The punter isn’t exactly a glamour position at any level of football. Most kids don’t grow up dreaming of being the guy who comes in to give the other team a chance at scoring after the offense has failed to gain enough yardage to maintain possession.
The Buffalo Bills have had a solid run of punters, however, over the last 18 years. The run began with Brian Moorman, and it continues with the subject of today’s “90 players in 90 days” feature.
Name: Colton Schmidt
Number: 6
Position: P
Height/Weight: 5’11” 224 lbs.
Age: 27
Experience: 5
College: Cal-Davis
Draft: Signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers following the 2013 NFL Draft
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Schmidt enters the final year of a two-year deal worth $2.6 million. In 2018, his cap hit stands at $1.45 million.
2017 Recap: As has been his career M.O., Schmidt had an up-and-down 2017. He averaged 44.7 gross yards per punt and 40.5 net yards per punt. He also allowed the lowest average per punt return (5.5 yards per return) of his career. However, he also set a career-high in touchback percentage (6 of his 79 punts, or 7.6%). He pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line on 28 of his punts (35.4%).
Positional outlook: Schmidt most likely faces competition in name only from undrafted free agent signing Cory Carter.
2018 Offseason: Schmidt has been at all offseason workouts to date, including mandatory minicamp.
2018 season outlook: While Schmidt may not be Brian Moorman, he is good enough for the Bills to keep at least through this season. If Carter comes out and has an incredible camp, maybe the Bills choose to go another way—moving on from Schmidt leaves them responsible for only $300,000—but it’s very likely that Schmidt remains Buffalo’s punter for at least one more season.