Settling the Sepulveda debate
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Update: I give you exhibit A: Sepulveda punts 51 yards and then beheads the returner.
I’ve seen it all over the Web since Sunday. Steeler fans worldwide are in an uproar about the team taking a punter — a punter! — with their fourth-round pick. Not just a fourth-rounder, though; they traded away a sixth-round pick to move up in the round! Utter heresy, if you ask many of the faithful.
Ladies and gentlemen, it was an excellent pick.
The myth is that special teams should be a draft-weekend afterthought. Kickers and punters should be relegated to rookie free agents, some say. But consider this: a full one third of the average team’s yardage in a given game comes from special teams. Punters don’t directly score points under normal circumstances, but they essentially play both offense and defense. Accurate punters with strong legs can automatically turn the field-position struggle against an opponent by pinning them near their own goal line. With help from the defense, the offense can then have better starting field position on their next posession.
But the Steelers got more than a punter with Dan Sepulveda. They got a guy with amazing accuracy, a strong leg, the rare gift of punt backspin and a specialist with the mind and tenacity of a linebacker.
And look at what he replaces. Chris Gardocki’s season average last year was 41.3 yards, well below the league average. He managed just 16.9% of his kicks inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Only because of his gift for hang time was the net average 36.7 yards. Sure, he’s never had one blocked, but he didn’t do a lot to help the defense with field position. He’s old, well past his prime, and he needs replaced. Sepulveda, one of the top two punters in college last year and two-time winner of the Ray Guy award, gives them a lot more help in the field position battle, and his raw abilities at the position give the team improved accuracy and will likely translate into their opponents starting many more drives deep in their own side of the field.
When your next best option is a 37-year-old journeyman whose only claim to fame is that he was able to get short kicks off before they were blocked, then yes, it’s worth a fourth-round pick.
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