There hasn’t been a more criticized position in the Nick Saban era than the kickers, especially in the last couple of season. Last year, the crimson tide really struggled capitalizing on kicks and even extra points throughout the entire season.
Not to mention one of the biggest bruises of Saban’s time at Alabama came at the cost of a missed kick.
These past hardships would make it easy to criticize freshman kicker/punter Will Reichard’s 0/2 performance yesterday. Although he did miss his only two field goal attempts, the first one came at 49 yards and the second at 48 yards.
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If there is one thing to take away from Reichard’s misses, it’s that he has the strength to warrant an attempt from that distance and is something that has caught Saban’s eye.
“Will did great. He kicked a lot of touchbacks, which shows his leg strength,”said Saban in the post-game press conference. I think (the two) field goals that he hit, he really hit well. It’s a little unlucky that both of them hit the pole, but hopefully he’ll be able to gain confidence and improve on that in the future.”
Not only did Reichard have kickoff and field goal responsibilities for the game but he also served as the team’s punter for the whole game. The Hoover, Alabama native, averaged 40 yards a punt and was able to pin Duke inside the 20 on one of them.
However, fans were still critical of Reichard despite the busy day which warranted former Alabama punter P.J. Fitzgerald to come to his defense.
Knew I’d come on here and see bashing of our kicker. Reichard is going to be great as long as he does what Tiffin did and ignores idiots who know nothing about the position. Both FG attempts were deep, solid hits w/ plenty of leg. This kid hits a “different” ball
— P.J. Fitzgerald (@PJ_Fitzgerald) September 1, 2019
Yes, Reichard may have missed both of his attempts from Saturday, but he impacted the game in many other ways. As the season progresses and he gets more comfortable with the tempo of the game the field goals will start going through for the young kicker.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
