Kai Kroeger On Pace For Career Year
The punter position is one of the most unique positions in all of football because it's one from a skill standpoint that's accompanied by loneliness due to how much the end result of their performance is truly dictated by what they do individually.
Of course, the punter has to rely on the long snapper to get the ball in just the right spot, rely on his blockers in front of him to keep defenders from having a free shot at blocking his punt, and rely on his gunners to down the ball when given the right opportunities.
For the most part, however, punters have much more control over the end result of plays they're involved in compared to every other player on the football team outside of maybe the quarterback and the placekicker. So when a punter displays a certain level of marksmanship like punter Kai Kroeger has so far this season, it should be a requirement that he gets his justifiable praise
The Numbers Don't Lie
In terms of purely looking at the stats, if the season were to end today, Kroeger would set career highs in both average yards per punt with 44.4 and his longest punt with 79, the third-longest punt in college football this season.
Of the eleven punts that have been returned by South Carolina's opponents in 2022, only 20 collective return yards have been gained, which is a credit both to South Carolina's punt coverage team and Kai for keeping the ball hanging in the air long enough to where punt returners rarely have an opportunity to get a solid return.
The one facet of Kroeger's game that's been the most impressive to this point in the season has been his ability to pin opponents deep into their own territory, as Kai has downed an unfathomable 18 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, which is tied for the 7th best mark in the country and currently on pace to set a new career high.
Kroeger showcased his NFL-caliber punting ability to such a degree against the Texas A&M Aggies two weekends ago that he got a game ball for his performance, something that should signal how much Kai is viewed as a weapon for South Carolina's special teams unit.
"We talked about it Tuesday in our team meeting that field position and situational football was going to be really really key [against A&M]," Beamer said after the game. "Kai was awesome tonight the way that he was able to flip the field position."
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