News: Iowa punter Tory Taylor has an extra year of eligibility remaining and could use it for the 2024 season, but told reporters on Tuesday that he does not plan to return to Iowa for his last year.
Taylor will finish out the year with the Hawkeyes and then put his name into the 2024 NFL Draft to start a pro career.
A native of Melbourne, Australia, Taylor has established himself as one of the best punters in the country.
This fall, Taylor is averaging 47.6 yards per punt, and is averaging just under 300 punting yards per game. He has 64 punts on the year, and 25 of them have landed inside the 20-yard line. For his career at Iowa, 45.1 percent of Taylor’s punts have landed inside the 20.
Taylor ranks sixth in the country in yards per punt and also has the most punting yards in the country. While Iowa would prefer not to punt as much as it has had this year, having someone like Taylor punt the ball away could actually give your team an advantage at times.
He also has multiple punts over 60 yards or more this year.
Here are some of Taylor’s midseason accolades via HawkeyeSports.com.
Midseason first team All-American by the Associated Press, The Athletic, CBS, ESPN and FOX… preseason first-team All-America by Associated Press, Athlon Sports, Phil Steele, and Sporting News… named to Walter Camp and Ray Guy Award Awards preseason Watch Lists… preseason first-team All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele… Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week for his play vs. Minnesota… named to Ray’s 8 by the Ray Guy Award four times for his play vs. Utah State, Iowa State, Penn State, and Michigan State… two-time Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his play vs. Purdue and at Wisconsin
Taylor has been a focal point of Iowa’s special teams unit throughout his career in Iowa City and will go down as one of the best, if not the best, punter in program history.
The Impact: With Taylor announcing his intentions to go to the NFL, the Hawkeyes will need to find another punter to fill his role. The Hawkeyes are expected to look into the transfer portal for a punter, but we’ve also been told that Iowa plans to go the Australian route, like it did with Taylor, to add a punter that could potentially make an impact right away in Iowa City. Special teams is an important part of Iowa’s system and the Hawkeyes will need to add a punter that can have somewhat close to an impact that Taylor has had over the last couple of seasons.
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