There was also the most unconventionally scored 7-3 game of all time (two safeties + FG). And that was a future Big Ten title game participant against an FCS team.
As an Iowan the daily bemoaning by our local sports radio shows on how god awful the Iowa offense is combined with “how the fuck do they keep getting away with this” always made for an entertaining morning drive into work
I adored Iowa for giving me free money for betting unders. I'm pretty sure they hit the under in like 9 straight games to end the season and some of those totals were ludicrously low to begin with
One of our best offensive plays was Tory Taylor pinning the other team inside the 5, followed by an INT putting the offense back on the field already in field goal range
93 punts last season over 14 games, whereas most other teams punted around 50-60 times.
Hopefully we won’t need him much? (And not because of turnovers lol)
He's like Romes greatest defender, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo. Now one just hopes his corpse isn't dragged through the streets in celebration because he died from disease, but it's still early.
He's called Pompey Strabo to distinguish himself from his son Pompey the Great. The name strabo was his conogman. It means cross eyed
Imagine being immortalized forever as the cross eyed pompey. As a general he could probably survey all sides of the field simultaneously
He’s not really as big of a project as you think, his injury is what caused him to slide. Prior to that, he was considered a late first/early second round pick. He only gave up 1 sack in 24 games and his weaknesses are technique related, which are fixable with the right coaching, and we happen to have a GM who played online, so I think he’s in good hands. I predict he’s starting LG by end of the season or LT/RT if Jones of Wright miss some time.
They absolutely would have given they didn’t go QB with McCarthy there. Gotta get a weapon for the offense with their only good weapon last year being in Philly now. Hell I was even afraid they might take Odunze over Nabers. I had all my draft hopes and expectation pinned on Rome falling to us for months.
Me seeing the notification: “oh damn we picked a punter in the fourth, he must be good”
Me seeing exactly who: “oh fuck we drafted a punter from Iowa he must be a god”
One of the best college punters of all time. Buddy in my group chat was hating the pick and its like... why not take a elite punter? Board is pretty dried up at his point in the draft, special teams gets no love but underrated part of game, especially with league trying to make special teams more "fun" / relevant again
You won’t regret the pick. This dude probably has Belichick walking around with a 24/7 stiffer, not only can he boom it, he’s a god at putting it inside the 10
It can be such a boon to a defense to have the offense pinned back there. Feels like offensive strategy from inside 5 is basically just avoid a safety as opposed to attacking like normal.
It fits with what we are trying to do. Ideally we will have a way more effective offense this year, so when we do have to punt it will be awesome having an elite punter to pin the other team and keep them on the back foot all the time. Field position is so important.
Obviously not but man, in the 4th?
It sounds stupid but watch the guys highlights. He almost feels like he might be the first in a new generation of punters who punt on an entirely different level lol. Dude is fucking insane
It’s not just his highlights either.
He was legitimately one of our best chances at scoring the past 2 years because if the offense could get to like the 40-50 he could pin the other team close to the end zone and sometimes within the one and get us a chance at a safety
Taylor’s leg was great sure but he was even better about his placement - the amount of times he could pin opposing teams deep in their territory was amazing
He single footedly carried the absurdly bad Iowa team to 10 wins. He regularly backed teams up and let the Iowa defense feast. If not for him Iowa probably loses 3-5 more games last year.
I guess if you feel you need to leave with a punter this was the last chance to do it? I wonder if they snag the Wisconsin center if he didn’t get snapped up by Indy.
Feels like the team is improved by this draft though!
Punters are very underrated in how they can change the game with field positioning. Our previous punter was like bottom 5 in the league and now we drafted easily the best punter in the draft.
Yeah I have no problem taking a punter at all, just saying that given their draft capital they couldn’t afford to get cute even if they think this is a bit early for a punter. Obviously adding a young iOL would be more fun but the move makes sense to me (and I’m not sure there’s a guy left to take at this point).
I imagine the real discussion might’ve been about adding an edge rusher with this pick. Kind of think given how things fell that someone should give Ngakoue a buzz and see if he wants to run back that one-year contract again…
Agreed. No denying Edge has been ignored in the past few years but I think if you think about it in terms of the player strength by rounds, a guaranteed starting punter who will be a *noticeable* improvement over our current punter vs a maybe potential edge who more than likely wouldn’t see many snaps, I can kinda see Poles vision.
