2023 Spotlight: Punters Worth Keeping an Eye On

Chris Norcross

June 9, 2022 @ 12:00 PM

Even though fans typically do not take the time to track punters, we here at PrepRedzone value their importance to the game of football. Not only do they position their defenses well after a failed offensive appearance, but they can be a huge difference maker in field position and the likelihood of an opposing offense having success. Due to that, we wanted to recognize a few of the top punters in North Carolina’s 2023 class who not only had success last season, but are worth keeping track of moving forward. [player_tooltip player_id="144698" first="Ty" last="Woods"]- AL Brown Out of the entire state last season, Woods was one of the most impressive punters, especially among his class. By the end of the year, he averaged around 44 yards a punt, which was impressive due to the fact that he only punted the football around 24 times. Out of these 24 times, not only did Woods manage to have a large amount of success in yardage, as he totaled around 1,000 by the end of the season, but he also managed to get 10 of his punts with the 20 yard mark. If this is not impressive enough, it should be considered that he did so within a 6 game span, which was far beyond what most punters did within a 10-12 game span. Chad Giasrrusso- Avery County Giasrrusso was another one of the players within the state of North Carolina that got to play in more than 10 games last season. As his team went to the playoffs, he got to punt in 11 total games, and saw a season total of 1,535 punt yards due to this. These yards came on 35 punts, and 5 of them landed within the 20. With this, it should also be noted that each of his punts averaged around 43 yards, making him one of the top punters in the state last year, especially due to the fact that he managed to boot one of his punts 70 yards. Next season, look for Giasrrusso to be a bit more polished, and to continue to develop as a leader of his team. Connor Benito- Parkwood Benito was another punter in the state of North Carolina last year that managed to shine as a Junior. He not only played in 9 games for his team, but he had a great success rate when doing so. In these 9 games, he had 7 punts pin the opposing offense within the 20, and he had a season long of 61 yards on a single punt, which definitely put the opposing team in tough field position. With this, Benito also punted the ball away 21 times, and averaged around 41 yards a punt. This success rate further contributed to his season total of 874 total punt yards, which is right around what someone would need in order to have success at his level of play. Christopher Gama- Overhills For a bigger player, what Gama was able to achieve at the punter position for his team last year was impressive. By the end of the season, he totaled around 860 yards, and did so on only 21 punts. With this, he had a long of 65 yards, which only further solidified that he was capable of getting his offense out of trouble, no matter how bad their field position was. Of these punts, Game saw 2 of them within the 20, but this does not speak to how efficient he was as a punter, as he was very consistent whenever his number was called. Jackson Moore- Marvin Ridge Within a 10 game span, Moore impressed many Marvin Ridge fans last season, as he averaged around 40 yards a punt, while also totaling around 1,100 punt yards by the end of the season. This amount of yards came on only 29 punts, with the longest of all of them being 59 yards. With this, he also landed 3 of his punts within the 20 yard range, which helped to pin the opposing offense. Most of the time, his defense would have success in holding them when this would occur. Because of this, we think that Moore is certainly worth the watch, and following going into next season.