2008 CFN Preview - Unit Rankings ... STs

CFN 2008 Preview Unit Rankings - Special Teams Ranked 1 to 119

2008 CFN Unit Rankings

Special Teams

CFN 2008 Unit Rankings
2008 Preview | Offenses | Quarterbacks | Running Backs
Receivers | Offensive Lines | Defenses | Defensive Lines
Linebackers | Secondaries | Special Teams

1. Penn State
The knock on junior punter Jeremy Boone was that he didn't have a huge, booming leg. Last year he helped lead the Big Ten's best, and nation's third-leading punting game by averaging 43 yards per kick with 25 put inside the 20. He even banged out a 70-yarder. A consistent weapon, he should be among the best in the nation. Senior Kevin Kelly didn't kick in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl or the 1983 Sugar Bowl; it just seems that way. A solid producer over the last three years, he has a big leg and he improved overall last season hitting 20 of 26 field goals with two of the misses coming from beyond 50 yards. He's clutch, has great range, and is reliable. Corner A.J. Wallace is one of the best kickoff returners in the country averaging 26.4 yards per try last year, while WR Derrick Williams is an explosive punt returner who averaged 11 yards per attempt.

2. UCLA
While there’s uncertainty everywhere else on the roster, the Bruins can take solace in the special teams, their most stable unit. Sophomore PK Kai Forbath was brilliant in his first season replacing All-American Justin Medlock, connecting on 25-of-30 field goal attempts, including 5-of-5 outside 50 yards. Back for a third year as the punter is Aaron Perez, a strong-legged senior who has gotten better with each passing season.

3. Utah
Senior Louie Sakoda is a special player who'll be the difference in at least two games this year. As a punter he averaged an excellent 44.3 yards per kick and dropped a ridiculous 28 inside the 20 while forcing 23 fair catches. As a field goal kicker, he nailed 19 of 22 shots with all three of his misses coming from beyond 40 yards. He has the leg to hit from deep, nailing a 51-yarder last season, and he connected on ten of 13 from beyond the 40. He's one of the nation's most accurate all-around kickers and he'll be a weapon once again. He's a rare candidate for both the Ray Guy and Lou Groza awards. Receiver Jereme Brooks will handle most of the return game after averaging 22.2 yards per kickoff return. It's asking a lot to replace Derrek Richards' 14.7-yard punt return average, but the ultra-quick Brooks can do it.

4. Arizona
Senior K Jason Bondzio proved he learned something as Nick Folk’s understudy, nailing 21-of-26 field goal attempts and showing off better leg strength than expected. Only 5-9 and 165 pounds, he was 8-of-10 outside 40 yards and almost one-third of his kickoffs couldn’t be returned. Punter Keenyn Crier parlayed a 43.7 yard average into a spot on the All-Pac-10 First Team in his first season of action. A former walk-on, he displayed outstanding leg strength and hang time, while improving big time on his directional kicks. While Antoine Cason is no longer around to handle punts, Arizona still likes the combination of senior Mike Thomas and junior Devin Ross, who shared the duties on kickoffs with varying degrees of success.

5. Kansas State
The big question was whether or not steady placekicker Jeff Snodgrass could be replaced, and all senior Brooks Rossman did was hit 22 of 28 field goals including a 52-yarder against Colorado. He has decent range, but he isn't consistent from beyond 40 yards nailing 18 of 19 shots from 39 yards and in.  The big loss is punter Tim Reyer who averaged a whopping 44.5 yards per kick, forced 13 fair catches and put 22 inside the 20. While there are several options, like receiver D.J. Fulhage and Jared Parker and Josh Cherry, the job will likely go to JUCO transfer George Pierson, a JUCO star who averaged 43.2 yards per boot for Tyler JC in Virginia. He has the big leg, but he won't be around until fall. KSU led the nation in punt returns thanks to Deon Murphy and Jordy Nelson. Nelson only returned five punts, but two went for touchdowns and he averaged 52.8 yards per try. Murphy averaged a whopping 17.5 yards per try and should earn plenty of preseason all-star honors. Kickoff returns were an issue last season, but Leon Patton wasn't bad averaging 22.2 yards per attempt.

6. Ohio State
Aaron Pettrey was supposed to be the next great Buckeye kicker, and then senior Ryan Pretorius stepped in and became a star nailing 18 of 23 field goals including a 50-yarder. When he got the ball off, he nailed it missing just one attempt, but he got four blocked. The walk-on from South Africa is a great athlete and has a good leg, but not a cannon. He can hit from 50 yards, but he doesn't have much more range. That's nitpicking; he'll be among the best in America. Senior A.J. Trapasso has been excellent for the last four years averaging 40.9 yards per kick over his first three seasons and put 21 inside the 20 last year. With consistent accuracy and the leg to bomb the offense out of jams when needed, he should be an all-star and in the mix for the Ray Guy Award. Ohio State usually has a tremendous return game, but it was awful last year on kickoff returns averaging a mere 17.65 yards per try. Maurice Wells and Ray Small will try to improve after struggling to break anything, while receiver Brian Robiskie will likely take over the punt return duties from Small. Robiskie only got seven tries, but he averaged 8.6 yards per attempt. Brian Hartline could see a few tries as well after averaging 11.4 yards per try.

