Austin McNamara - (Punter) Texas Tech

[CJD]

(04-27-2024, 10:34 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Why do fans quit on any rookie?

I have this punter does great, but I have no skin in the game so if Robbins beats him out, I will be happy for Robbins.

Our board always seems to need a couple of whipping boys. I root for every Bengal player to have success.

The reason fans are quickly out on Robbins is because punting and kicking are some of the very few actions in the NFL that are kind of...opposition independent. 

Most other positions, you need to adjust to the speed of the game. WRs who got open in college are facing faster/more skilled cornerbacks. Running backs who broke a lot of tackles in college are facing better and more disciplined tacklers. QBs who picked apart defenses in college are facing more intelligent and faster defenses. How a player adjusts to these changes is really hard to predict and whether they are successful or not depends on if they can adjust to the new speed/strength of the game and become a productive player in that harder system.

For punters...if you kicked the ball 50 yards on average in college, there's no reason that you should be unable to kick the ball 50 yards on average in the NFL. Yes, the returns may vary and that's relevant, but Robbins consistently could not make the ball travel far enough to be an effective punter. 

There's a chance he's a completely different player in 2024 and he is able to kick it much farther, but the odds of that are low. Punters are who they are, and Robbins was not an effective punter in 2023.

If he comes in and beats McNamara in a legitimate competition where the better player wins, so be it. But I'd be surprised.