Advertisement

A closer look at Eagles punter battle shaping up in training camp

dave zangaro
·4 min read
4

A closer look at Eagles punter battle shaping up in training camp originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

We’re getting close to Eagles training camp so we’re taking a look at some notable camp competitions.

We already looked at RG, RB, WR3, S and CB.

Up today: Punter

A few years ago, the Eagles had a pretty good punter in Cameron Johnston, who spent three years with the team. Johnston took over in 2018 after Donnie Jones walked away after the Super Bowl win. But then the Texans signed Johnston to a deal the Eagles weren’t going to give him and they moved on to a different Aussie in Arryn Siposs in 2021. But now there’s some competition for Siposs.

Let’s look at the players:

Arryn Siposs
Age: 30
Experience: Year 3
Size: 6-foot-2, 212 pounds

There’s no doubt that Siposs was better in 2021 than he was in 2022. The Eagles didn’t bring in any competition for him last summer and he still got slightly better. Take a look at the numbers:

2021: 43.9 average, 38.7 net, 17 inside 20 (30.9%)
2022: 45.6 average, 39.6 net, 16 inside 20 (36.4%)

But Siposs was still closer to the bottom of the league in most major categories: Punting average (26th), net average (30th), punts inside the 20 (28th).

Siposs did miss four games in the regular season and the first two games in the playoffs with an ankle injury and he was undoubtedly better than his replacement Brett Kern, who recently retired. But Siposs’s final punt of the 2022 season was an absolute disaster. In the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII, Siposs had a 38-yard punt that was returned 65 yards by Kadarius Toney to set up another Chiefs touchdown.

And the fact that the Eagles finally brought in competition for Siposs is notable in itself.

Ty Zentner
Age: 24
Experience: Rookie
Size: 6-foot-2, 199 pounds

But will Zentner be good enough to beat Siposs in a head-to-head competition? The Eagles signed Zentner as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas State. Zentner was a Ray Guy Award semifinalist and handled punting, kickoff and even some field goal responsibilities for the Wildcats. In 2022, Zentner set a new career high, averaging 44.5 yards per punt and downs 27 inside the 20. And on kickoffs, he forced 51 touchbacks. If nothing else, Zentner can kick off in the preseason to save Jake Elliott’s leg.

What did the Eagles like about Zentner?

“We tried to look at every punter possible that fits our eye, and going into the process we saw him and we liked his tape,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “Kansas State is not an easy stadium to kick in, and you’re going against some really good returners in the Big 12, and having the opportunity to meet with him, kind of get to know him a little bit and see the competitive edge he has, he possesses, and he does have some traits that we look for with his consistency in his drop. He has leg strength — then he also has the ability to do kickoffs that could help out our team in certain situations, whether that’s maybe saving Jake’s leg in the preseason, getting those kickoffs off.

“Seeing his ability to punt and also have that, really caught our eye, and we’re very fortunate enough that he wasn’t taken in the draft and we had the opportunity to get him in free agency. We’re really looking forward to him coming in Monday and joining the veteran guys and being able to go out there to compete and put his best foot forward and hopefully pushes everybody else to have their best foot forward.”

Outlook

After watching just two days of OTA practices, I can say that Siposs is off to a good start in the competition. And based on how much the Eagles talk up the operation between Siposs, Elliott and long snapper Rick Lovato, it probably means that Zentner is going to have to clearly be the better option to take down the incumbent. I’m not sure he is. The Eagles finally brought in some competition for Siposs but the player they brought in might not be able to beat him out. At least it’ll be fun watching the punter battle all summer.

“I think the competition is just going to help us elevate to be what we want to be in our room,” Clay said.

Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts: 
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube