Butler has established a niche on special teams and quietly become one of the Commanders' key players. Getty
Owens must help the Commanders get to long-range kicking specialist Aubrey in Dallas. Getty
Tyler Owens earned his viral moment, but he's not the only hell-raiser playing special teams for the Washington Commanders . One of the team's key coaches wants people to know about a secret star who's also "elite" and "should be in the Pro Bowl."
The coach in question is special teams boss Larry Izzo. He told ESPN's John Keim about the Commanders' other demon in football's third phase.
Keim revealed all on "The John Keim Report," reporting how Izzo paused a conversation about Owens on Friday, September 18 to applaud a forgotten player.
Izzo told Keim, "I want to make sure that people know we have two guys who are elite gunners. Percy Butler is, he may not make some of those big power plays. He's just as impactful as a gunner."
Being credited with making the same impact as Owens is quite the endorsement for Butler. Particularly after Owens went viral and earned respect from a likely future Hall of Famer for a moment of greatness against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1.
Owens has been enjoying some well-deserved notoriety, but Butler's fan club is already large. It consists of more than just Izzo, who is overseeing a unit that might be the underrated strength of the Commanders.
Special teams can also be a deciding factor in Week 2's game against NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys .
All-Pro punter Tress Way echoed Izzo's praise of Butler. Keim remembered how Way told him last year, "that guy (Butler) should be in the Pro Bowl."
Butler is earning plaudits from all the right people. Way is a multi-time Pro Bowler on special teams, while Izzo built a decorated career as an All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champion who was a tackling machine in football's third phase.
Izzo's productivity and reckless abandon is influencing Commanders' players like Butler and Owens. They both share the same player profile as big-bodied defensive backs with hybrid skills who project as either nickel linebackers or box safeties.
GettyButler has established a niche on special teams and quietly become one of the Commanders' key players.
Butler and Owens can contribute in defensive sub-packages, but their greater value remains as part of Izzo's plans for unleashing organized chaos in the kicking game.
Owens channelled his prime Izzo when he fought through a crowd and got downhill in a hurry to deliver a thump against the Eagles. Those levels of energy and physicality not only make Owens a so-called athletic "freak."
The same qualities also give the Commanders the ability to change games on special teams. Washington may need that ability to show up in big ways against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, September 20.
One thing the Cowboys aren't short of is playmakers on special teams. Two All-Pros stand out, thunder-legged kicker Brandon Aubrey and speedy return ace KaVontae Turpin .
The Commanders have painful experiences with both, but Turpin's 99-yard touchdown in 2024, after dropping a kickoff in the end zone, still stings.
This is exactly the kind of play two "elite" gunners should make impossible for the Cowboys this week. Owens and Butler will be keen to make amends after splitting 55 special teams snaps on the day Turpin burned them and went to the house, per Pro Football Reference .
Finding ways to coral Turpin will be key to Izzo's plan, but he'll also need to create opportunities for Butler and Owens to disrupt Aubrey's rhythm. Taking aways his almost automatic streak from long distance could prove decisive in a game of fine margins.
GettyOwens must help the Commanders get to long-range kicking specialist Aubrey in Dallas.
Fortunately, the Commanders have enough disruptive talents on special teams to win the crucial third-phase matchups. The group led by Owens and Butler needs to live up to the hype and swing momentum the Commanders' way in a must-win divisional battle.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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