Cory's Corner: Prove it time for Tim Masthay

The punter might be the most forgotten player on a football team.

They are probably on the field for an average of five minutes every game. They only have one job — to flip the field and let the defense go to work.

However, that didn’t exactly happen for the Packers this year from Tim Masthay. He ranked 25th in the NFL in punting average by being under 44 for the first time since 2012.

Masthay has been a Packer since 2010 and his career has been littered with up and down moments. He had 30 balls inside the 20 in 2012 but two years later he was ridiculed for getting two punts blocked.

Masthay will be entering his seventh season with the Packers this year. But the only way he should be wearing green and gold is if he proves he belongs. Green Bay did the same thing with Mason Crosby when it brought in Giorgio Tavecchio three years ago to compete, resulting in Crosby ultimately beating him out.

It’s time for Masthay to truly prove he belongs. Push him and make him realize that the Packers cannot waste time with mediocre play.

Is undrafted rookie free agent Peter Mortell that guy? I’m not sure that the former University of Minnesota player can come close to pushing Masthay, but at least it will make Masthay uncomfortable. However, Masthay has the comfort argument by being Crosby's holder for six years. So what's more important? Being a good holder or being a good punter? 

The Packers are at a crossroads right now. They cannot live with punting miscues and blunders on a team that is built to win the NFC. Another weird shank or blocked punt and the Packers may not lockdown a home playoff game or win the NFC North.

Masthay had just enough to be a Packer last year. The same effort this year won’t be good enough. 

 

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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn

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Comments (26)

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RCPackerFan's picture

May 17, 2016 at 06:50 am

My biggest hope is that Mortell takes the job from Masthay or forces Masthay to improve.

Masthay hasn't been good enough. He hasn't been able to flip the field position enough, and seems to always have 1 really bad punt per game.

The offense should be high powered again, yet there will be times when it gets backed up and we will really need a change of field position. Can Masthay be that guy? At this point he hasn't shown he can be.

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Amanofthenorth's picture

May 19, 2016 at 07:13 pm

Have had enough of:
"It's a line drive kick"
For the past two years seems like all have been line drives. A commenter below mention how Janis saved him and that's a fair assessment.
I don't care who wins the job, but the position certainly needs improvement.

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Bearmeat's picture

May 17, 2016 at 07:00 am

Prove it time for Masthay was last year. He was bad the last half of 2014. He was bad in all of 2015. TT/MM gave Crosby 2013 to clean up the mess from 2012 and he came through. Many were wanting Crosby gone after 2012.

Masthay now has had 29 games (including playoffs) to right the ship and he hasn't done so.

I wish GB would have drafted a punter to ensure that Masthay was gone. But I'd bet he wins this training camp "battle" with the UDFA.

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Big_Mel_75's picture

May 17, 2016 at 09:48 am

Drafted a punter?? Like in the 2nd round like the Bucs did for that kicker? UFA are fine for punters... no higher then 7 as value is way to low.

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Bearmeat's picture

May 17, 2016 at 10:48 am

Yes. I was speaking of a 6/7th rounder. I mean, they drafted a FB last year - so why the hell not? Low picks like that are not much more likely to have an extended career than an UDFA.

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NickPerry's picture

May 18, 2016 at 05:31 am

They could have drafted Hackett in the 7th but didn't have one because of the Spriggs trade. The 6th round was where Murphy was taken and no way would I rather have a punter than Murphy, I think he could be a good one.

Thompson should have had his fangs out and went after Hackett as an UDFA. He should have been the FIRST PLAYER Ted went after once the draft was over. I don't know much about this kid who played for the Gophers, but Hackett was the best punter in the Nation. Personally I think we see more than one punter to challange Masthay before OTA's and camp is over.

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dobber's picture

May 18, 2016 at 07:46 am

"He should have been the FIRST PLAYER Ted went after once the draft was over."

For all we know, he did. I haven't seen any comments from this kid about who was trying to lure him into a UDFA contract, though. Maybe someone has seen more on this and can report?

I will point out that there were 3 punters drafted (one by the Jets who--oddly enough--also signed Hackett, so one of those two punters will be let go), and he wasn't one of them. Admittedly, every team will have something different that they're looking for in their players, but this is somewhat telling...

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

May 17, 2016 at 07:09 am

Mortell won the Big 10's Holder of the year. He should be able to hold for Crosby.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14339911

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

May 17, 2016 at 07:09 am

Don't forget he's Crosby's holder, which he does very well. Mortell is going to have to clearly out punt Mathsay AND show he can be Crosby's holder to win the job.

I am dubious.

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Big_Mel_75's picture

May 17, 2016 at 09:41 am

Remember when they brought the last punter in a the cut him early cause he didn't hold as well.. Packers are ok with mediocre punting as long he is a good holder. I think Mortell will beat him in punting and holding.. Guy played for the gophers so he is use to kicking in cold.

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dobber's picture

May 17, 2016 at 07:21 am

How low have we sunk into the offseason morass when we've reached the punter stories?

OTAs!!! Where are you???

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Razer's picture

May 17, 2016 at 08:15 am

We still have the guys who squirt the water during timeouts to scrutinize. Long way to go yet :(

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Tundraboy's picture

May 18, 2016 at 02:24 pm

Not to mention the new coaches.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

May 17, 2016 at 04:53 pm

Lol.

