Specialists In The NFL Draft

As I type this post, there are throngs of former college football players eagerly watching the NFL draft.  In fact, there is a crop of kickers waiting anxiously to find out who might be among the drafted specialists.

In fact, this year both Scott and I are paying a little more attention to the draft than we have in the past because Scott has been working to make himself available for a training camp this summer should a team have a need!

As when I was actively seeking a spot in the kicking rotation among active NFL teams, landing in a camp requires a combination of many things from skill, to timing, to luck.

For Scott, this means that the right team (with an interest in Scott for summer camp) must have an opening at the right time.

You can bet we are both watching the draft this year with renewed curiosity and interest.  Yes, it’s all about timing for Scott right now….who does or does not get drafted.

At the time of this writing, the 2013 draft has not yet snagged a kicker, even though there are some headliners waiting for that phone call.  In fact we enter Saturday morning with 97 players selected thus far.  The obvious question is, will a kicker be selected yet?  Let’s take a look at past drafts.

In the past, we typically see kickers and punters drafted after the 120 spot, meaning, not too many specialists are drafted BEFORE pick #120….about 13 in total since the year 2000 have gone before pick 120.

Some years, there is an active crop of kickers and/or punters selected and some years, not so much.

For instance, in 2012, 4 kickers and 2 punters were drafted, but just one year earlier only ONE kicker and ONE punter.  On average, since 2000 there have been 2 kickers drafted each year.

Last year was a big year for kickers in the draft….a total of 4.  The two years prior to that, just 1 kicker TOTAL over 2010 and 2011.

So, we can only keep our fingers crossed for Scott for the remainder of THIS draft.  Hopefully this will be a down year again for kickers, increasing the odds for Scott to land in a camp to compete against other free agents!

UPDATE: So, checking back in later in the day here, I see some results in for specialists in the 2013 draft. Punter Jeff Locke was selected number 155 by the Vikings (who selected kicker Blair Walsh last year), punter Sam Martin went 165 to the Lions, kicker Caleb Sturgis to the Dolphins (166), Dustin Hopkins to the Bills (177, kicker).

So far then, that’s two punters and two kickers for 2013.

Specialists Drafted By Year (2000-2013)