Name: Trey Butkowski
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 179 lbs.
High school: Orlando (FL) Lake Nona
Position: Kicker
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #99
Last year: Butkowski played for Pitt. He made 19/22 field goals and 41/42 extra points.
TTB Rating: N/A
Butkowski was a 3-star and the #6 overall kicker in the 247 Composite for the class of 2025. Immediately upon arriving at Pitt, he won the starting kicker job for Pat Narduzzi's squad and proceeded to make 19/22 on field goal attempts, including six makes from 40+ yards. He also made 41/42 extra points and was named to the Lou Groza Award semifinalist list.
Michigan needed a new starting kicker after Dominic Zvada departed for the NFL, so the Wolverines mined Pitt for a new kicker (as well as new long snapper Nico Crawford). Butkowski should be stepping right into a new starting role, because the Wolverines haven't really recruited any other significant kickers in the past couple classes. It probably makes sense to try to poach proven kickers rather than guessing on a high schooler in the current college football climate, so Butkowski is the man for 2026.
The knock on Butkowski is that he doesn't necessarily have the strongest leg, so perhaps Michigan will be attempting fewer kicks from 50+ yards than they did with Zvada. But we should expect him to be accurate on the short to medium kicks, and with several tough opponents this season, some of his kicks in close games could make or break Michigan's College Football Playoff hopes.
Prediction: Starting kicker
The proper pronunciation is Trey But-of-course-he-makes-it.
ReplyDelete" It probably makes sense to try to poach proven kickers rather than guessing on a high schooler " -- this probably makes sense for every position eventually?
Which is what will come to pass when the big football schools separate into more of an NFL-lite model. They'll draw their somewhat tested talent from the lower-tier schools. The mechanism for that -- free for all, or structured draft -- is yet to be determined. But it'll be yet another sifting tier ... high school to lower college, lower college to upper college, and then upper to NFL.
DeleteIt always amazes me a bit how kickers are almost afterthoughts when it comes to recruiting, and especially drafting in the NFL, yet their ability to turn a possession into points is really important. But it's almost impossible to tell how they'll develop and do in game-pressure situations.
ReplyDelete