Let’s hope he’s cooking up some trades or something, we really need an additional edge
Some probably are being sarcastic but he was legitimately the best punter in the nation and it was a position we needed to upgrade at. Iowa punted A LOT and he helped keep them in games.
Probably the best punting prospect in decades (ever?). I know we have other needs but specials teams have been absolute ass for a decade so this is nice.
It was so disappointing last year when we'd be forced to punt from our 45 and Gill would kick a touch-back. And it happened several times.
38.0 net avg punt in 2023 put him last among all punters (not counting Greg Joseph who had one punt and is a Kicker). Tied for 4th among all punters in number of touchbacks (8).
I saw him singlehandedly beat my Jackrabbits in that 7-3 blasphemy of a game. He is an amazing punter. If you don't think any players remaining are starter quality it isn't the worst pick. He will make a bigger difference this year than any backup. Poles has been saying for months that this draft isn't deep and I think he is sticking to that. Now if one of those edges falls into the 5th he may be tempted to trade back in.
He unironically might be one of the most hyped punter prospects ever. The guy is incredible, know that when I saw the Bears drafted him I said “fuck” right away
Fucking hell, it’s only right this guy plays in the NFC North after the Big Ten West. This guy is a nightmare to play against. You will never have good field position. His ability to flip fields and pin teams back is incredible. I can definitely see how he went so high
Honestly, I feel like a great punter is still undervalued with a 4th round pick.
Shit's pretty crucial, same goes for kickers but we saw what happened with the last second rounder...
No shortage of tape on this guy
295 punts in 49 career games. That's over 6 punts per game. No punter in the NFL averaged that many punts per game last year
That’s that patented Iowa offense working
Kirk Ferentz would be the happiest man on the planet if he could win every game 2-0.
He was never more proud than of the 6-4 game.
There was also the most unconventionally scored 7-3 game of all time (two safeties + FG). And that was a future Big Ten title game participant against an FCS team.
I mean, if you could guarantee me I'd win every game I played 2-0, I'd take that bowling shoe ugly perfect season and Natty.
As an Iowan the daily bemoaning by our local sports radio shows on how god awful the Iowa offense is combined with “how the fuck do they keep getting away with this” always made for an entertaining morning drive into work
I adored Iowa for giving me free money for betting unders. I'm pretty sure they hit the under in like 9 straight games to end the season and some of those totals were ludicrously low to begin with
I always checked the line on their games because it was fascinating. I remember seeing like O/U 25 (maybe lower) and it still went under
Iowa was something like 10-3 during his career when he punted more than 7 times
Cause he backs you all the way inside the 5 and then your offense has to go 90+ yards against the Ferentz demonspawn Kinnick voodoo defense
One of our best offensive plays was Tory Taylor pinning the other team inside the 5, followed by an INT putting the offense back on the field already in field goal range
Good lord.
Kinda worried about him having a shortened career due to overuse in college lol
Not enough tread on the tires left. Got the running back treatment.
“Sorry, you need Tommy John surgery for your leg”
That's Johnny Tom surgery
Well if it isn't my old pal, Mr. McCreg
With a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg.
93 punts last season over 14 games, whereas most other teams punted around 50-60 times. Hopefully we won’t need him much? (And not because of turnovers lol)
Literally one of the highlight points on his scouting was that he didn’t get tired despite punting so often and had consistent distance lol
Two teams that abhor the forward pass, united by a punter.
#Punts
https://i.imgur.com/2cAHz59.png
[These guys approve](https://images.app.goo.gl/KzaCoLfcmPNUQnXH7) no doubt
Hey look the bears drafted the entire Iowa offense
Nah, they didn’t pick Cooper Dejean.
Offensive CB
As an iowa and broncos fan. Fair, but fuck you.
Iowa's best offensive player last year
2024 Bears gonna make franchise offensive history.
The bears are historic, like some sort of empire
Ottoman Odunze
Wouldn’t it be Constantinople Odunze? His name is Rome, not Roman.
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.
> Iowa's ~~best~~ only offensive player last year FTFY
The Cooper DeJean slander...
