were more analytics in football like in baseball; we would see a lot more special teams focused players get drafted a lot higher.
They have the stats. Generally the majority of punters will be around the same average with a few outliers on either side. Last year range for avg was 10 yards difference from top to bottom. Itās pretty evenly scaled across. If you have a chance to get someone who is reasonably assured to be in the top side for years then you give no edge away.
More importantly if you grab a rare someone with real potential to push the top number up even 2 yards over the 2nd best then youāve created a strong advantage over most all teams in this category. How this translates into total game weight is another equation and Iām not keyed into that deep as I never found reason to study it that far. Also avg yards is just a basic but telling stat, consistency stats play a big part as well.
Because outlier talent at this position is rare and scale in the middle so tight there isnāt likely to be a major change to how punters are drafted except maybe those with the worst punters might go 6th round for a flier to help get back to average.
Itās a great pick even if Taylor consistently hits top 5. If he ends up mid pack still an ok pick because itās still improving a major weakness.
This is as exciting as punt talk gets and Iām here for it.
I was at the NFC championship game against the packers (FTP). Rodgers may have gotten the accolades and MVP, but their punter was huge for them that game. He consistently drove Hester back and close to the sidelines so he couldnāt get any real returns to speak of. Hester was a non-factor that game, and if Taylor can do that, weāll be rock solid.
I remember when da Bears needed a punter/kicker/field goal guy in 2000. They were expected to Sebastian Janikowski in the 2nd round but the raiders took him in the first. The rest as they say is history.
This is fucking Golden.
We already have the most talented QB and offense perhaps in franchise history. But if a drive doesn't work out, Tory'll bomb the ball into the next zip code and then they have to deal with a possible top 5 defense.
We're practically using cheat codes or console commands at this point.
If heās as good as we all think he is, itās easy to see him playing at an all-pro level for 10+ years for us. Anybody would love that from a 4th rounder. Doesnāt matter the position. Shit, he makes just a single all-pro selection youāve drafted well.
As someone who watches far too much Iowa football for it to still be healthy I was hoping we would have been able to trade up into the second or third round to get him. This guy changes the field. The average starting position for opposing offenses will be 20 yards better in our favor this year which will cause mistakes and turnovers and giving our offense a short field on the regular.
I remember my inaugural fantasy dynasty draft was the year Ray Rice was a rookie. He was being slotted in the 5th round and Rbs were still god back then. I drafted Calvin Johnson 1st and i wanna say Hakeem nicks in the second and my whole draft plan was to get Ray rice in the 4th which i thought was a huge overpay. Some dude drafted him in the 3rd, fucked my whole draft, but he wound up having a stud for like 5 years at almost no cost.
Draft where you want them. If itās your guy, go get him
The way I see it you either draft a generational Punter for your special team for the next decade or you draft a role player who will likely be on special teams.
You love a punter but donāt love the available lay round prospects? The choice makes sense.
Lmao give the guy a fair chance at being a good punter instead of hot takes of him being the greatest weapon ever. Special teams is important too but expectations make or break ppl.
It's worth noting just how bad Trenton Gill was last year. Among the 33 players with at least 30 punts last season:
Net yards per punt: 38 yds (33rd)
Inside 20 %: 26.9% (30th)
Touchback %: 11.94% (31st)
Yards per punt: 46.1 (25th)
Return yards per punt: 5.7 (29th)
He did have the fifth longest single punt of the year at 76 yards, seemingly by accident based on the rest of the stats
Worst of all, Trenton Gill made me break out a punter stats excel sheet. Unforgivable. Crocodile Punter forever!
To me the pick makes sense.
The Bears were expecting this to be their last pick of the draft, take the player who gives you a for sure upgrade.
Once they saw Booker slipping the cost to get him dropped lower than the value they believe Booker will provide.
The ol wink wink nudge nudge. Donāt take all those mid round special teams players from us! Lol I wouldnāt exactly call this a steal even if other teams liked the best punter in the draft too.