7. Arizona State
Provided Thomas Weber or someone else can get the job done at punter, Arizona State will have one of the Pac-10’s better special teams units. As the kicker, Weber is automatic, which was the difference between winning and losing three tight conference games last year, and could be again. The coverage teams slipped and need to be far tighter. Kyle Williams is an all-star punt returner, and he’ll get a shot at returning kickoffs.

8. Florida
Running back Brandon James is one of the nation's best all-around return men averaging 28 yards per kickoff return and 18.1 yards per punt return. Teams will try to stay away from him at all costs. The kicking game goes from serviceable to interesting with true freshman Caleb Sturgis taking over for Joey Ijjas, who hit ten of 15 shots but didn't have much in the way of range. That's not a problem for the big-legged Sturgis, but he'll have to prove he can handle the pressure early on. Senior Jonathan Phillips has been around for a while and could step in if Sturgis is a disaster. The Gators had the SEC's best punting game thanks to Chas Henry, a true sophomore who only average 39.3 yards per boot, but put 14 kicks inside the 20, force 19 fair catches, and almost never allowed a return. Only five of his 37 kicks were returned.

9. Missouri
Mizzou will have the nation's best special teams if there's a little bit of punting production. Jeremy Maclin is an unstoppable return man, Jeff Wolfert is an automatic kicker, and after a bad 2006, the coverage teams improved and should be even better. Now the nation's 113th ranked punting game needs some pop from new starter Jake Harry.

10. Ball State
Senior punter Chris Miller might be the best in America. A 6-2, 211-pound bomber, he followed up a 46.3-yard-per-kick season by averaging 45.4 yards per kick while putting 23 inside the 20. He's a weapon who can blast the team out of any situation and is great at pinning teams deep. There will be a battle for the placekicker job between sophomores Jake Hogue and Ian McGarvey. Hogue hit 11 of 19 kicks but struggled from midrange, while McGarvey nailed seven of nine field goals bit missed two mid-range kicks. McGarvey has the better deep led, but Hogue can bang it around 45 yards. Dante Love is a solid kickoff returner averaging 22.9 yards per try, while B.J. Hill is a serviceable punt returner averaging 9.7 yards per attempt.

11	San Jose State
12	Air Force
13	Virginia Tech
14	Tennessee
15	Boise State
16	Texas
17	South Carolina
18	Georgia
19	Auburn
20	South Florida
21	USC
22	Alabama
23	West Virginia
24	Indiana
25	Louisiana Tech
26	Akron
27	Arkansas State
28	Idaho
29	Clemson
30	Pitt
31	Oregon State
32	North Carolina
33	Oklahoma
34	Iowa
35	Syracuse
36	Oregon
37	BYU
38	Purdue
39	Hawaii
40	Wake Forest
41	Texas Tech
42	Florida State
43	Cincinnati
44	Maryland
45	Northwestern
46	Ole Miss
47	California
48	Nebraska
49	Arkansas
50	Notre Dame
51	Kentucky
52	Minnesota
53	UAB
54	Colorado State
55	New Mexico State
56	Fresno State
57	Central Michigan
58	Wisconsin
59	Michigan
60	Oklahoma State
61	Miami
62	Miami Univ.
63	Mississippi State
64	Georgia Tech
65	Colorado
66	Washington
67	Vanderbilt
68	UTEP
69	Connecticut
70	New Mexico
71	Eastern Michigan
72	Middle Tennessee
73	Navy
74	LSU
75	Kansas
76	Virginia
77	Florida Atlantic
78	Toledo
79	North Texas
80	Michigan State
81	Texas A&M
82	Louisville
83	NC State
84	Southern Miss
85	Nevada
86	TCU
87	UCF
88	Western Michigan
89	Bowling Green
90	San Diego State
91	Ohio
92	SMU
93	Wyoming
94	Buffalo
95	UL Monroe
96	Utah State
97	Boston College
98	Washington State
99	Marshall
100	Iowa State
101	Northern Illinois
102	Houston
103	Rutgers
104	Illinois
105	Stanford
106	Troy
107	Temple
108	FIU
109	Kent State
110	Army
111	Tulsa
112	Memphis
113	UNLV
114	Baylor
115	East Carolina
116	UL Lafayette
117	Rice
118	Duke
119	Tulane