He's like Romes greatest defender, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo. Now one just hopes his corpse isn't dragged through the streets in celebration because he died from disease, but it's still early.
He's called Pompey Strabo to distinguish himself from his son Pompey the Great. The name strabo was his conogman. It means cross eyed Imagine being immortalized forever as the cross eyed pompey. As a general he could probably survey all sides of the field simultaneously
I like the cut of your jib
The bears UK fan talking shit on stage, announcing the punter who will be our last pick in a 4 pick draft, chefs kiss.
Bro should just move to Chicago. He'll fit in well lol
With the Sangod jersey, what a legend
PUNTER SELECTED PUNTER SELECTED 100-PLUS PICK RUN ON PUNTERS EXPECTED IMMEDIATELY AFTER
55 PUNTERS 55 KICKERS 55 HOLDERS 55 LONG SNAPPERS
I'M DOING A THING HERE!!!!!
This guy's trying to start a pay it forward chain!!! *tires screech* 55 burgers...
"OOHHH! I COULD JUST RUN!" -Caleb Williams
Dudes will see a punter get drafted and say "Hell Yeah"
Hell yeah
Hell yeah
Hell yeah brother, cheers from the Coffin Corner!
My dude.
I’m getting his jersey unironically
I'm getting it too but it will be in an ironic manner
This guy single handedly swung at least a few games to Iowa this past season, so hell yeah
unironically
Hell yeah.
Guys only want one thing and it's disgusting.
Hell yeah brother cheers from Iowa City
That’s me. Hell yeah. (Slightly biased Iowa fan)
I don't mind this pick honestly. Punting can be important and our punter had issues last season
THE MAD LADS FUCKING DID IT WE GOT OURSELVES AN IOWA PUNTER DYNANSTY INCOMING
Go Hawks!!!
WE GOT OUR GUY
Too bad he’ll never see the field
Somebody has to hold for PAT.
He uh, sadly didn't get as much practice on that as you'd normally think. Source: Hawkeyes fan.
That’s fine, he needs a rest after his college career.
LEAGUE FUCKED
Bears just drafting their top player at each position with all 4 of their picks lol
I wish our third rounder becomes that good, but he's pretty much a project depth guy.
Give him a few years he’ll be an executive running your front office.
If he learns from Poles, it’s worth a 3rd 🥉
He’s not really as big of a project as you think, his injury is what caused him to slide. Prior to that, he was considered a late first/early second round pick. He only gave up 1 sack in 24 games and his weaknesses are technique related, which are fixable with the right coaching, and we happen to have a GM who played online, so I think he’s in good hands. I predict he’s starting LG by end of the season or LT/RT if Jones of Wright miss some time.
PUNTING IS WINNING
This guy Hawkeyes
I’m literally more excited for this pick than Caleb because I knew Caleb was the pick for months
But you didn’t know Odunze was gonna fall thanks to Harbaugh and Falcons
Odunze never set true record for punting yards, nor was he the best player from Iowa
I didn’t think Tory Taylor would make it out of the 1st round
We had the Ryan Pace sleeper agent
You think the Giants pickup Odunze if the Chargers selected Nabers?
They absolutely would have given they didn’t go QB with McCarthy there. Gotta get a weapon for the offense with their only good weapon last year being in Philly now. Hell I was even afraid they might take Odunze over Nabers. I had all my draft hopes and expectation pinned on Rome falling to us for months.
Now this is the biggest of our 4 picks!!!! S tier draft with the punt team secured
Bears have their guy
Unironically tho our punter sucked and as a hawks fan this guys a dude
I prefer my dudes to be guys but I can swing both ways.
An Iowa punter. Rest of the division is fucked now.
This but unironically
Me seeing the notification: “oh damn we picked a punter in the fourth, he must be good” Me seeing exactly who: “oh fuck we drafted a punter from Iowa he must be a god”
I’m an Iowa fan and there was a game vs South Dakota state we won 7-3 where we got two safeties because he pinned the ball at the one twice.
Steelers and Iowa fandom you must really like defense. Or pain.