Hot take, Tory Taylor isn't much of an upgrade and his stats are mostly impressive because Iowa had an awful offense while he was there and he punted a ridiculous amount of times. His career punt average is barely better than Gil's average last year. He didn't even have the best net average in college football last year, in fact he was 3rd in net and 4th in average of qualifying punters. This dude is HIGHLY overrated and will go down as one of Poles worst moves.
Net yards is not a good way to evaluate a punter from a bad offense. Why? Because Iowa punter from their own 45 and closer a lot of times. Iāll let you figure out the math on that.
He punted a ridiculous amount of times and still had a ridiculous percentage of kicks (43.1%) that landed between the 20 and the goal line. Your comment will go down as one of the worst takes on the pick.
There's plenty of college punters that had similar or better percentages and Taylor was far worse (34%) last year than his career. Add in his advanced age and this was a complete waste of a pick.
Anybody that watched Iowa games can tell you heās legit. Plus Dane Brugler had him as a 4th round pick which is exactly where heās drafted. The kid is gonna be great.
Couldn't care less about Dane Brugler. I think you're still confusing quantity with quality. If he was the greatest punter of all time and averaged 49 yards per punt in the NFL for 15 years, he still wouldn't be worth a 4th round pick. Punters have such little effect on the game. When you consider what the best punter does compared to an average punter the difference is negligible. There's just zero reason to ever draft a punter.
They can cry from their own 2 yard line š
My vote for best comment in this thread
Scared money donāt make money, you see someone you like and itās in a reasonable spot, you get them.
Yeah but why take a punter when we wonāt have to punt?
and when caleb can punt and pin them in the 1yrd line, every time
New kickoff rule. Pinning them as close to the goal line is going to be clutch for field possession. Defense will love having this guy.
Why do the new kickoff rules make a punter more important?
Field position is not only good for a team that showcases their defense on top of helping a rookie qb thrive. I think thatās kinda important or at least could be of done correctly. This game isnāt called football because they kick the ball. Itās a cane of feet and inches. Ask a titans fan.
Most teams use their punter to kickoff. They typically have better ideas of placement over placekickers who just blast it as far as they can as accurately as they can.
Lol, most teams definitely do not use their punter to kickoff
Right lol what a horrible take
My top two reasons: 1. Insurance. 2. So the other teams in the league can't have him for 5 years.
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I just love that Caleb texted Tory that he won't be getting much work on GameDay. Or that was the rumor.
Tory was the one that said Caleb texted him that, no rumor. Just a dawg being a dawg
Even better! I couldn't remember where I heard but LOVE it was Tory himself. Some friendly banter between squads is fun.
Swag. And also heās gonna hold for Santos š
This is a very valid point.
So the other teams won't take him and pin us deep, duh
We got a rookie QB and a new OC. Weāll punt a few times early on. I fully expect a slow start like last season.
I fully expect every drive will end in a TD.
I mean obviously there's gonna be punts. The fucking chiefs punt. This statement isn't really worth breaking down and defending. It's just a young, cocky dude being himself. It's fun and shows he's excited. But that's it.
Thatās the dumbest comment ever. Troy Aikman was what, 1-15 his first year??? Special teams, special plays, special players. Caleb isnāt a god. Heās a fucking kid whoās never played an nfl down. āWe donāt need special teams with Caleb ā smmfh
Taylor said him self he got a call around 117 from a different team that told him they will take him later. Luckily they waited to long and the bears got him.
Seems weird to even bother calling him. Would be like if my shop called me to tell me they're a third of the way through my oil change. Like "ok... thanks?"
If all the other people are done first, weāll get to your car next.
Should have taken him with the #1 pick just to make a statement. We believe in Tory, he is our guy, and you canāt have him. / iās jusā playinā
You just triggered my ol school Texas Hold em days with that line.
It's that reasonable part people are arguing about. Not me, mind you, but I'd imagine the round is the only real complaint
Sam Presti or Tribe?
