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If Jon Ryan keeps punting like he has at the start of training camp, it's hard to see how he won't beat out B.J. Sander for the Green Bay Packers' punting job.
Of course, that's a big if, and until he performs in games, there remain questions about his hang time and delivery speed.
But through three days of practice, the former Canadian Football League standout has shown perhaps the strongest leg the Packers have had in training camp since Pro Bowl player Craig Hentrich in the mid-1990s.
"He can boom it," receiver Donald Driver said.
Leg strength alone won't win Ryan the punting job. The NFL puts a premium on hang time to allow cover men to get downfield and force either fair catches or hold returners to minimal gains. Sander's strength is hang time and placement, though he'll have to show considerably more consistency to hold onto his job for a second season.
Ryan moved ahead of Sander during offseason practices and by all appearances still holds the lead. They have hit punts in competitive, special-teams portions of practice three times — twice on the first day of camp on Friday, and again in the morning practice on Sunday. Ryan punted for considerably more distance both days, though accurate hang times were not available.
In the first period on Friday, with a strong breeze at their backs, Ryan averaged 64.3 yards on eight punts and Sander 48.3. In the second session that night, Ryan averaged 58.5 yards on six punts, and Sander 49.1 yards on five punts.
On Sunday morning, with practice in the Don Hutson Center because of heavy rain earlier in the day, Ryan averaged 54.4 yards on eight punts, and Sander 39.3 yards.
The yardage on the punts inside might have been skewed some because the team was working on punt returns, so the punters were told to avoid hitting the ceiling. By a subjective rating, Ryan had four low punts, two high punts, and two that were OK. Sander had two low punts, two high punts, and four that were OK.
Regardless, Ryan has shown a noticeably stronger leg than Sander and has long experience punting in cold and windy weather in Canada, where he played in high school and college, as well as two years in the CFL.
"I'm anxious to see him in a game," said Reggie McKenzie, the Packers' director of pro personnel. "Until then, we can get excited with the leg strength, but until you punt in games …"
The major issue is whether Ryan can adjust to the NFL in one offseason.
For instance, hang time is an issue because the CFL emphasizes it less than the NFL. The CFL field is 11½ yards wider than the NFL, so CFL punters more often try to punt the ball out of bounds so there's no return. They usually drive the ball on those attempts because they get increased distance and directional control.
To improve hang time, Ryan is working on dropping the ball a fraction of a second later than usual, striking it at a point higher off the ground.
"(Special teams) coach (Mike) Stock seems happy so far and he hasn't told me to change anything," Ryan said, "so I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing and keep working on my hang time."
It's also crucial that Ryan punts well with a slightly faster delivery. In the CFL, Ryan averaged about 1.5 seconds from the time he caught the snap to the kick. NFL teams look for punters to get rid of the ball in 1.3 seconds or less. Though that final 0.05 of a second is a short time, it's meaningful because a blocked punt can lose a game.
Ryan had four punts blocked last season in the CFL — an astonishingly high number — though he said none was because he got the ball off too slowly. He attributed the blocks to protection breakdowns and trying to punt a little lower than usual into strong winds.
"You can never have four blocks in a season. That's a lifetime or two lifetimes worth of blocked punts," Ryan said. "It was tough, but I have to take part of the responsibility."
Sander wasn't in the Packers' locker room for the 30 minutes it was open to reporters on Sunday, and was unavailable for comment. He went into the offseason knowing the Packers would bring in strong competition for the job after he finished 29th in the NFL in gross average (39.2 yards) and 31st in net (33.9 yards) last year.
Sander said he wore down during the second half of last season from all the extra practice and game-day punting he had in NFL Europe last spring. An injury to his non-kicking leg ended his NFL season with two weeks to play.
"Don't write off Sander yet," McKenzie said.
The Packers signed Ryan with a $35,000 signing bonus, which is about three times what they would have paid to a top-notch undrafted rookie. He'll get his closest look at game-type action in the Packers' Family Night scrimmage on Saturday and will make his game debut on Aug. 12 at San Diego.
"If I'm kicking good in practice, it's going to carry over to the game," Ryan said. "I'm not going to get nervous and choke. I've never played in the NFL before, but I've been in pro football for two years, and I know you're going to play in the games how you practice. So I'm going to keep on practicing hard and hopefully things will fall into place."
