In the shadows: SEC features some of nation's best punters, kickers

J.K. Scott was a first team All-American, Drew Kaser had fun with a faux Heisman campaign and Austin MacGinnis led all freshmen in field goal makes last season.

What do these three players from the SEC all have in common?

They’re special teams standouts who are rarely mentioned among the league’s best players, and without question, are key components toward winning football games.

Admittedly out of his element in a room filled with college football’s brightest last December, Scott sat a table alone, his mop-top hair disguising a boyish grin.

“No one really knows my face,” Scott told SDS at Disney’s College Football Awards Show. “It’s nice, I don’t get recognized around campus.”

Alabama’s primary special teams threat led the nation in punting at 48.0 yards per kick and net punting at 44.7 yard per boot, earning All-American laurels and a finalist mention for the Ray Guy award.

But while Amari Cooper ran away with the Biletnikoff Award and Landon Collins gobbled up headlines on defense, Scott flew under the radar and could eat lunch in peace at the Crimson Tide’s student union.

What made the 2014 campaign so special for the Colorado native was that he posted the greatest single-season in program history at the position and did so only a few months removed from his high school graduation.

He’s not the only SEC punter with high expectations entering the season.

Kaser, Texas A&M’s field flipper, managed 19 “coffin corner” punts — two shy of matching Shane Lechler’s school record of 21 in 1998 according to Texas A&M’s athletic site. During the Aggies’ best win of the season, a high-drama 41-38 decision at Auburn, Kaser averaged 54.7 yards per punt to earn National Punter of the Week accolades.

Kaser’s been so consistent during his career in College Station that last season’s numbers — 11th nationally and No. 3 in the SEC with a 44.5 average on 56 total punts — were actually overshadowed by his sophomore season in which he earned a second team All-American mention.

Earlier this spring, Aggies assistant Jeff Banks said Kaser has his sights set on the Ray Guy award as a senior.

As for Kentucky’s stud kicker MacGinnis, preseason laurels are coming in at a rapid rate. Recently named to Phil Steele’s preseason All-SEC first team, MacGinnis set six program records last season including most field goals (21) and total points (104).

He was one of only five kickers in the country to nail at least three 50-yard field goals. MacGinnis, who made nine consecutive field goals at one point as a freshman, handled kickoff duties as well for the Wildcats.

MacGinnis is one of college football’s best in several place-kicking areas heading into August.

Pulled from a previous comprehensive story this spring on the SEC’s top returning specialists, here’s a few others in addition to Scott, Kaser and MacGinnis to watch in the kicking game this fall:

Top returning specialists

Isaiah McKenzie, Georgia: 12.1 yds per punt return, 2 TD; KO return TD as a freshman in 2014
Darrius Sims, Vanderbilt: 24.5 yds per kick return, 2 TD as a sophomore in 2014
Boom Williams, Kentucky: 26.9 yds per kick return as a freshman in 2014
Tre’Davious White, LSU: 10.9 yds per punt return TD as a sophomore in 2014
Leonard Fournette, LSU: 26 yds per kick return, TD as a freshman in 2014
Speedy Noil, Texas A&M: 23.9 yds per kick return as a freshman in 2014

Top returning kickers

Aaron Medley, Tennessee: 20 of 26 FGs as a freshman in 2014
Daniel Carlson, Auburn: 18 of 24 FGs as a freshman in 2014
Elliott Fry, South Carolina: 18 of 25 FGs as a sophomore in 2014
Andrew Baggett, Mizzou: 18 of 25 FGs as a junior in 2014
Marshall Morgan, Georgia: 16 of 21 FGs as a junior in 2014

Top returning punters

Jamie Keehn, LSU: 71 punts, 44.9 avg as a sophomore in 2014
Devon Bell, Mississippi State: 50 punts, 43.2 avg as a junior in 2014
Will Gleeson, Ole Miss: 58 punts, 42.9 avg as a freshman in 2014
Landon Foster, Kentucky: 66 punts, 42.6 avg as a junior in 2014