The Philadelphia Eagles have one of the top special team’s units in the entire NFL and a huge part of that success stems from the consistency of kicker Jake Elliott and punter, Cameron Johnston.
Both players are entering their primes and are amongst the best in the NFL at what they do. The duo was recently listed in rankings from CBS Sports, listing the top-10 punters and kickers in the NFL.
Elliott landed at No. 10 on the list of kickers, while Johnston landed at No. 8 on the list of punters.
10. Jake Elliott, Eagles
Elliott has only been in the NFL for three years, but he’s already made a name for himself in Philadelphia. Elliott basically became a legend in the city during his rookie year when he beat the Giants with a 61-yard walk-off field goal in Week 3.Elliott then capped off his rookie year in 2017 with a 3-for-3 showing in Philly’s 41-33 win over the Patriots Super Bowl LII. Of course, being a kicker in the NFL is all about what you’ve done lately, and Elliott has done plenty. During the 2019 season, the Eagles kicker started the year by making 14 straight field goals, which set a franchise record. Although Elliott did hit a lull late in the season when he missed four field goals over a four-week span (Weeks 13 thru 16), the 25-year-old bounced back nicely in the playoffs. During the Eagles’ 17-9 wild-card loss to Seattle, Elliott scored all of Philly’s points with three field goals. Elliott’s field goal and extra point conversion rate have improved every year that he’s been in the league, so the thinking here is that he’s only going to get better from here on out.
8. Cameron Johnston, Eagles
Last year, Michael Dickson was the top-ranked Australian punter on our top 10 list, but this year, that honor belongs to Johnston, who’s going into his third season with the Eagles. During the 2019 season, Johnston ranked in the top 10 in both yards per punt (46.4) and net yards per punt (42.3), and if you look at the past two years combined, Johnston looks even better. Since the start of the 2018 season, the 28-year-old is third in the NFL in yard per punt (47.2) and fifth in the NFL in net yards per punt (42.5).Johnston is also good at drop-kicking the ball, which didn’t really help his rank on this list, but it is fun to watch him do it.
He’ll like be in Philly for at least two more seasons since he’ll be a restricted free agent in March 2021, and it won’t be surprising at all if the Eagles end up giving him a long-term deal.
A restricted free agent next offseason, Johnston could be in-line for a long term deal, while Elliott just got rewarded with a new contract and should only get better.
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