Name: Tommy Doman
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 184 lbs.
High school: Orchard Lake (MI) St. Mary's
Position: Punter
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Doman was a senior in high school (LINK). He completed 6/7 field goals and averaged 44.8 yards per punt.
TTB Rating: N/A
When it comes to special teams and projecting high school guys to the college level, I have never pretended to know exactly how that will shape up. There are too many unknowns - the prowess of the long snapper, holder, etc. - and I'm not well versed in the mechanics of kicking or punting.
Did ball go far? Good. Good ball go far.
In Doman's case, good ball go far.
He hit a 53-yard field and bombed a couple 58-yard punts during the shortened 2020-2021 season. The kicking sites think he's good, and that's about all I have to go on.
As for how he fits into the plans for 2021, it's entirely possible that he gets playing time. Senior kicker Jake Moody (1/4 on field goals in 2020) has been inconsistent, and Quinn Nordin (2/5) opted for a shot at the NFL. Meanwhile, punter Will Hart (37.8 yards/attempt) transferred, leaving the punting duties to Brad Robbins (45.3 yards/attempt), a guy who missed a big chunk of his early career with injury.
I would guess Doman will be the primary backup at both kicker and punter, and with Moody's questionable mindset, I think Doman is more likely to take over the placekicking role, barring injury to Robbins. I expect to see him on the field this fall in some capacity.
Prediction: Backup kicker/punter
I wonder what a special teams coach would rather have:
ReplyDelete(1) A kid who can boom 70+ yard punts, but can be inconsistent with the handling of the snap, leading to blocked punts or fumbles; or
(2) A kid who always gets the punt off cleanly, but averages only in the low 40s for punt distance.
If hope prevails, the coach picks (1) hoping to train the punter to handle snaps more consistently, leading to having a punter who can flip the field. But the cost of the punter's bobbles could be high.
A 'boring' punter, meaning he's solid and consistent but not spectacular, is the safe choice. I suspect there's a fair number of those around.
The ideal is having a great punter that you never use because you never face 4th and long. I recall some of those Oregon teams that struck early and often: they had very few 3rd downs, and they didn't punt much.
Punting 70yds means nothing when Jim is doing it from midfield ... protect the ball, first & always
ReplyDelete"Did ball go far? Good. Good ball go far."
ReplyDeleteThis is both funny and accurate as far as analysis of punting goes. An esoteric component of the game we pretend to understand.
Me personally, I think they should just get rid of it (punts are mostly boring, using up roster and practice time on these boring plays could be used better - and don't get me started on extra points).
-LANK
I like the 7-on-7 rules we use. Score from the 5-yard line equals 1 point. Score from the 10-yard line equals 2 points.
DeleteHarsh assessment of Moody IMO. Began his career 14/15 on FG but with all the Nordin uncertainty, just 3/9 since. I don't have any insider knowledge here but it's not like he's been bouncing from up and down throughout his career (like Nordin seemed to) but rather that there was one turning point.
ReplyDeleteWithout any true competition Moody should hopefully return to his 2018 form. I'm mostly going to set aside 2020 stuff as anomalous unless we have more info to back it up. In this case we might have that (with Moody's late season struggles in 2019) but the kid was SO reliable in 2018 that it seems like a more important data point.
-LANK
I'm not sure why being good in 2018, being bad in 2019, and being bad again in 2020 would suggest he will be good in 2021. Truthfully, I have no idea whether he will be good or not, but he's currently in the midst of basically a two-year cold streak.
DeleteHalf of 2019 was bad, half of of his career was bad. Most of his attempts came in the first half.
DeleteI don't know either, I'm just acknowledging the situation wasn't ideal for him with Nordin around and that he had a very strong start to his career.
-LANK