Every Monday and Thursday, Plainsman sports staffers Zach Tantillo and Nathan King will analyze an Auburn football player who has a chance to make a sizable impact on the team next season.
Today’s Fortune Teller focuses on incoming punter Arryn Siposs and if the Australian football player can turn around Auburn’s abysmal punting game.
Usually, no one likes seeing the punter trot out onto the field as it usually represents a failed offensive possession. But the punter plays a crucial part in a team’s success that flies under the radar.
Football can be argued as being a game of field position. Having a punter that can flip the field and pin the other team inside the 20, 10 or even the 5-yard line on a consistent basis is not just a luxury to have, but a necessity.
That is an area Auburn has struggled over the years, especially last season when Auburn ranked as one of the worst punting teams in college football. The Tigers ranked 115th in the nation in net punting yards (35.61), 108th in punt-return defense (11.43) and walk-on punter Aidan Marshall was 95th in Division I for average yards a punt at 39.6.
That's why the addition of former Aussie football player Arryn Siposs could revamp Auburn’s least productive position in recent years.
At 25 years old, Siposs is not your typical college enrollee. Hailing all the way from Melbourne, Siposs played in the Australian Football League for five seasons before joining the ProKick Australia program to potentially join a college football program -- eventually Auburn.
The match was almost made in heaven for the Tigers. Siposs’ athleticism and leg power from playing in the Australian Football League is uncommon in the states; the game is vastly different than football over in America as players need the ability to kick well with both feet.
“He can kick it with his right foot or his left foot. He's going to give us a lot of flexibility with our punt team,” said Gus Malzahn.
History is also on his side, seeing as the last five Ray Guy award winners -- given to the nation’s top punter -- have all come from the ProKick Australia program that Siposs attended: Memphis’ Tom Hornsey in 2013; Utah’s Tom Hackett in 2014 and 2015; Utah’s Mitch Wishnowsky in 2016; and Texas’ Michael Dickson in 2017.
“He’s not your average kicker; he’s an athlete,” said Malzahn. “He’s got a great leg, and I think this guy is really going to help us. I’m very excited about him.”
PREDICTION
Siposs provides unique ability and athleticism that is rare for college punters. At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds with underrated quickness, it would not be shocking to see more fake punts in the future from the Aussie.
"Tell you what, I would bet he's not going to be scared to tackle, because he's been tackling without pads on," Malzahn said. "So, I bet he'll tackle somebody."
Siposs should fill the immediate need at punter and is a clear-cut favorite heading into next season.
Catch up on previous installments of the Fortune Teller series:
- DL Derrick Brown
- CB Noah Igbinoghene
- WR Ryan Davis
- K Anders Carlson
- QB Jarrett Stidham
- CB Javaris Davis
- OL Prince Tega Wanogho
- WR Devan Barrett
- WR Darius Slayton
- LB Deshaun Davis
- CB Jamel Dean
- BUCK T.D. Moultry, Big Kat Bryant
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