Spring Preview: The Kickers

A look at Iowa's football depth chart heading into spring practice, by position group. Breaking down the specialists:

Gone

We really didn't get to know punter Michael Sleep-Dalton. Sleep-Dalton, a graduate transfer from Arizona State, was here for just one season. He averaged 41.7 yards per punt, with 22 fair-catches and 23 punts that were inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Sleep-Dalton had 10 punts of 50 yards or more.

Colten Rastetter was the punter for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and was the holder on extra points and field goals. He averaged 37.8 yards per punt in 2017 and 38.9 in 2018.

Here

Keith Duncan was Iowa's kicker in 2016, hitting the game-winner in the upset win over Michigan, then sat behind Miguel Recinos for the next two seasons.

All he did last season was become a consensus All-American after setting Iowa and Big Ten records with 29 field goals, a total that ranks No. 6 all-time on the NCAA's list.

No. 17 IOWA ESCAPES IN LINCOLN!

Keith Duncan nails a 48-yard field goal to seal the Hawkeyes' win over Nebraska 💪 pic.twitter.com/jK29HFb8Oc
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 29, 2019

Duncan was the Big Ten's kicker of the year, and was a finalist for the Lou Groza award, given to the nation's top kicker.

Duncan was 29-of-34 in field goals. He had three games of four field goals, and kicked the game-winner in the final seconds to beat Nebraska in the final regular-season game.

Caleb Shudak, who handled kickoffs last season, had entered his name in the NCAA's transfer portal, but coach Kirk Ferentz said at his signing day press conference earlier this month that he was trying to convince Shudak to stay.

Punter Ryan Gersonde returns, but he's coming off a knee injury. Ferentz hopes he'll be ready for spring practice.

Coming in

Ferentz found another Australian punter, but he doesn't have near the experience of Sleep-Dalton.

Tory Taylor, a 22-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, will have four years of eligibility, but he hasn't kicked in an American football game before.

“They don’t play it there like we do here," Ferentz said earlier this month. "It’s going to be an adjustment for him, and we’re going to have to work like crazy with him when we get going in August."

The outlook

Duncan is one of the nation's best, and it's hard to see him losing the job.

The big question is at punter. Taylor won't have a lot of time to develop, but the coaching staff saw something in him to give him a chance at a position that is always key to Iowa's success.