Ranking the Special Team Units IU will Deal With in 2018
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Ohio State will be very good on special teams again in 2018 Image: Sammy Jacobs Hoosier Huddle
Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
We finish our opponents' unit rankings with special teams. This unit usually the difference between great teams and good teams and a win and a loss. The Hoosiers have a very good special teams unit themselves (we'll hit that later in the week), but they will have to be ready to face some good ones in 2018. Every team has an aspect of special teams that they excel in or struggle in.
1. Ohio State
The Buckeyes have the best overall special teams unit but they are far from unflawed. Ohio State struggled on kickoff coverage as they allowed two returns for scores and six returns of over 30 yards and four of over 40 yards. The new kickoff rules were made to take away OSU’s coffin corner kick. They will need to adjust to it.
Place kicker Sean Nurenberger is back after hitting 81-percent of his field goals a year ago and punter Drue Chrisman also returns after averaging 44.2 yards per punt.
K.J. Hill returns to field kickoffs and punts, he returned six kickoffs last season and averaged 25 yards a return while averaging just 5.5 yards per punt return. Even with the limited opportunities, he is a weapon.
2. Michigan
The Wolverines are a close second to Ohio State and have their own strengths and weaknesses to deal with. Michigan returns two key playmakers on special teams in Donovan Peoples-Jones at returner and Quinn Nordin at kicker. Peoples-Jones led the Big Ten in punt return attempts with 40 and averaged eight yards an attempt. He’s not afraid to take the risk of returning a punt that most would fair catch. Nordin was the third best kicker in the conference a year ago as a freshman hitting 19-of-24 field goals on the year with a long of 55 yards. He should be stronger and more polished as a sophomore.
Where Michigan needs to improve is in the punt game where Brad Robbins finished last in the conference in net punting average. For a team that relies on defense to win games, he must be better in year two. The other area of struggle for the Wolverines in on kick return as neither or their two main returners averaged over 20 yards per attempt. Ambry Thomas averaged just 19.8 yards per return with a long of 40.
3. Penn State
The Nittany Lions must fill the hole that Saquon Barkley left on special teams as well. He was third in the conference in kickoff returns, averaging 28.4 yards per return with two scores. Brandon Polk, an explosive wide receiver will try and replace those numbers.
Penn State will also turn the kicking responsibilities over to a freshman in Jake Pinegar, who had a very good high school career.
Outside of that the Nittany Lions are solid. Junior punter Blake Gillikin is back after averaging 43.2 yards per punt while dropping 26 inside the 20-yard like. DeAndre Thompkins is back to return punts after averaging 13.3 yards per return and scored one touchdown.
4. Michigan State
The Spartans were not great at anything on specials teams, they were just really solid. Kicker Matt Coghlin is back after hitting 15-of-19 including a game winner in the rain against Penn State and punter Jake Hartbarger averaged a healthy 42 yards per punt.
In the return game Darrell Stewart showed some explosiveness when given the opportunity to return kicks averging 25.3 yards on nine returns, while Laress Nelson needs to improve upon his 4.9 yard per return average fielding punts.
5. Purdue
Purdue has a senior laden special teams unit that has aged well. Senior Joe Schopper had a good junior year averaging 40.5 yards per punt, if he can limit the occasional shank, he should be near the top of the Big Ten. Kicker Spencer Evans wasn’t used much last season going just 8-for-11 on field goals, but has a strong leg.
In the return games, D.J. Knox gives the Boilermakers a home run threat on kickoffs, but averaged just 18 yards a return last year. The punt return game needs a spark as Jackson Anthrop gained just 1.7 yards on an average return.
6. Virginia
After Purdue there is a pretty big drop off. Virginia did one thing well on special teams last season and that was return kicks. Joe Reed led the ACC is kick return yard average at 29.7 yards per attempt. He returned 29 kicks for 861 yards and two touchdowns, good enough to land him on Phil Steele’s 2nd Team All-ACC.
Outside of Reed, Virginia is just bad. Lester Coleman ranked last in the ACC in net punt yards and was abused by J-Shun Harris and the Hoosiers return unit. Kicker AJ Mejia was just 8-of-12 on field goals with a long of 38 yards.
Safety Juan Thornhill will take over the punt return duties. He can’t be much worse than Daniel Hamm who averaged a mere 4 yards per return.
7. Iowa
Iowa needs to figure out their punt game if they want to make a case for the Big Ten West. Colten Rastetter was just north of awful averaging 37.8 yards per punt (36.9 net) with only 11 punts downed inside the 20. He could lose the job to Ryan Gersonde who averaged 42.5 yards per kick. Starting quarterback Nate Stanley also punted three times.
Place kicker Miguel Recinos is serviceable as he hit all his extra points and was 11-of-13 on field goals. Ivory Kelly-Martin gives the Hawkeyes a solid kick return man, but they’ll miss the explosiveness of Akrum Wadley. Sophomore Ihmir Smith-Marsette will have big shoes to fill at punt returner replacing Matt VandeBerg.
8. FIU
FIU has a really good unit for a Group of Five team. Punter Stone Wilson, kicker Jose Borregales and long snapper Thomas Zozus all earned Phil Steele all-conference honors. Wilson averaged 41 yards per punt while Borregales nailed 15-of-18 field goal attempts. Where FIU will need to improve is in the return game as Bryce Singleton only averaged 22.7 yards a return and punt returner Tony Gator only fielded seven punts last year.
9. Minnesota
The good news for the Gophers is that place kicker Emmitt Carpenter is back after hitting 14-of-20 field goals. The bad news is that they need to replace punter Ryan Santoso and secondary kick returner Shannon Brooks is done for the season. However, they do return Rodney Smith who had 363 return yards and a touchdown in 2017. Junior Jacob Herbers will take over the punting duties, but has never punted in a college game. Antonio Shenault should assume the punt returner job.
10. Maryland
If people just went on Maryland’s performance against IU last season, they’d be at the top of this list. Unfortunately for the Terps the season was more than a game. Also unfortunate for them is the departure of D.J. Moore who was a difference maker at punt returner. Maryland also loses kicker Henry Darmstadter. However, Ty Johnson and Javon Leake give the Terps two outstanding return men and Wade Lees is back after dropping 17 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Freshman kicker Joseph Petrino is highly-touted and has impressed in the spring. The trick for Maryland will be finding a replacement for Moore.
11. Rutgers
There was a time when Rutgers was really good on special teams. They punted well, kicked well and blocked more kicks than anyone. However, that magic has worn off. Gone are punter Ryan Anderson, kicker Andrew Harte and return specialist Janarion Grant. That is a lot of talent to replace on a team that lacks depth. Justin Davidovicz will take over the full-time kicking job after working as the kick-off specialist last season. Freshman Adam Korsak should win the punting job. He’s another Aussie punter and had a really good spring. Raheem Blackshear is back to return kicks after just a 16.7-yards per return average in 2017. Hunter Hayek could be back returning punts.
12. Ball State
Malik Dunner headlines this group as he is a first-team All-MAC kick returner. Dunner had 709 return yards on 29 attempts in 2017 including a touchdown. Punt returner Corey Lacanaria is solid as well with an explosive 14.8 yard per return average in 2017. That’s about where to good news stops on special teams for the Cardinals.
Punter Nathan Snyder ranked last in the MAC in net average at 30.1 yards. He had one kick blocked and only landed 12 of his 50 punts land inside the 20-yard line. Place kicker Morgan Hagee is in the middle of the pack in the MAC, but only hit 9-of-16 field goals with a long of 47.