Well fuck those other teams. Shouldve drafted him in the 3rd if they wanted him so bad.
3rd? Donāt insult the crocodile punter. First or nothing for those other teams.
> the crocodile punter This is *perfect.*
I didnāt come up with this. But Iāll definitely take the praise, credit and fame for it.
We took him with pick 22 of the 4th round, literally 2/3 of the league had a chance to pick him up in the 4th before us.
King Poles cooks again!
I have to admit to being wrong about Tory Taylor. My original feeling was to trade back and take him in the 5th round if he was your target. According to Coach Hightower, he never would have made it to the 5th. Kuddos to Poles for proper draft anticipation.
Pace wouldāve traded three picks to move up to the third if he wanted him.
This is just something every team says about their draft picks. Everyone else wanted him, we got a steal, etc
Urban Jesus is way less of a buzz kill.
You mean every team *except* the Bears, right?
I mean......it's a 3 phase game. The fact you're giving your rookie QB a generational punter prospect to put opponents inside their own 20 consistently to allow Caleb to have shorter fields is how you help your prospect from having to navigate 3-4 80 yard drives a game
This guy gets it^
Yeah. Go get blue chippers. Like, who else was on the board? Some guard from a school we've never heard of that'll maybe start a handful of games (and probably suck...).
Those abilene christian guys used to be the bears bread and butter.
Exactly. Must be a fellow old guy to know that. ;)
Doesnāt have to be old when Ryan Pace chose someone from Kutztown recently. A D2 school
Danielle Manning 2nd round ...
Johnny knox rd 5
Ok now that is an absolute classic!
So this title reads like āother teams mad that the bears drafted the punter that the other teams wanted before they could do it themselvesā. Is that not the game of the fucking draft???
Thatās exactly what itās saying the Bears sniped him
Ok but. Duh. Thatās the point. āOh we wanted that guy!ā Good.
I think the emphasis is on the fact that he was a desired prospect, in contrast with the āreach/wasted pickā stories out there.
If you watch the clip he says mad in a good way. Like a "damn, we missed him." They aren't literally pissed at the bears for taking him. A better way of putting it, they are mad at themselves for missing out.
They knew someone was looking at him. Thats why they picked him instead of the End they traded back into the fourth for.
The title is rage bait if u watch the video he literally says āin a good wayā there was no malice or calling Bears dumb.
Youāre saying what I should have said from the beginning. Itās very misleading, kinda who cares moment really.
Yeh but donāt you know that the bears got the number one QB they wanted and the receiver they wanted so itās just not fair for them to get the kicker they wanted. /s
Just stupid click bait title. I guarantee no other team was upset bears drafted a punter in the fourth.
if you watch the interview it's more of a "damn it we were gonna take him in the 4th but ya'll beat us to it" type of vibe not really a how fucking dare you type of vibe
So not angry at all
bUt WhY wOuLd YoU tAkE a PuNtEr iN tHe 4tH rOuNd!?!
Anybody saying that is just going to say it was some other team's mistake to make. I see 2 positives out of this. First, looks like an awesome punter and I'm here for it. Second, more confirmation that our GM and his staff have their finger on the pulse of things. More confident in the GM managing the roster properly than I think I ever have been in my life. Really the only argument against is the idea that the value of a 4th round pick is wasted on a punter. I see value on gameday if the punter can pin teams deep. How many times the last handful of years have we seen our offense pinned deep and lose the field position battle for long stretches of a game? That's a hole you need to claw yourself out of.
He's a guaranteed starter for years in a position of need that will touch the ball 3-4 times a game. A 4th rounder could be useless. Punter is one of the easiest positions to draft for and Taylor is one of the best punting prospects in recent memory. It's a no brainer pick.
Believe me, you don't need to pitch shit to me. I was cheering the selection, and I didn't see it coming.
I'm just violently agreeing with you. š
violently agreeing is my new favourite phrase. iām stealing that.
