NFL Draft 2022: Biggest winners

Penn State punter Jordan Stout

6. Punters

The first specialist off the board in the NFL Draft was LSU kicker Cade York at 124th overall going to the Browns. Two more punters went in the fourth round. They were Penn State’s Jordan Stout, who went to Baltimore at pick 130 and Georgia’s Jake Camarda, who went to Tampa Bay at 133. It was the first draft since 1993, where we saw four combined kickers and punters come off the board within those first four rounds. However, that’s not where the fun stopped. The Bills selected the “Punt god”, San Diego State’s Matt Araiza with the first pick of the sixth round, who was actually projected to be the first player in that position to be selected and then with one of the final ten picks (255th overall) the Bears took N.C. State’s Trenton Gill.

Interestingly, the player who finished last season second only to Araiza in net average per punt (50.9 yards) and holds the NCAA record for 47.8 yards per punt over five total seasons, Colorado State’s Ryan Stonehouse, did not hear his name called. He has since signed with the Titans and is now trying to unseat a fairly average NFL starter in Brett Kern.

We didn’t see a long snapper get drafted, after we had two last year. That’s why this category isn't called specialist, as it’s all about the punters! Looking at recent draft history, this is the second time in five years we’ve seen four guys get their names called, after there was a drought since 1999.