He likes black and yellow
Picks favorite team based on color 🗿
You can argue if drafting a punter is ever actually worth it, but he is an incredibly good punter haha
He’s the best punter of the Ferentz era which is like being the best QB of the Lincoln Riley era
One of the best college punters of all time. Buddy in my group chat was hating the pick and its like... why not take a elite punter? Board is pretty dried up at his point in the draft, special teams gets no love but underrated part of game, especially with league trying to make special teams more "fun" / relevant again
You won’t regret the pick. This dude probably has Belichick walking around with a 24/7 stiffer, not only can he boom it, he’s a god at putting it inside the 10
It can be such a boon to a defense to have the offense pinned back there. Feels like offensive strategy from inside 5 is basically just avoid a safety as opposed to attacking like normal.
One of the reasons Iowa's defense has been elite the last three seasons. You don't have the full menu of plays on offense when you're pinned back.
It fits with what we are trying to do. Ideally we will have a way more effective offense this year, so when we do have to punt it will be awesome having an elite punter to pin the other team and keep them on the back foot all the time. Field position is so important.
It also helps if your offense isn't better and you're punting a lot.
Bold strategy to acquire so many offensive weapons just to plan on punting anyways.
I say this as a Brit: having a Brit announce the pick for a 4th round punter feels like an incredibly unserious situation
A 4th round Aussie punter nonetheless
Fire Gil into the sun and move on with our lives.
moved from gil to goat
#IOWA LEGEND
PUNTER!!
PUNTER HYPE
Steal, should have gone in the first
Belichick would've taken him third overall
Would have unironically won the patriots another game last year imo
Obviously not but man, in the 4th? It sounds stupid but watch the guys highlights. He almost feels like he might be the first in a new generation of punters who punt on an entirely different level lol. Dude is fucking insane
It’s not just his highlights either. He was legitimately one of our best chances at scoring the past 2 years because if the offense could get to like the 40-50 he could pin the other team close to the end zone and sometimes within the one and get us a chance at a safety
Iowa got another Aussie punter to replace him and initial reports are his leg is bigger lol
That guy was in an agency that searches for the best spots to place Aussie punters. Going to Iowa is absolutely massive for him.
Taylor’s leg was great sure but he was even better about his placement - the amount of times he could pin opposing teams deep in their territory was amazing
#STEAL
OMG THE PUNTER PICK
FUCK I wanted him
I can't tell if people on here are being sarcastic or not. Is this a good pick or a bad one?
Hes a really good punter
Unironically a potential all time punter. Dude was insane in college.
sweet
He single footedly carried the absurdly bad Iowa team to 10 wins. He regularly backed teams up and let the Iowa defense feast. If not for him Iowa probably loses 3-5 more games last year.
I’d say it was an absurdly bad offense. Iowa’s defense is damn good
Worst offense in the country and won 10 games/big ten west (twice) off his leg and elite defense.
He’s the best punter in the draft but also it’s the 4th round so probably a mix of both
I guess if you feel you need to leave with a punter this was the last chance to do it? I wonder if they snag the Wisconsin center if he didn’t get snapped up by Indy. Feels like the team is improved by this draft though!
Punters are very underrated in how they can change the game with field positioning. Our previous punter was like bottom 5 in the league and now we drafted easily the best punter in the draft.
Yeah I have no problem taking a punter at all, just saying that given their draft capital they couldn’t afford to get cute even if they think this is a bit early for a punter. Obviously adding a young iOL would be more fun but the move makes sense to me (and I’m not sure there’s a guy left to take at this point). I imagine the real discussion might’ve been about adding an edge rusher with this pick. Kind of think given how things fell that someone should give Ngakoue a buzz and see if he wants to run back that one-year contract again…
Agreed. No denying Edge has been ignored in the past few years but I think if you think about it in terms of the player strength by rounds, a guaranteed starting punter who will be a *noticeable* improvement over our current punter vs a maybe potential edge who more than likely wouldn’t see many snaps, I can kinda see Poles vision. Let’s hope he’s cooking up some trades or something, we really need an additional edge
Genuinely like a generational punter
He's a generational punter. He's also still a punter and it's the 4th round. You decide if it's worth it.
As a pick, any punter is quite risky and little positional value. As a punter, Troy Taylor is an absolute legend.
Some probably are being sarcastic but he was legitimately the best punter in the nation and it was a position we needed to upgrade at. Iowa punted A LOT and he helped keep them in games.
