The Bengals Desperately Need A Punter Battle
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
It may seem like peak offseason when punters are being discussed. However, aside from the defensive back battle of Dax Hill and DJ Turner, the most closely watched positional battle of the 2024 Cincinnati Bengals preseason may very well be between punters.
For Cincinnati, punter has been a position in limbo ever since Kevin Huber, who was remarkably consistent during his 13-year tenure, was released. After inconsistency from Drue Chrisman in his short stint as starting punter for the latter half of 2022, Cincinnati drafted Brad Robbins in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. They selected him out of Michigan, where the Bengals seem to send 50% of their scouts on a weekly basis.
Even though Robbins won the starting punter job over Chrisman ahead of the 2023 season, he struggled mightily in his rookie year. Among 33 qualified punters, he ranked 31st in yards per punt (44.3), 26th in net yards per punt (40.3), 32nd in percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line (26.3%), and had the fourth-lowest overall PFF grade (56.3). The average hangtime on his punts, a statistic in which he led the NCAA over his final two years of college, was 4.24 seconds, which placed him 27th among punters that played in at least 12 games in 2023.
However, that’s not to say Robbins didn’t have his strong points. He was tied for fifth in the league with 26 punts that resulted in fair catches, and was tied for 10th in fewest yards per punt return (7.0). In Week 4 against the Titans, he averaged 51.4 yards on his five punts; one of those punts went for 62 yards, his season-long.
With Robbins’ rookie season inconsistencies, special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons must use the 2024 preseason as an opportunity to test out different options to improve the Bengals’ punting game. In doing so, the Bengals brought in an absolute unit of a punter.
Austin McNamara 87 yard punt 😮 pic.twitter.com/jBJN1UJzRx
— Bengal Jim & Friends (@bengaljims_BTR) April 28, 2024
The Bengals signed Austin McNamara, who has the most punter-like name in the universe, as an undrafted free agent in April following a decorated career at Texas Tech. The three-time First Team All-Big 12 member and 2023 Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year averaged 45.9 yards per punt in his career, which is the 10th-highest total in NCAA history among qualified punters. He also set an NCAA record during a 2021 game against then-#7 ranked Oklahoma State, in which he had eight punts of 50-plus yards.
Simmons is grateful that McNamara, who he knew would have plenty of interested suitors despite going undrafted, chose Cincinnati. “He very well could have been drafted,” Simmons said. “We were fortunate enough to be able to land him. He just wants to come in (and) compete. I think that’s what everyone wants.”
Simmons and McNamara were able to form a bond in the lead-up to the draft, and that made all the difference in attracting the star punter to Cincinnati. That, and the opportunity for the Texas Tech product to earn a starting job in his rookie year.
“We had that personal connection over the last month and a half before the draft and that definitely weighed in my decision,” McNamara said. “We talked during the back end of the draft. He’s very unique in that he’s got a punting background. That really intrigued me. My agent told me a little bit about him. I looked up some stuff about Coach Simmons and my agent told me he’s been in the game a long time. A great coach. I trusted that and I’ve seen it first-hand here.”
Brad Robbins himself has familiarity with McNamara from both of their college days and spoke favorably of him.
“I’ve DM’d Austin a few times, and we talked some when we were both in college,” Robbins said. “I don’t think we ever did any camps together, but I know him. He’s a good dude.”
Despite McNamara’s accolades and potential, the job of starting punter is currently Robbins’ job to lose, just as it was Chrisman’s job to lose just a year ago. Robbins is cognizant of what he needs to work on to maintain his starting role.
“I’ve worked a lot on being more directional, but the main thing I worked on was getting a consistent miss further,” Robbins said. “With punting, you’re measured by your misses. I felt I was just hitting the same ball, or trying to, every time. But I realized it’s a different game. It’s OK to sacrifice some hang time for more distance if you have a lot of field to work with, to give your defense the best possible chance of stopping their offense.”
As for Robbins, he welcomes a punter competition with McNamara despite the possibility of losing his starting job after only one season.
“That’s a chance to learn from another punter. You can learn from each other,” Robbins said. “Build each other up. Have a good relationship, but still compete. Any competition will be good.”
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