Texas Tech football: The five best players on Red Raiders’ roster

No. 5: Punter Austin McNamara

There is no player on the team better relative to his peers around the nation than sophomore punter Austin McNamara.  But because punters don’t often have the same type of impact on a game as offensive or defensive players, he comes in at No. 5 on our list.

Last year, McNamara was one of the best punters in the game.  His average of 45 yards per punt earned him freshman All-American honors.  That was the best average by a freshman in the nation and second-best in the Big 12.   In addition, his average was 4th-best in Red Raider history.

In all, he had 20 of his 59 punts downed inside the 20-yard-line, a critical aspect of a punter’s job.  What’s more, he had 17 punts travel 50 or more yards.

He was ranked as the top high school punter in the nation when he signed in 2019 and he lived up to that billing.  He combined with redshirt freshman kicker Trey Wolffe to give the Red Raiders perhaps the best kicking duo in the conference.

The Red Raiders ranked fourth in the FBS in net punting with an average of 42.5 yards.  That’s important given the struggles of the defense, which needed every extra yard of field position it could get to begin drives.

We should appreciate the job McNamara does because Tech is a team that must play well on special teams to win.  Without a roster that is going to overwhelm opponents, every aspect of the game is critical and if McNamara can continue to give his team a field-position edge by flipping the field and pinning opponents deep, he could continue to be one of the most important players on the team, even if most of us take his role for granted.