Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 86 Days (Joseph Gedeon)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

#86

The Hoosier Huddle Countdown to Kick-off continues to cruise along as we tick down to number 86! That’s right, there are now only 86 days until the Indiana Hoosiers kick-off the 2017 season by hosting the mighty Buckeyes of Ohio State. Today, we focus on a player that started last year that may find himself shoved to the side barring significant improvement: punter Joseph Gedeon.

Joseph Gedeon

-Height: 6’3”

-Weight: 200 pounds

-Hometown: Columbus, IN (Columbus North High School)

-Position: Punter

In the hyper-competitive world of major college football, the line between a win and a loss is incredibly thin. Poor special teams play can ultimately be the difference between a season ending 7-5 and one ending 5-7. Unfortunately, IU’s special teams under Kevin Wilson were not an emphasis and the play in that phase of the game during the past couple of years slipped to a well-below average level. Redshirt junior punter Joseph Gedeon took over as the starting punter in 2016. He wasn’t bad in his first year as a starter but he was inconsistent and timing was often an issue.

Gedeon arrived at IU after punting and kicking at Columbus North High School. He was more than just a kicker, excelling at track and field and winning two letters in basketball. He walked-on to the Hoosiers football program prior to the 2014 season and redshirted his true freshman season. He did not see any game action in 2015, sitting behind Erich Toth. His time would come in 2016 as he won the open competition for the starting position and punted in each of IU’s 13 games.

Again, it’s not fair to say Gedeon was “bad” in 2016. Rather, he just wasn’t consistent enough. Three good punts would be marred by a shank that only travelled 30 yards. He eventually averaged 40.3 yards on his 61 punts, placing 24 punts inside of the 20-yard line. Gedeon was named the special teams player of the week on two occasions (FIU and Ohio State).

Tom Allen is now the head coach for the Indiana Hoosiers and he has made it very clear that he will be placing a higher emphasis on having a stellar special teams squad. One of his first moves was looking down under and bringing in true freshman Aussie punter Haydon Whitehead. It would be presumptive to just hand the starting job to Whitehead but Gedeon was injured for the Spring Game so we didn’t see any progression he’s made and the true freshman from Australia is certainly now considered the favorite to be named the starting punter for the 2017 season. Gedeon will need to improve on his consistency and timing if he is to hold off Whitehead and remain the starter for the upcoming season.

Please share any comments or thoughts in the comments section or in our message board. The countdown continues tomorrow so make sure to check Hoosier Huddle daily as we roll towards the 2017 season!