2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Special Teams

You know what? These positional previews are a TON easier to do when you have a complete and official depth chart for the opener. Why couldn’t have they released this thing back when we started a few weeks ago? Does Strait Pinkie not have that kind of pull yet? Just you wait, a year from now we will. Just you wait.

Anyway, we have finally come to the end of our positional previews for UK football in 2009. I am here to break down the special teams for the ‘Cats, and we all know how important special teams can be.

Before I get to the full breakdown, you need to know what to expect from the Pinkie during the upcoming football season. For every UK and UofL game throughout the season, look for a complete breakdown/preview on Friday and a recap of the each on Saturday after the game or Sunday.

Also, the Pinkie is introducing a yet-to-be-named weekly feature where every football poster will make a pick for the UK and UofL games, as well as 3-4 games of interest for the weekend, so keep an eye out for that. We’ll be updating our Twitter whenever we post those, so if you aren’t following us, you can do so here. Honestly, if you aren’t following the Pinkie on Twitter, what are you doing with your life?

Let’s get back on task here. Here’s a look at what to expect at each of the most important special teams positions:

Punter – Ryan Tydlacka, 6-1, 202, So.

Last year, the ‘Cats had quite a deadly punting duo. Anytime Rich Brooks needed a big boot, he would call on the reliable red head, Tim Masthay. Masthay averaged an astounding 45.2 yards per kick last season, but now he is pursuing a professional career after graduation. When UK needed to pin the opposing offense deep, Trinity alumnus Ryan Tydlacka was just as reliable, pinning 16 of 22 punts on the season inside the 20.  I also can’t help but point out a subtle resemblance to Todd Cleary from Wedding Crashers.

Tydlacka is now going to be asked to step into the full time punting role. It will be interesting to watch if he suffers any decline in his pooch punting since he won’t be devoting as much time in practice to that aspect of his game.

Tydlacka does have a big time leg: he averaged over 45 yards per kick during his last year at Trinity.

Also, I am hoping that the punting role will be significantly less important this season. With what appears to be a much improved offense, Tydlacka will ideally be asked to turn field position with a massive boot much less often than Masthay was last season.

All in all, I feel good about Tydlacka as punter.

Kicker – Lones Seiber, 5-9, 190, Sr.

I’m going to go ahead and nominate Lones Seiber for the Chris Rix Lifetime Achievement Award.  It’s partially because he’s been the starter for 3 years in a row and it’s partially because of how he’s continually frustrated all of us, but it really feels like Lones has been around for a solid decade.

It seems like, outside of a phenomenal performance in UK’s upset of then #1 LSU, Lones has been on the edge of losing his job ever since he won it. Let’s face it, he’s really not very good. I can’t name one time when I have felt confident watching him lining up a kick. Here are his career stats:

I don't need to remind you of this game

Total: 38-63 (60.3%, long of 48)
0-30 yards – 18-23 (78.2%)
>30 yards – 20-40 (50%) including 9-19 (47.3%) from 30-39 yards

I don’t need to tell you, but it hurts when you don’t get points when you drive inside the 20 yard line, especially last season sans Woodson, Little, Burton, Johnson, Tamme, and company.

It would be nice if we could go ahead and get 2010 commit Joe Mansour on campus, because he apparently has quite a leg. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with Lones Seiber barring an emergence by a walk-on. Tydlacka is currently listed as a backup at kicker and he made 3-6 attempts last season, including a 51 yarder against South Carolina. It’s hard to expect Tydlacka, in his first year as full time punter, to assume kicking duties as well.

Kick-off Specialist

There is a little bit of a question here. Tim Masthay left another big hole here with his departure, because he was pretty much an automatic touchback, which is such huge plus with all the athletes in the SEC to take a kick back. Tydlacka is the likely choice, but redshirt freshman Pat Simmons from LaGrange, GA has gotten a look.

There are also some rumors floating around of a walk-on from Lexington named Craig McIntosh who could be getting a look for kick-offs. Didn’t we all have a kid on our college flag football team who we swore could walk-on and kick for whatever school we attended? I know I did. Maybe UK will get lucky. We probably won’t know anything for sure until Saturday afternoon.

Punt Returner – Randall Cobb 5-11, 188, So./Gene McCaskill 6-0, 182, So./Eric Adeyemi 6-0, 170, So.

Rich Brooks values sure hands in a punt returner above else, therefore he has 3 of UK’s top 5 receivers on the depth chart slated to return kicks. All three guys listed not only have good hands, but also have the ability to cause some trouble in the open field, especially Randall Cobb.

Last season, UK was so short handed at punt returner that Brooks resorted to having Cobb catch punts even though he was the starter at QB at the time. That doesn’t happen too much after high school. Cobb returned 11 punts for 92 yards last season, with a respectable average of nearly 10 yards. However, he failed to break one, registering a long of just 14 yards. I would look for him to be a bit more aggressive and explosive in returning the majority of punts forced by the Whomp! Squad this season.

McCaskill returned only 3 punts last season, but all came in the bowl game against ECU. Adeyemi did not return any last season.

Kick Returner – Derrick Locke, 5-9, 190, Jr.
Winston Guy, 6-1, 208, So.
Alphonso Smith, 6-1, 208, Sr.
Moncell Allen, 5-7, 222, Jr.

In recent years, we have seen some big plays from the UK kick returners. Expect Locke and Guy to fill that role this season. We saw a glimpse of that potential from Locke in his 100 yard TD return against Western Kentucky. It’s tough for a coverage team to account for his speed. Winston Guy also showed that potential when he had the chance last season, averaging almost 30 yards on 10 returns over the final 6 games of 2008, including a 96 yarder against Georgia.

Alphonso Smith would seem to be the kind of guy who could break a big one, but he has not run one back for longer than 26 yards in his first 3 years. The Turtle, on the other hand, is not what you draw up when you think “kick returner”. He has one return for 2 yards on his career. However, now that forming a wedge on kick returns is illegal, it wouldn’t matter with Moncell returning kicks because he’s pretty much his own lead blocker.

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Secondary

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Linebackers

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Defensive Line

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Offensive Line

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Tight Ends

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Wide Receivers

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Running Backs

2009 Kentucky Football Positional Preview: Quarterbacks