The Solution to the Jaguars Punting Woes: Draft Zoltan
by Adam Stites on Jan 27, 2010 11:58 AM EST
in 2010 Scouting Reports
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PrintZoltan Mesko that is.
The consensus number one rated punter from Michigan may be worth a late round pick to finally bolster the Jaguars' perennial bottom ranked punting game. The Jaguars punting woes have dated back a few years now starting with Chris Hanson getting released for his poor play. Then came the horrible decision to use a 4th round draft pick on Adam Podlesh, which has obviously disappointed. The team tried to address the situation last season bringing in Steve Weatherford when Podlesh suffered an injury, but Weatherford lost to Podlesh in a training camp battle leading to his eventual release. Well even that looks to have been a mistake as Weatherford did pretty well with the Jets this season while Podlesh had yet another poor season.
Zoltan Mesko, who was born in Romania, has great size for a punter at 6'5, 231 pounds. His punting average has steadily improved with each year of play culminating in his 44.5 yard average of this season; however, it is the hang time and the accuracy of his kicks that should really open the eyes of NFL scouts. Out of his 52 punts last season, 21 were fair catches and 24 were downed inside the 20 yard line. Compare those 24 downed inside the 20 to only 3 touchbacks.
The biggest potential problem is that a team may reach for Mesko similar to the way the Jaguars reached for Adam Podlesh. I'm confident that Gene Smith wouldn't be the one to do so, but if another team is willing to use a 4th or 5th rounder on Zoltan it wouldn't be worth it for the Jaguars to pursue him.
Another potential negative are the occasional line drive kicks that happened in college. While it doesn't raise too many alarms, inconsistencies are something to keep an eye on.
Video Killed the Scouting Report
Zoltan Mesko: By the Numbers
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Zoltan Mesko |
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| Position 1: Punter |
Height: 6'5 | ||||
| Position 2: N/A |
Weight: 231 | ||||
| Class: Senior | Age: 23 | ||||
| Projected Round: 5th-7th |
40 time: 4.7-4.9 |
||||
YEAR
PUNTS
AVG
LNG
YDS
2006
50
41.6
64
2079
2007
70
41.1
68
2876
2008
80
43.0
63
3436
2009
52
44.5
66
2312
Academic All Big-10 2006-2009
First Team All Big-10 2008-2009
Ray Guy Award Finalist 2009
2nd Team All-American 2009
According to the Experts
Pros
Has prototypical size and leg extension for the position. Adjusts well to high and low snaps. Good leg strength, but not elite. Solid 1.25-1.35 second get-off time. Solid hangtime, 4.2-4.4 seconds on 45-50 yard punts. Had 3.5 second hangtime on punts placed inside the 20 and throttles down to prevent touchbacks. Gross average benefitted from big rolls when punt returners don't catch the ball because of the left-footed spin. Uses rugby kicks and can wobble his punts avoid top returners.
Cons
Good leg strength, but not elite. Lacks aggressiveness as a tackler on returns. Long steps would put him too close to the line of scrimmage if he used full three-step drop. Will have the occasional line drive. Directional punting ability is a question mark.
Pros
Big leg. One of the true draftable punters in the country. Gets the ball high and deep consistently, and will consistently post hang times of 4.6-5.1 second. Can kick a FG in an emergency.
Cons
Not a great poor weather punter yet, despite playing in Michigan. Lacks the huge leg that gets people drafted as a punter in the early rounds. Accuracy and coffin-corner work is average.
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I am for
BAP if he is it lets get him but i think we have too many needs right now to address on both sides of the ball to waste a pick on a punter (unless it is like a 7th rounder)
by jesusjagfan2009 on Jan 27, 2010 1:03 PM EST reply actions
People
Say “waste a pick on a punter” but really a great punter is a valuable weapon. If you have a guy who you know can give little return opportunities with good hang time, and down many punts inside the 20, it can do wonders for your offense and defense.
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You're right but
this isn’t a great punter. He’s rated #1 in a weak crop of kickers. Not draft material. But, hey, look at what we have on the roster now.
True but....
When you have a defense that got ripped apart because they couldn’t get any pressure on the QB and an offensive line that has more holes in it then a block of swiss cheese a punter is the least of your issues. Address the priority needs first and if there is a good one out and he is BAP get him but let’s address the main needs first which I feek right now is a good DE. A LB and a safety. On offense we need an OL and a WR (msw is good need one more ti be mentored by torry along with him thomas and dillard)
by jesusjagfan2009 on Jan 28, 2010 8:37 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
yeah
if there’s guys out there like rashad jennings or developmental guys like tiquan underwood in the 7th round…just find an undrafted punter…i feel like the difference between the best punter in the league and a UDFA is not a whole lot…where as the difference between peyton manning and a undrafted QB is enormous
agreed
Use your draft picks on high skill positions you can get a decent udfa off the wire
by jesusjagfan2009 on Jan 27, 2010 1:20 PM EST up reply actions
Thanks
Life without knowledge is death in disguise
by Zoltan from Budapest on Jan 27, 2010 5:34 PM EST up reply actions
Polesh just had a good year for us.
Getting a new punter is the last thing on our list. Give me a break. We don’t have the draft picks to waste, or time to waste talking about this. Worthless post.
