Michigan State Punter Honored as Prestigious Walter Camp Preseason All-America Team Selectee

The Spartan punter Ryan Eckley was selected to the 2025 Wlater Camp preseason All-America Second Team Defense. This is Eckley's first time being honored on this list. He joins 14 other Big Ten players on either of the Walter Camp All-America teams.

Heading into his redshirt junior season at Michigan State, Eckley holds the program's career punting average. Over his 25 career games as a Spartan so far, he had 99 punts for 4,677 yards, averaging 47.2 yards per punt. Forty-four punts have gone for 50-plus yards, including six of which went 60-plus. In 2023 and 2024, Eckley was named to the All-Big Ten selection second team.

In his redshirt sophomore season alone, he tied third in program history for season punting average at 47.9 yards per punt. This includes the 20, 50-plus yard punts that ranked second in the Big Ten. Eckley was also an All-American honorable mention by Phil Steele in 2024-25.

The punter is definitely an underrated Spartan, especially in the midst of head coach Jonathan Smith's rebuilding efforts. While Smith is hoping to limit how much Eckley is relied on, he has a punter who can and will get the job done. Twenty-nine of his career 99 punts have been inside the 20-yard line and 17 have been inside the 10-yard line.