AJ Cole, Undrafted Free Agent on the Verge of Being a Star
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia may have found a gem at punter.
The Las Vegas Raiders entered the offseason with one punter in their roster, AJ Cole. Cole is entering his second season as a Raider. He was signed as an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State. He tried out during the offseason a year ago and received the coaching staff's attention immediately.
Cole took the starting job from Johnny Townsend during the preseason and later added the duties as a holder for kicker Daniel Carlson.
Cole would go on to start all 16 games as a rookie. He was netting 67 punts, 18th most in the NFL, averaging net yardage of 46 yards a punt, which ranked him No. 16 among all starting punters.
His longest punt was a 74-yarder, third-longest punt in the NFL last season, and finished the season downing 33 punts in the opposing 20 yards and had zero block punts.
"I think Townsend has got his hands full with A.J. Cole," said Raiders Coach Gruden said after the first preseason game in 2018. "It's going to be interesting down the stretch. Cole proved he could kickoff, which adds to his versatility. He downed them inside the 20, I think, a couple of times. He put on a display the other day against the Rams. We haven't seen kicks like that since Shane Lechler was here, or Marquette King."
Highly praised by Gruden a year ago, Cole continues to improve and show that he does not need anyone else on the team to push him going forward.
Raider Nation should be excited as Cole is in a position to lock his job for a long time.
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