Check this out from Jaguars.com (Ryan Robinson) a couple days ago:
Podlesh wins job and produces
When the Jaguars selected punter Adam Podlesh in the fourth round of the 2007 draft, scouts and coaches buzzed about his strong leg, quick release and directional kicking abilities. All of these skills were on full display in 2009.
Podlesh, who missed the final five games in 2008 with a knee injury, faced stiff competition in the preseason from Steve Weatherford. Podlesh had a strong final two weeks of the preseason to win the job. Weatherford was released during final cuts and is now punting for the New York Jets.
Podlesh finished the season with a 41.9-yard average on 72 punts with a career-high 23 punts downed inside the 20. His net average of 38.3 was the fourth-highest in franchise history.
The fact that the fourth highest punting net in franchise history
ranked 26th in the NFL this season only helps to prove my point about our terrible punting.
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You probably don't know much about special teams.
What’s the point of booting the hell out of a ball if you out kick your coverage? Check the stat that matters, which is Net Average.
Podlesh ranks 16th with a 38.3 average.
The Jaguars were one of the best teams in the league at punt coverage and you’d be mistaken if you don’t think a good part of that has to do with the guy punting the ball.
Listen, I ain’t saying I love Podlesh or think he’s one of the league’s best. He wasn’t worth a 4th round pick or probably even a 6th. But he’s young, he is capable, he will get better, and there’s no way in hell we need to be wasting a draft pick on a punter with the roster and needs we currently have.
Which brings me to my point of this being a stupid post. The Raiders have the best punter in the league and guess how far they get every year. It’s just a punter.
by jimbrophoto on Jan 27, 2010 11:17 PM EST up reply actions
What?!
We didn’t draft Weatherford…we did let him go in favor of a wasted pick. We can get a punter. Podlesh was a mistake.
Vae Victis!
Only in the 7th round but I think punters can be had in UDFA or FA
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Seventh round sounds good...
maybe with one of the compensatory picks we should receive. I have to admit that when it comes to evaluating a punter I’m not sure how to. I’m a little confused by the report saying he doesn’t have elite leg strength but has a big leg and gets the ball high and deep consistently. It may be fate that he ends up a Jag, the more Zoltans the better!
I think he is the best punter
of this draft. I think there is a chance that a new puntre can come. There was an interview with him in a Hungarian paper(he is romanian-hungarian-loooong historical story why…) he said he wanna play anywhere but his dream team is the Giants.
I have only one thing drafting him-I would lose “the most interersting Zoltan” in Jville area…of course I’M joking.
Life without knowledge is death in disguise
by Zoltan from Budapest on Jan 27, 2010 5:38 PM EST reply actions
No way, we would still like you more.
hes just a punter. This is an interesting post because it has [people talking, but in the end the guy is still hust a punter.
Thanks
Life without knowledge is death in disguise
by Zoltan from Budapest on Jan 28, 2010 6:41 PM EST up reply actions
Waste of a draft pick
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Maybe
Maybe not.. I would spent a 7th rounder if he is in!
Good special team players can affect your game!
Life without knowledge is death in disguise
by Zoltan from Budapest on Jan 27, 2010 10:09 PM EST up reply actions
This discussion of punters reminded me of a question
I asked Vic but he didn’t answer, maybe because it’s a no brainer. Is it more important to have a great K, (fieldgoal range and accuracy and kickoff distance) or is having a freak for a punter, (hang time, distance, and inside the 10 accuracy) more desirable? At first I thought kicker, because he is actually a scorer and can control field position to some degree on kickoffs. But then I thought of how a great punter can affect the field position battle almost every time he punts, including pinning the opposition deep in their own territory, perhaps contributing to a defensive score. As a frequent reader and occasional contributor, I know this is the best site to ask for a sports related opinion, so which of these special teamers is more important?
A kicker is far more important.
They score the points. They are much more important.
by jimbrophoto on Jan 27, 2010 11:19 PM EST up reply actions
Not so fast my friend
As lee corso would say at first I agree but in this division we got to get 7 and not settle for 3 there is too much offense with manning cj and Andre in the afc south having a kicker with another 10 yards of range IMO is not better then a punter who can consistently have an impact w field position and making the opponent go 80 plus yards a drive
by Slawsc on Jan 28, 2010 12:52 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
The punter's not the one hitting the make-or-lose 50-yarders in the Super Bowl.
In Gene We Trust.
by MoveThoseChains on Jan 28, 2010 12:50 AM EST up reply actions
How often has that happened?
And maybe it hasn’t happened very much because a punter pinned a team back at the end of the game so they never could get into field goal range.
Who was that other punter we drafted from Tennessee?
Christian Ponder in 2011! Bring him home Wayne, he can actually play QB in the NFL
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by Jonathan Loesche on Jan 28, 2010 8:51 AM EST reply actions
Don't put the cart before the horse.....
It is great to pin a team down in their own end, but if the defense they face cannot stop them, what good have you done? It will just take a longer drive (which will keep your offense off the field longer) for them to score. I do believe that a kicker then can put it deep in or out the back off the end zone is more important than a punter, as long as he has accuracy when it comes time for field goals. However, I think kickers, like punters, are the final pieces of the puzzle, not the building blocks of the team! The Jags have bigger problems to fix first.
What if you have a great kicker
but a poor offense. It doesnt matter how far he can kick when the O goes 3 and out everytime. It goes bot ways. I say draft a Gaurd and move on.
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