Ryan Poles knew what he wanted to do after the 1st round was over in April. He had it all mapped out. If the 2nd round went as he projected, he would take Kiran Amegadjie in the 3rd round and then turn around and grab Iowa punter Tory Taylor in the 4th. The Chicago Bears knew they couldn’t have better chances to win with below-average punting. Taylor was widely considered the best in the class and one of the best to come out of college in years. Poles called him a “weapon.” Despite the inevitable criticism of drafting a punter, the GM was sure it was the right decision.
Time has proven him correct. After an adjustment period that happens for all rookies, he has evolved into something special. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune revealed an incredible stat line from the loss to Washington that will help illustrate this.
“Punter Tory Taylor landed four punts inside the 10-yard line as the Bears won the field-position game. He has eight punts inside the 10 this season, second in the league behind the Browns’ Corey Bojorquez.”
Tory Taylor is giving opponents fits.
People can talk about his leg strength all day. The rookie is averaging 48.5 yards per punt, which is 15th in the league. His greatest ability is the accuracy. Downing eight punts inside the 10-yard line takes a level of skill not enough people realize. For context? Trenton Gill had 11 last year in all of 2023. He had eight the previous year and Pat O’Donnell had six in 2021. That should give you an idea of how pinpoint Tory Taylor is. Where it gets crazier is only two of the punts have resulted in touchbacks.
He only trails Corey Bojorquez, who has been in the league for seven years. Keep in mind Taylor didn’t start playing American football until 2019 when he was 22 years old. For him to reach this level of excellent in only five years is a testament to his incredible ability.
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Tory and the defense damn near won that game by themselves. I can sort of see how the offense was a little flat to start the game, but when the start became 3 quarters something needs to be corrected for damn sure.
@Dr. Melhus — The “best thing” that happened versus the Commanders is Kiran Amegadjie’s quad injury is almost certainly the one that @jmscooby told us it was — a “torn quad” — as opposed to the dreaded avulsion (a complete rutured of the quadriceps tendon) that had me very worried. No NFL player of Amegadjie’s size has ever returned from a complete rupture, to regain his pre-injury level of performance (to my knowledge). Whereas, Denver Broncos OT, Mike McGlinchey (6’8″, 315 lbs.) suffered a torn quad injury on Nov. 8, 2021 and has recovered well enough to earn PFF OFF… Read more »
Again, props to @TGena for acknowledging evidence. Good to see that he and I agree that Taylor is a top shelf punter and Kiran isn’t ready for the NFL field yet.
TWTY just says things that support his narrative. He flip flops more than a sandle. He screams about how crappy Justin was all during his time here, and then acts like Poles is an idiot to have only gotten a 6th rounder for him. Granted I can almost guarantee that Wilson doesn’t last the entire season and it likely ends up a 4th, but at this point who cares? 4th or 6th, Tomato/Tomatto. He’s gone and the difference in picks is miniscule anyhow. My point TWTY, if JF was so sh!tty in your eyes, then why does it surprise you… Read more »
Sad to tell you Tory, but I tend to support the Labour Party and work against the Tories. Nevertheless, Tory MVP! And just think somebody told you about not punting much this year. Who ever thought getting mere first downs would be this difficult today?
PS: Kay, After a lengthy initiation, you will be welcomed as one of our Lionesses into the Pride.