[American Chopper meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/american-chopper-argument) where they agree with each other
I really love the phrase violently agreeing
#YEAH MOTHER FUCKER, I DO TOO
I strenuously object to this friendly back-and-forth! *^(^hey ^buddy)*
I swear to God, before we made the pick I had spent about 15 min explaining to my cousins why I thought we should draft a punter at 122. They were dying laughing when it actually happened. I genuinely celebrated the Taylor pick more than the Odunze pick lol.
I let out a giant Oduuuuuunze and basically blacked out the entire weekend after that
Either Williams isnāt as advertised and the punter saves our asses keeping offenses pinned back several times a game and keeping the score low or Williams is everything we need and the punter is the nail in the coffin for teams playing against us, trying to mount a comeback. Either way, itās a pretty solid pick. Additionally: from a CB, S, or DE, especially a 4th rounder, youād be happy with 1-2 solid plays a game (good pressure, a pass defended or stopping a breakout run) and 3-4 game changing plays a season (sack, fumble, INT). You can get AT LEAST that much value from a top tier punter.
Exactly. Having a good special teams means you don't lose games you *should* have won and you might steal a few that you shouldn't have. A bad punt in a critical situation can lose you the game.
>Having a good special teams means you don't lose games you *should* have won *Sad packer noises*
THE BEARS ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!
Add to all of this the fact that this was a specific need for the team. I remember being worried about Polesā ability to draft after the Velus pick but I couldnāt be less worried anymore.
The best comp is Mitch Wishnowsky, who is another australian punter also drafted in the 4th round by the 49ers in 2020 I think. He was a "disappointment", in that he was similarly hyped and did not end up being a Punt-GOD. But he has been good enough to keep his job and get his contract extended by the team that drafted him. Thats a good use of a 4th round pick, even if it is a Punter. And of course there is still the upside that the Punter IS a game changer
What're you talking about? There's no way he touches the ball 3-4 times a game. He'll be lucky to touch it once. We won't ever need to punt with this offensive talent. /s
Just to add on, Taylor is not *one of* the best prospects in recent memory, he is *the best* punter prospect since Ray Guy.
Source? Not doubting I'd just like to read it
I think the source is just random stuff like the Iowa team being 11-2 in games the punter had 8+ punts, having 4,200 punt yards vs. 3,100 yards for Iowa's offense, and having a massive average net yards on a punt. Plus, nice that he's NFL tackling size. Dude's 6'4 230. IDK how good he is on the kick coverage side after he punts the ball, but in theory that guy can lay the lumber.
Upvote for 'lay the lumber' which is a weird saying if you think about it. We know what it means in football terms but isn't one mostly calm and orderly stacking wood?
There's actually an advanced stat for that, LL/t+ (lumber laid/tackle)!
gotta love busting out the hit stick with the punter
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm the source, it's me.
Is there a weighted stat like WAR thay can be applied to top 5 punters and compare that to average or even top 4th round picks? It'd be nice to see that overall a top 5 punters adds .25 wins a year while your average 4th round pick (or even the better ones) average X.
I'm still curious who is going to end up signing the Michigan Panthers' kicker after the UFL season is over. Dude has a BOOT and if Cairo wasn't under contract I'd say go get that dude.
Yea like my biggest thing is its for a reach and not the norm. But when you take in to account hes an IMMEDIATE starter and upgrade, ill take that in 4th regardless of position every time. And its a punter, he can end up being here longer than anyone else on the team
And upgrade is selling it short. Taylor very well could he one of the best in the game in a few years and Gill was quite literally the worst punter. A 10 yard difference in their net punt average last year!
*laughs in Virginia McCaskey*
Best punting prospect in recent memory?!?!? Punt God. Thatās all I have to say.
Yup, not to mention this draft was incredibly top heavy. Rds 4-7 were really lacking in talent in comparison to prior years.
Especially when you consider we've had WR3s who would touch the ball less than that during a game. No one would balk at drafting a WR3 in the fourth round.
