But, who knows if he'll actually get here. 2015 Jon Coppens, a 2-star kicker out of Nolan High (Fort Worth, TX) first committed to Wyoming in December as a walk-on, decommitted in January while simultaneously committing to Incarnate Word, then decommitted and committed to Rice in February, but never signed his NLI. Reports are that he'll be a preferred walk-on.
Hmmm... a 2 star kicker out of HS? - it reads like a pretty undistinguished college football start for the young man. He will have his work cut out for him to become a starting kicker... I wish him luck.
Are we so desperate at the position that this should register as a positive development? Walking on at Wyoming?
Just fyi, the highest ranking Rivals gives kickers is 3-stars. In 2011, Rivals' 4th best kicker in the country was a 2-star that went to USC. Kris Albarado won the punting job in 2013 and will be heading into his 3rd season as the starting punter. Just clarifying, 2-star kickers are not as lowly as 2-star position players on the rankings list. Coppens being rated a 2-star kicker is comparable to a 4-star or high 3-star position player in talent terms. 247sports had him rated the 16th best kicker in the nation. That's not chopped liver. Also saw he graduated with a 4.0 GPA. I'm more than willing to give this guy a crack at our unreliable kicker position. Rose was 14 of 21 overall, 7 of 10 within 40 yards, and missed a FG in 5 different games. Ain't cutting it so far. Just like Heard standing close behind Swoopes at QB, we need quick relief if our kicker continues to scatter.
Here's what Kohl's Professional Camps for kickers said about him... "Jonathan has attended previous camps with the most recent being the December 2013 Midwest Showcase Camp. He continues to show solid progress, close to 4.5 level as a kicker, needs to work on driving his KOs a little more and improving his hand speed for his punting. Jonathan is very diligent about his craft and shows a strong desire to train, a specialist to keep an eye on in the future."
You're welcome, I knew they were graded lower but vaguely. Didn't know til I just checked that the highest was 3-star, and so few even got that.
I don't know why kickers are so devalued by recruiters and coaches - typically the attitude seems to be that "they'll just somehow work themselves out." I know the idea is that coaches don't want to burn a scholarship on a guy whose job they really don't understand that well, so they can't really evaluate him and don't trust whether he'll be good or not. But having an all-conference kicker can change games - in some ways more than some other positions on the field. There have been games Texas has either lost or struggled mightily against lesser opponents because their punter would not let us outside our own 20 yard line. Being able to flip the field with a great punt or to extent your scoring zone by another 10-15 yards is a big deal, IMO.
Texas has had some very reliable kickers with over the years with great range. Since Justin Tucker left that has been lacking, although when he was healthy, Fera did a good job. He was a better punter as I recall.
