Here are the top 10 special-teams prospects (with height, weight and projected round) for the NFL draft, which is set for Thursday-Sunday in Detroit:
KICKERS
1. Joshua Karty, Jr., Stanford (6-foot-2, 208 pounds, fourth or fifth): Has range of up to 59 yards on his field goals and could function as a kickoff specialist if a team wants to keep kicking it out of the end zone under the new return rules for next season. Made 51 of 60 field-goal attempts over his four seasons with the Cardinal.
2. Will Reichard, Sr., Alabama (6-1, 191, fifth): Kicked in lot of high-leverage situations in the SEC. Made 84 of 100 field-goal attempts and 295 of 207 extra-point attempts over his career. Needs more consistent depth on his kickoffs.
3. Harrison Mevis, Sr., Missouri (6-0, 241, sixth or seventh): He holds the SEC record for longest field goal made, at 61 yards. He made 147 of 148 extra-point attempts and 86 of 103 field-goal attempts.
4. Jack Browning, Sr., San Diego State (5-11, 190, seventh or not drafted): He was named second-team All-Mountain West. He made 33 of 44 field-goal attempts over the past two seasons and averaged 45.5 per punt.
5. Cam Little, Jr., Arkansas (6-1, 173, seventh or not drafted): He made 129 of 129 of his extra-point attempts and 53 of 64 of his field-goal attempts. He made 64% of his from 50 yards or more including a 56-yarder.
PUNTERS
1. Tory Taylor, Sr., Iowa (6-4, 226, third): The Melbourne, Australia native hit some booming punts for the Hawkeyes as he averaged 46.3 yards on 295 punts for 13,657 yards with 103 going for 50-plus yards.
2. Austin McNamara, Sr., Texas Tech (6-5, 204, fifth): Averaged at least 44 yards per punt over the past four seasons for the Red Raiders.
3. Matthew Hayball, Sr., Vanderbilt (6-0, 189, sixth): He was named second-team Associated Press All-American. He was Vanderbilt’s first All-American since 2016 and first All-American punter since 1996. He averaged 47.6 yards per punt.
4. Ryan Rehkow, Jr., Brigham Young (6-4, 243, seventh or not drafted): A four-year starter with major leg-strength. However, he might have to sacrifice some distance for more loft at the NFL level. He averaged 47.4 yards over 176 punts.
5. Porter Wilson, Sr., Duke (6-4, 231, seven or not drafted): He made a big jump from 43.1 yards per punt to 46.6 yards last season. He average 44.4 yards per punt over his career.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Best of rest: Kickers – Notre Dame’s Spencer Shrader, Northern Iowa’s Matthew Cook and New Mexico State’s Ethan Albertson. Punters -- Texas’ Ryan Sanborn and Texas A&M’s Nik Constantinou. Long snappers – Wisconsin’s Peter Bowden, Nebraska’s Marco Ortiz, Notre Dame’s Michael Vinson and N.C. State’s Joe Shimko.
Local prospects
William Mote, LS, Georgia (6-2, 230, not drafted): He was the long snapper on every punt since the 2020 season and took over the field-goal snapping duties in 2022. He participated in the Senior Bowl.
Teams in need: Cowboys, Commanders, Browns, Broncos and Jaguars.
Need area for Falcons: No. The Falcons are set at punter and kicker, with Bradley Pinion and Younghoe Koo. They are expecting to get returner Avery Williams back from knee surgery.
