MSU punter Ryan Eckley impressing NFL scouts with his leg – and hands

MOBILE, Ala. – At a position where the job description is literally to kick the ball, Arizona Cardinals assistant special teams coach Sam Sewell said the first trait he looks for when evaluating punters coming out of college is something totally unexpected – good hands.

And as strong as his leg is, Michigan State punter Ryan Eckley's hands are a big reason why he might be the first punter taken in this year's NFL draft.

"That’s kind of a non-starter [if you don't have good hands]," Sewell told the Free Press at the Senior Bowl this week. "If somebody doesn’t have very good hands then it’s really, really hard to be an NFL punter, to do the things that you’re asked to do."

That includes holding for field goals and extra points, but also catching snaps cleanly and dropping the ball with precision on punts, technical parts of the position that are easy to overlook.

Eckley, the Big Ten punter of the year, had the longest punt through the first two days of Senior Bowl practice at 74.4 yards, and yet his hands were one of the first things Sewell, the special teams coach of the National team, brought up in conversation this week.

"He's done a great job," Sewell said. "I think what stands out a lot is his professionalism, his approach to the game. He knows exactly who he is and he knows what he wants to get done and how to do it. He’s been a really good teammate. He’s a good holder. I think that a big thing about this week is one showing what you can do but also showing who you are. People have a good feel for you and I think that that’s what he’s done a great job of is just making a statement for who he is as a person."

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A former high school quarterback who also played baseball and basketball growing up, Eckley said his hand-eye coordination comes from playing quarterback and other non-foot-driven sports at a position typically dominated by ex-soccer players.

At MSU, he set school and Big Ten records with a career punting average of 47.6 yards and he's regarded as a potential Day 3 pick in April's draft.

Georgia's Brett Thorson, a 26-year-old former Australian dairy farmer who won the Ray Guy Award as the nation's best college punter, also is in the mix to be the first punter drafted.

"I think hands is the most important part of punting," Eckley said. "If you're a kicker, it's different. I mean, you're not touching the ball, but if you have a bad drop on a punt, then the punt is, you have no chance. So it all starts with the hands and if you don't have a successful operation with your hands, then it won't work."

Eckley handled punting the past three seasons at Michigan State after redshirting behind current New England Patriots punter Bryce Baringer in 2022.

He ranked second in the Big Ten in punting in 2023, led the conference the past two years and left school with a season of eligibility remaining this winter, a rare move for a specialist.

Eckley said he declared for the draft because he finished his degree in kinesiology last May and was confident "I did what I needed to do at the college level to prove that I can play in the NFL."

"I think this is a really good class of punters, it’s a really good group of guys," he said. "It’ll be a competitive combine, competitive Senior Bowl, competitive next couple weeks and heading into the draft. But yeah, I think I can separate myself toward the top."

One thing Eckley will have going for him in that regard is the lineage of MSU specialists. Baringer will punt in the Super Bowl for the Patriots next week, Brandon Fields had a nine-year NFL career primarily with the Miami Dolphins and players like Hall of Famer Morten Andersen and Paul Edinger have had successful careers as kickers.

Sewell said that lineage and Eckley's proven ability to kick in bad weather playing in the Big Ten "makes you feel a lot better as a coach.

"Getting drafted would be cool," Eckley said. "It’d be awesome to kind of go where you’re told. If not, then we go through the free agency process and see where that lands me. But it’s really, I’m just really fired up about the opportunity. We’ll see where the next couple months take me."

Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at  dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on  Bluesky ,  X  and  Instagram  at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU punter Ryan Eckley impressing NFL scouts with his leg – and hands