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ray nichkee's picture

May 17, 2016 at 08:39 am

I think mortell can be that guy. Being a good holder definately helps as the guy they had in last year got cut early because he was an inadequate holder. Something that may help too is being from green bay and playing college ball in MN he has kicked plenty of cold weather balls.

I think his dad works at the stadium and he worked there too which shouldn't get considered but you have to think it would be his dream job to be the punter at lambeau.

What we need to see is him doing the coffin kick and him kicking it high and accurate and get it to roll forward. I've seen too many mathsay punts get down right away or even roll backwards costing field position. Those things are easier said than done. I'm pretty sure college uses a different ball than the nfl.

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Big_Mel_75's picture

May 17, 2016 at 09:46 am

Only thing keeping Masthay around is that Janis is lighting down the field and can cover up Masthay's blunders and keep the guy to short yard gains. I think Mortell will win the job. He did win Big 10 holder of the year and is a good punter.

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Since'61's picture

May 17, 2016 at 09:55 am

I'm not sure which is more frustrating, Masthay's inconsistency as a punter or the Packer's inability to find a better punter over the past 2 seasons. My other question is, what is the ST coach doing to help Masthay? l realize that he is a good holder for Crosby but must we accept mediocre punting in return. We lose 5-10 yards of field position in many punting exchanges. The worst example was his short punt in the NFCCG against Seattle in the 4th qtr. Add 10-15 yards to that punt and Seattle starts their drive from inside their own 20 instead of beyond their own 30 yard line and maybe we're on our way to the 2014 SB. The problem is that Masthay starts the season OK and then goes down hill during the second half of the season when the games are more important. I'm not sure how the Packers scout for punters but maybe TT needs to dedicate a scout to find a punter especially if Masthay does not get it figured out this season. Thanks, Since '61

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Ferrari Driver's picture

May 17, 2016 at 10:02 am

Punter?

Near the bottom of my concerns. What is the difference between punters. The Packers may punt the ball a total of 5 times a game (or less) and the difference between the punters may be a 2 yard average.

If he doesn't get them blocked and doesn't screw up a hold for the kicker...not worth addressing.

If Cosby could "dropkick" as well as he kicks with a holder, I would say cut the punter, keep seven receivers, and let Cosby do the punting too.

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Doug_In_Sandpoint's picture

May 17, 2016 at 01:55 pm

Masthay has got to be one of the best tackling punters in the league. Excellent pad level, so there's always that.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

May 17, 2016 at 02:51 pm

They'll give Masthay a chance to right his wrongs like they did with Crosby. Hopefully he'll get right. Competition should help.

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PETER MAIZ's picture

May 17, 2016 at 04:15 pm

Masthay had a very pathetic 2014 thanks to McCarthy not firing his special teams coach earlier in the season. 2015 was no better. It's time for a change and I think that local boy will out flank him.

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NoNonsense's picture

May 18, 2016 at 12:38 am

Net punting avg is nice but I will take a guy that can stick it inside the 10 yrd line consistantly and that can get us out of bad field position by booming it 50+ yrds when they need it.

Masthay can do neither so im pulling for Mortell, lets see what this kids got.

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TommyG's picture

May 18, 2016 at 07:19 am

I had the privilege of meeting this guy outside of my own fandom. Great guy. It hurts me to see him suffer professionally. I hope he rebounds and we all see that sniper like punt location we did in his year one.

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Tundraboy's picture

May 18, 2016 at 02:29 pm

Hope he rebounds to that level as well. It would be great for that to be a positive this year.

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MikeReuter's picture

May 19, 2016 at 03:13 pm

In college, punting in the SEC (Kentucky), Masthay had punting averages of:
2005: 36.4
2006: 39.2
2007: 39.8
2008: 45.2
Average: 40.2

Mortell, punting in the B1G (Minnesota), had averages of:
2013: 43.3
2014: 45.1
2015: 43.4
Average: 44.0

Despite punting in worse conditions and punting through an injury for part of last season Mortell put up an average of 44.0 yards over his three seasons. Masthay only put up an average of 40.0 yards once in his four college years. Tim had one good college year, which embodies the consistency issues he's had as a Packer. The 44.0 yards Mortell averaged in college basically match Masthay's 44.2 yards per punt as a pro.

I don't know how much better Mortell will be in his rookie year than Masthay would be this year (I personally feel he will be pretty decent this year but as a Gopher fan I'm maybe biased), but he should be much more consistent than Masthay has proven to be and in time Mortell can grow to be the punter Packers fans hope.

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Oppy's picture

May 20, 2016 at 03:04 pm

Something that is always missing when comparing punting numbers is that there is no reference to where the ball was punted from, and rarely any mention of total yards in air or hang time.

I would like to see punting numbers talked about in terms of actual yards vs. potential "perfect" yards, if it were possible. Example, one punter may punt the ball 37 yards. Punter two punted the ball 44 yards. The difference could be that Punter one only had 41 yards of field before the endzone, while punter two was punting from his own 4 yard line. Again, I know it's not possible, but it would be a great tool for getting a feel for the complete story.

Also, gross and net punt yardage is a big factor to understanding a punter's true performance, adding hang time in to that and you start to get an idea at least of if net suffered because the ball was punted too low for coverage to make an early stop, or if low gross was because the punt was sailing high, and a near to gross net is due to giving coverage units ample time to make a stop before a return (forcing a fair catch, for example.)

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