Friday, February 1, 2013

Colts 2013 free agents: Pat McAfee

I think McAfee deserves his own post.

As a punter, McAfee is among the league's best. Last season he punted 73 times for 3,520 yards. His gross and net averages were 48.22 and 40.32. He also managed to put 30 of them inside the opponents' 20-yard line and forced 14 fair catches.

As a kickoff man, he probably was the league's best. He kicked 74 times for 4,878 yards, a remarkable 65.92-yard average. Even more shocking were his 31 touchbacks.

He's also a good enough field-goal kicker that he could replace future Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri without a dropoff, and is also a decent last line of defense, recording five special-teams tackles in 2012.

But what's really remarkable is his ability to contribute off the field. He serves the team well as a goodwill ambassador with his Twitter feed and his video blog Facebook Fridays. And he was a key component in the Colts' ChuckStrong campaign.

I'm an unabashed fan of the Boomstick. It would be terrible if the Colts did not re-sign McAfee.

1 comment:

Roy said...

I hope they do re-sign him. His touchback kickoffs mask what has been a traditionally weak kick off coverage problem.