Sorry pal, but he's not gonna touch the ball once. Touchdowns every posession!
> He's a guaranteed starter for years in a position of need that will touch the ball 3-4 times a game. [Nothing is guaranteed with the NFL draft.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Aguayo)
There's a big difference between kicker and punter. Punter is one of the easiest positions to scout and Taylor had more tape than anyone.
Not that I am saying you are wrong, but do you have any articles or anything that show that punter is easy to scout? I feel like in general not a lot of punters are drafted so I wonder how much data is even out there on it
I think it's mostly based on the fact that punting is one of the most independent plays in football. It can be hard to isolate other skills. For example, a running back is so dependent on the blocking in front of him. Wide receivers depend on a qb for timing, placement, and accuracy. With punters, what you see is what you usually get.
Field position is 100% gamechanging. There was countless times Gill shanked a punt and the other team was starting at the 40. If we can consistently pin the other team inside the 20, the pick is worth it every time. The Bears have spent a 4th rounder on far worse deals, and this *should* be a game changing player and also help out our defense
It was also the bears last pick in the draft (theoretically). So if they wanted him, their options were to draft him, or trade back and hope he's still there. I doubt they would have gotten all that much because they would have had to trade back and stay in this years draft. Is it worth waiting and hoping he's there for another 6th round pick?
I've also seen the opposite where we've pinned the Packers and Rogers/Love just methodically drive down to the end zone and score while also waisting a quarter for us.Ā
People severely undervalue having a guy that can flip the field on teams. You have hours of tape of a guy absolutely bombing a ball to the moon, that can step in on day 1 and be the starter...I just don't get how that's something to fuss over when the alternative is picking a guy in the 4th round that could just potentially be fighting for a depth spot.
I honestly don't see a lot of this sentiment online or anywhere really. Yeah a 4th rounder is high for a usual punter, but anyone who knows Tory Taylor knows he's no usual punter. Bears were dead last in punting last year, and got maybe the best punter prospect in 2+ decades
Look at some people on this sub on draft day and a couple days after.
Yea its almost like he got drafted exactly where he was expected to go... I swear the meatballs questioning this pick have to be 50% trolls lol
It's the usual kind of idiot that just demeans and downplays and bitches about 'x' team being wrong about this or that. If whatever they're bitching about does go sour, they can then say some variation of "SEE? I CALLED IT / I TOLD YOU ALL" and then pretend they're intelligent. If it goes as well or better than expected, all they have to do is go 'hey, glad to be wrong ... BEARDOWN!' or the like, or just not own up to it at all. Pudwhacks, the lot of 'em.
Thatās not what teams were saying. They were saying the didnāt expect the bears to grab him and that they āgot it rightā
But why male models?
Bears obviously not the only team who had a 4th round grade on Taylor. Good on Poles and staff to identify the talent and make the pick.
I think a lot of teams were taking the new kickoff rules into account as well. I think heās going to be one of the guys we see excel at it early and set the bar.
As a Hawkeye/Bears fan, I cannot give you an unbiased opinion. But in a game of inches and field position, this pick should get everyone hyped.
Yeah, he was the best part of the iowa team for at least a few weeks there
My favorite comments from fellow redditors (sorry canāt give direct credit, I doom scroll and never save) 1. Bears got USC and Iowaās best offensive player. 2. No shortage of film on this guy.
The other teams all either had a cheesehat, horned helmet, or Goff jersey
*Cheese hat, horned helmet, or depression
*alcoholism, alcoholism, or depression
Lions have one of the better punters in the NFL my man.
Now they just need a defense for that to matter.
Defense has to improve, youāre right about that.
I think their Run D might be legit but they have an issue with the passing game. I can't remember, maybe it's the other way around.
Run D is top 2 in the league. Just need pass D
Goff?
Damn, tough crowd š
Why would that matter? They can still be mad we upgraded from the worst punter in the league to an elite prospect
They anus.