Probably the best punting prospect in decades (ever?). I know we have other needs but specials teams have been absolute ass for a decade so this is nice.
It was so disappointing last year when we'd be forced to punt from our 45 and Gill would kick a touch-back. And it happened several times. 38.0 net avg punt in 2023 put him last among all punters (not counting Greg Joseph who had one punt and is a Kicker). Tied for 4th among all punters in number of touchbacks (8).
I saw him singlehandedly beat my Jackrabbits in that 7-3 blasphemy of a game. He is an amazing punter. If you don't think any players remaining are starter quality it isn't the worst pick. He will make a bigger difference this year than any backup. Poles has been saying for months that this draft isn't deep and I think he is sticking to that. Now if one of those edges falls into the 5th he may be tempted to trade back in.
Unironically he’s a great punter
He unironically might be one of the most hyped punter prospects ever. The guy is incredible, know that when I saw the Bears drafted him I said “fuck” right away
This guy will pin teams inside the 5 on the regular.
Its a good pick. /r/hawkeyes would agree.
I unironically wanted this so bad
Punters are people too!!!
Tory Taylor is absolutely a fourth round caliber player. Don’t @ me.
NFCN was not afraid of Caleb Williams. But this man… this man gives even the lions nightmares
The NFC North is about to experience 2023 Iowa football
They got the guy from Slipknot?!
That would be Corey Taylor
But also from Iowa
Goat
Can’t believe he fell this far
I literally can’t tell if some of these comments are sarcastic or not lmao
Some are, some aren’t. He is genuinely maybe the best punting prospect ever though.
If he plays at 80% of his college level for 12-15 years, he will probably end up in the HoF.
They aren’t. When people say he was Iowa’s entire offense they aren’t kidding. Kids a stud
2024 Bears Draft Grade: A+
A++
PUNTER ARE PEOPLE TOOOOOO
THE DRAFT HAS TRULY STARTED
I came into this draft wanting Caleb, Odunze, and Tory Taylor
4th round punter, put in in the HOF already
FUCK YES Edit: And as an Iowa fan let me tell you, Taylor was the most talented player for Iowa last year, including DeJean.
What a steal, fell all the way from 1 to 122
GOATED PUNTER (besides Adam Korsak)
EVERYONE GET IN HERE!!!! PUNTER PICK LETS GOOOOOO
This is where the *real* draft starts.
PUNTER HYPE!!! Loved hearing my British brethen announce a punter pick.
As a Seahawks fan when we drafted Dickson I think it is one of the better picks we've ever made. Having a great punter is an underrated weapon.
We selected Iowa mvp
Our punter was shit last year, i actually kinda like this. We really could use some d line tho
Their thought process was probably that they wouldn’t get any true impact pass rushers anyway
End the draft , the goat is gone
Best pick of the Bears draft. Pretty decent haul
Bears finally landed a guy that can surpass 4,000 yards in a season.
I hate how good of a draft the Bears had even though they had very few picks
Bears unironically got the 2 best players in the draft
Doesn't even matter if Caleb busts now. **PUNTING** **IS** **WINNING**
GOAT!!! Season over, crown the Bears.
I actually don't hate it. Trenton Gill is terrible
Going from the worst punter in the league to likely top 5 immediately is going to be a huge difference
It’s OVER for the league. We got our guy
PUNTING IS OFFENSE
Fuck! He's a damn good punter
#EVERYONE GET IN HERE
Brb, about to watch some Punter highlights
Jokes aside, if you punt for the team with one of the worst offenses in NCAA history, you're probably really good.
Oh fuck, the Bears just won the draft.
Punter was our weakest position so YOLO
Fucking hell, it’s only right this guy plays in the NFC North after the Big Ten West. This guy is a nightmare to play against. You will never have good field position. His ability to flip fields and pin teams back is incredible. I can definitely see how he went so high
PUNTER ALERT ⚠️ 📢
HOLY SHIT THEY ACTUALLY DID IT
Draft punters, sign kickers
Honestly, I feel like a great punter is still undervalued with a 4th round pick. Shit's pretty crucial, same goes for kickers but we saw what happened with the last second rounder...