Punters are people, too! The Iowa Hawkeyes football program has been the ultimate sadist’s fantasy when it comes to what they produce on offense, so it wouldn’t shock you to know that one of the best punters to ever enter the NFL Draft happens to hail from there. Tory Taylor became the highest-drafted punter since 2012 — when the Jaguars infamously passed on Russell Wilson for Bryan Anger — when the Chicago Bears selected him in the fourth round at No. 122 overall.
While the Hawkeyes sputtered and largely failed to score points throughout his four-year college career, Taylor repeatedly bombed balls all over the pitch. His punts can easily pierce the breeze of the Windy City, except in the Bears’ case, Taylor should be far less busy than he was at Iowa.
You gotta get a load of this guy if you (can’t blame you) refused to tune in for the Hawkeyes over the past several seasons whenever they possessed the ball.
No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, the brightest hope Chicago has had at the quarterback position in their illustrious history, assured Taylor he was going to be on Easy Street in making his transition to the NFL.
Taking a specialist so high is a bold choice indeed, but Bears GM Ryan Pace traded back into the draft — Taylor was meant to be their last pick — to draft Kansas pass-rusher Austin Booker. Pace has been in his bag for this draft in my opinion. Among my top 100 overall prospects, Chicago has come away with four of them, including the best (Williams) and a top-five guy in ninth overall pick Rome Odunze.
- Caleb Williams, QB, USC (1)
- Rome Odunze, WR, Washington (5)
- Kiran Amegadjie, OL, Yale (44)
- Austin Booker, EDGE, Kansas (84)
You get those four, plus the greatest punting prospect in a very long time, and you’re probably going to be in pretty good shape.
Long-suffering Bears fans can’t exactly breathe a sigh of relief because of how excellent the NFC North division is, yet Williams’ interaction with his teammates like the one he had with Taylor, and his transcendent talent, should at the very least have Chicago in the playoff race this coming season. What’s more, the Bears had a 7-10 record in 2023 largely thanks to a defense that ascended among the NFL’s elite once they traded for defensive end Montez Sweat.
With Williams leading the offense, and Taylor able to flip the field on a dime to put Chicago’s D in ideal position to succeed, this is all coming together nicely.