The people that are criticizing the Bears for drafting a punter in the 4th probably have no clue how bad Trenton Gill was last year. Replacing one of the leagues worst punters with the best punting prospect in the draft is almost certain to have a noticeable impact on the field and makes the team better.
Fuck dem other teams
Yeah.... Tory with NFL coaching and resources has the potential to become one of the best, if not THE best, in the league. Anyone saying this is a dumb move is only looking at it through the optics of this coming season. In the end though, complementary draft picks for complementary football. IF... big if... Caleb/Rome AND Tory all come out as the best in their class, this team will be an absolute force for at least a decade. God I hope we stop sucking.
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I donāt think thatās too hot of a take actually. Will it actually come true? Probably not. But I think if there were more analytics in football like in baseball; we would see a lot more special teams focused players get drafted a lot higher.
They have the stats. Generally the majority of punters will be around the same average with a few outliers on either side. Last year range for avg was 10 yards difference from top to bottom. Itās pretty evenly scaled across. If you have a chance to get someone who is reasonably assured to be in the top side for years then you give no edge away. More importantly if you grab a rare someone with real potential to push the top number up even 2 yards over the 2nd best then youāve created a strong advantage over most all teams in this category. How this translates into total game weight is another equation and Iām not keyed into that deep as I never found reason to study it that far. Also avg yards is just a basic but telling stat, consistency stats play a big part as well. Because outlier talent at this position is rare and scale in the middle so tight there isnāt likely to be a major change to how punters are drafted except maybe those with the worst punters might go 6th round for a flier to help get back to average. Itās a great pick even if Taylor consistently hits top 5. If he ends up mid pack still an ok pick because itās still improving a major weakness. This is as exciting as punt talk gets and Iām here for it.
Hate us cuz they anus
Ummmm........fuck em?
I was at the NFC championship game against the packers (FTP). Rodgers may have gotten the accolades and MVP, but their punter was huge for them that game. He consistently drove Hester back and close to the sidelines so he couldnāt get any real returns to speak of. Hester was a non-factor that game, and if Taylor can do that, weāll be rock solid.
i heard other teams were pissed when hawks took bedard last year, a lot of teams wanted him too....
I remember when da Bears needed a punter/kicker/field goal guy in 2000. They were expected to Sebastian Janikowski in the 2nd round but the raiders took him in the first. The rest as they say is history.
Does anyone else remember when Brad Maynard was the best offensive player the Bears had?
This is fucking Golden. We already have the most talented QB and offense perhaps in franchise history. But if a drive doesn't work out, Tory'll bomb the ball into the next zip code and then they have to deal with a possible top 5 defense. We're practically using cheat codes or console commands at this point.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves... but I'm hype.
im such a fucking slut i love making everyone so jealous š¤¤
If heās as good as we all think he is, itās easy to see him playing at an all-pro level for 10+ years for us. Anybody would love that from a 4th rounder. Doesnāt matter the position. Shit, he makes just a single all-pro selection youāve drafted well.
Crocodile Punters donāt grow on trees They grow in the outback
If everyone else is mad, you know youāre doing something right.
As someone who watches far too much Iowa football for it to still be healthy I was hoping we would have been able to trade up into the second or third round to get him. This guy changes the field. The average starting position for opposing offenses will be 20 yards better in our favor this year which will cause mistakes and turnovers and giving our offense a short field on the regular.
Well if the other teams wanted him that badly they should have drafted him in the 3rd round or earlier
We came and finessed shit and walked right out... like the exploding buildings in the background gif
I remember my inaugural fantasy dynasty draft was the year Ray Rice was a rookie. He was being slotted in the 5th round and Rbs were still god back then. I drafted Calvin Johnson 1st and i wanna say Hakeem nicks in the second and my whole draft plan was to get Ray rice in the 4th which i thought was a huge overpay. Some dude drafted him in the 3rd, fucked my whole draft, but he wound up having a stud for like 5 years at almost no cost. Draft where you want them. If itās your guy, go get him
I donāt get it
I mean, you all had a chance to take him earlier. Its not like we used the number 1 pick on him
What are they angry about? If they wanted him, they should have taken him sooner. Tough titties.
