by: Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL)
photo: via 24/7 Sports
The Gophers have received a commitment from Australian punter Mark Crawford. Crawford is the top international punter in Ray Guy’s ProKicker Camp rankings. His 49.86 average distance was the best mark among all punters in the database. When applying the statistic to this year’s NCAA rankings, Crawford would place No. 1.
His longest punt traveled 57 yards, which was the second-best rep among international punters. Crawford’s best hang time was also 5.02 seconds. No punter on the ProKicker international list posted a hang time that spanned more than five seconds. Any number that eclipses that threshold is generally considered above average.
Special teams coordinator Rob Wenger found a sleeper on the international punting circuit. Crawford didn’t hold any others offers and Minnesota managed to keep his name off the grid. Due to the time difference in Australia, Crawford has already signed his National Letter of Intent. He becomes the first player to officially join the Gophers’ 2020 recruiting class.
A few successful international punters come to mind, including recent Ray Guy Award winners Michael Dickson (Seahawks) and Mitch Wishnowsky (49ers).
Each of them were developed through the ProKick training program in Australia. Crawford has been working within the same international punting system. Over the past few seasons, ProKick has become a top destination for punter prospects.
In fact, four of the past five Ray Guy Award winners (top college punter) were originally from Australia. These punters all tend to have above average distances and kick deep, booming punts. Many of the Australian specialists have also developed Aussie-style punting methods, which involve tweaking the ball’s initial angle. For example, sometimes the punter is trying to make contact with the bottom tip of the ball to create backspin. This punting style can be very difficult for returners to field because of the spin.
If you want to learn more about the ProKick Australian kicking revolution, this is a fantastic article. Players are under the instruction of the program’s coaches for six to 15 months. The specialists are taught a variety of techniques that tend to complement rugby and soccer style kicking methods they learned as kids.