After using the first three picks on offense, the Chicago Bears surprise many by going with punter Tory Taylor in the fourth round.
After going on offense with the first three picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles makes a surprise pick. While many felt he could go with defensive line help or a tight end, he instead went with special teams. He selected Iowa punter Tory Taylor.
Taylor won the Ray Guy Award as the best punter in the nation. The native Australian boomed 93 kicks and amassed 4,479 punting yards. That broke the NCAA record in a season.
Everyone views quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze as game changers. Well, the same could be said about Taylor. He was named the Punter of the Year in the Big Ten twice. In 2023 he put it all together. Of his 93 kicks, 29 were fair catches, 32 were inside the 20, and 7 were touchbacks. He averaged 48.2 yards per punt.
The only reason it wasn’t more was because he had many of his punts start near mid-field. He had to be careful not to let his booming leg get the ball into the end zone too much. Having just seven touchbacks showed that he did a good job at that.
The scary thing about Taylor is that scouts say he still has to improve his ability to hit the ball squarely more consistently. Imagine how far he could kick if he does that.
Taylor is huge for a punter. Heck, he is big for any player. He measures 6-foot-4 and weighs 223 pounds. Additionally, he has great hand-eye coordination. He can handle bad snaps with ease.
Taylor certainly got his work in with Iowa. They had a struggling offense so he was able to punt a lot. With the Hawkeyes, he had 295 punts, a school record. He was instrumental in keeping the Hawkeyes in a lot of games. There were many times when the offense struggled but still won because of a strong defense and his punting.
Tory said he already got a call from Williams. While he had a struggling offense at Iowa, Williams told him not to expect that with the powerhouse offense Poles has built.
Taylor will now compete against Trenton Gill for the starting job. Gill has struggled in his two seasons with the Chicago Bears. To give you an idea of the difference in punting, Gill has 6,126 punting yards in his career. As mentioned before, Taylor had 4,479 yards in just one season.
Taylor might not get a lot of punts in with this new-look Chicago Bears offense. However, when he does get the opportunity he can flip the field easily. If he punts from deep in the Chicago Bears territory, he can put it back to the opponent’s side of the field. If he is deeper in, he can pin the opponent deep in their territory. That sets the defense up to be more aggressive.
Field position is everything for a team. If Taylor pins the opponents deep in their territory and the defense does its job and holds them there, then the offense gets a chance at working on a shorter field. With this high-octane Chicago Bears offense, that makes it incredibly easier to score points.
Taylor was a surprise pick at number 122. Not only was he the first punter taken he was also the first special teams specialist taken. He was only the second punter taken within the first 125 players in the past 5 years. Mitch Wishnowsky was taken at 110 by the San Francisco 49ers in 2019.
Poles has done a good job of strengthening the Chicago Bears roster despite not going after defensive line help. He could decide to go the free agent route to help there. We’ll see what else happens.
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