Punters are a lot like insurance.
It’s good to have, but you hope you never need it. Sure, they hold for field goals and can get a team out of a jam after a failed third-down conversion, but coaches are a lot happier seeing them on the sidelines.
Thanks to that reality, punters aren’t going to be flying up draft boards anytime soon.
Every once in a while, however, a special one comes along, and some team just can’t resist. While special teams can make or break a game, most teams aren’t willing to invest in a non-premium position when they only have a couple of throws at the dart board.
Considering it’s basically a guarantee that no punter will be drafted inside the top 10 in the <a href="http://
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” target=”_blank”>2024 NFL Draft, they’ll have to wait for another year to break the record — even if Iowa’s Tory Taylor made a great case to be taken earlier than his soon-to-be colleagues.
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Highest drafted punters in NFL history
While it comes as no surprise that punters aren’t typically coveted players in the draft, it might be a surprise that two of them have been drafted in the first round.
Here’s a look at the highest-drafted punters since 1970:
| Year | Punter | Team | Round | Overall |
| 1979 | Russell Erxleben* | Saints | 1 | 11 |
| 1973 | Ray Guy | Raiders | 1 | 23 |
| 1982 | Rohn Stark | Colts | 2 | 34 |
| 1978 | Johnny Evans | Browns | 2 | 39 |
| 1977 | Tom Skladany | Lions | 2 | 46 |
| 1995 | Todd Sauerbrun | Bears | 2 | 56 |
| 2012 | Bryan Anger | Jaguars | 3 | 70 |
| 1988 | Greg Montgomery | Oilers | 3 | 72 |
| 1978 | Craig Colquitt | Steelers | 3 | 76 |
| 1991 | Chris Gardocki | Bears | 3 | 78 |
| 1972 | Marv Bateman | Cowboys | 3 | 78 |
*Russell Erxleben came out of college as a kicker and punter
While breaking that record is out of the question, Taylor could become the highest-drafted punter since 2000. Only three punters have heard their names called by the end of the third round in that span, with Bryan Anger being taken the earliest at No. 70.
Dustin Colquitt (No. 99) and B.J. Sander (No. 87) are the other two.
Regardless, Taylor turned in an impressive final college season, breaking NCAA’s single-season yardage record with 4,479 yards on 93 punts in 2023. Taylor also broke the NCAA’s single-season and career punt yardage averages with 48.2 in 2023 and 46.3 for his career.
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The Australian has racked up plenty of awards, as well, winning the 2023 Ray Guy Award and being named a unanimous All-American, among other honors. Considering he played for a Hawkeye team that was allergic to putting points on the board, Taylor only received more recognition.
With plenty of anemic offenses in the NFL, one team could find themselves very lucky to secure the services of the former Iowa punter.
He will be 27 when the 2024 NFL season kicks off, however, which likely hurts an already fragile draft stock.
Teams will probably punt on punters until Day 3, but Taylor will almost certainly be the first one off the board.