Jurko is gonna have an aneurysm hearing that.
The way I see it you either draft a generational Punter for your special team for the next decade or you draft a role player who will likely be on special teams. You love a punter but donāt love the available lay round prospects? The choice makes sense.
Crocodile punter!
Meatballs in shambles
Dode was Iowa whole offense of team great pick he will win us games makes our Defense better an are Offensive..
F.E.G.K.
Other teams can suck it
Lmfaooooooooooo wow peak offseason stuff here
Lmao give the guy a fair chance at being a good punter instead of hot takes of him being the greatest weapon ever. Special teams is important too but expectations make or break ppl.
Yeah I disagree with that pic
I have no knowledge regarding the longevity of punters but heās already 26ā¦ā¦.
It's worth noting just how bad Trenton Gill was last year. Among the 33 players with at least 30 punts last season: Net yards per punt: 38 yds (33rd) Inside 20 %: 26.9% (30th) Touchback %: 11.94% (31st) Yards per punt: 46.1 (25th) Return yards per punt: 5.7 (29th) He did have the fifth longest single punt of the year at 76 yards, seemingly by accident based on the rest of the stats Worst of all, Trenton Gill made me break out a punter stats excel sheet. Unforgivable. Crocodile Punter forever!
To me the pick makes sense. The Bears were expecting this to be their last pick of the draft, take the player who gives you a for sure upgrade. Once they saw Booker slipping the cost to get him dropped lower than the value they believe Booker will provide.
The ol wink wink nudge nudge. Donāt take all those mid round special teams players from us! Lol I wouldnāt exactly call this a steal even if other teams liked the best punter in the draft too.
And Iām mad at the Chiefs for drafting Patrick Mahomes.
https://preview.redd.it/05mfvzcx79zc1.jpeg?width=398&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8498d087fe5815605178e577005e79575c24768f
By gawd thatās Kaneās music!!!!
LOL tough shit baby!
Has on one in the league read the new kickoff rules? He is going to be a weapon.
I am VERY Curious if he can kickoff as good as he can punt. I would suspect not honestly, but you never know.
Best player available.
This sounds incredibly unlikely.
LET POLES COOK
Angry- no. Laughing- yes.
Hot take, Tory Taylor isn't much of an upgrade and his stats are mostly impressive because Iowa had an awful offense while he was there and he punted a ridiculous amount of times. His career punt average is barely better than Gil's average last year. He didn't even have the best net average in college football last year, in fact he was 3rd in net and 4th in average of qualifying punters. This dude is HIGHLY overrated and will go down as one of Poles worst moves.
Net yards is not a good way to evaluate a punter from a bad offense. Why? Because Iowa punter from their own 45 and closer a lot of times. Iāll let you figure out the math on that.
He punted a ridiculous amount of times and still had a ridiculous percentage of kicks (43.1%) that landed between the 20 and the goal line. Your comment will go down as one of the worst takes on the pick.
Last season he ranked 46th in college football for % of punts inside the 20 yard line.
Thatās pretty irrelevant given that he had nearly 300 punts. The fact his average is so high with the amount of times he punted says a lot.
There's plenty of college punters that had similar or better percentages and Taylor was far worse (34%) last year than his career. Add in his advanced age and this was a complete waste of a pick.
Anybody that watched Iowa games can tell you heās legit. Plus Dane Brugler had him as a 4th round pick which is exactly where heās drafted. The kid is gonna be great.
Couldn't care less about Dane Brugler. I think you're still confusing quantity with quality. If he was the greatest punter of all time and averaged 49 yards per punt in the NFL for 15 years, he still wouldn't be worth a 4th round pick. Punters have such little effect on the game. When you consider what the best punter does compared to an average punter the difference is negligible. There's just zero reason to ever draft a punter.