5. Air Force
High ranking: 2nd | Low ranking: 12th
Projected depth: Carson Bay (P), Matthew Dapore (K)
The Falcons usually boast one of the most aggressive fourth-down offenses in the country, but their specialists are rock solid. Two years into their respective tenures, Dapore has been the bigger standout with a field goal success rate of 77.4% while Bay saw his punt average fall from 41.2 in 2021 to 37.7 in 2022.
4. Wyoming
High ranking: 2nd | Low ranking: 11th
Projected depth: Clayton Stewart (P), John Hoyland (K), Ralph Fawaz
Where the offense often scuffled in 2022, the Cowboys’ special teams rarely let an opportunity to contribute slip away. Hoyland was nearly automatic yet again on a career-high 22-of-25 field goal tries while Stewart won the punting competition over Fawaz and finished third in the Mountain West with 44.1 yards per punt. It’s reasonable to expect more of the same from these brown and gold standouts.
3. Nevada
High ranking: 3rd | Low ranking: 11th
Projected depth: Matt Freem (P), Brandon Talton (K)
Talton missed time with injury last year, but that didn’t stop him from claiming the Mountain West record for career field goals made. If he’s 100% again in 2023, he’s a safe bet to be a Lou Groza Award semifinalist for the fourth time in his career. Barring a disastrous final season, he’ll leave the Wolf Pack as one of the best specialists in conference history, period.
Freem had a decent go of things in his first stint as the team’s punter, finishing sixth in the Mountain West with 42.6 yards per punt with a 37.3 net average. He and Talton should make Nevada’s kicking situation a bright spot even as the team figures things out elsewhere on offense and defense in the fall.
2. Boise State
High ranking: 1st | Low ranking: 7th
Projected depth: James Ferguson-Reynolds (P), Jonah Dalmas (K)
Ferguson-Reynolds introduction to the FBS went well enough, averaging of 41.8 yards per punt while pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line a third of the time, but Dalmas’s track record is most of the reason why the Broncos are ranked here. A two-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist, Dalmas has put the Boise State offense on his foot more than once over the years and enters 2023 with a field goal success rate of 88.9%.
1. San Diego State
High ranking: 1st | Low ranking: 4th
Depth chart: Jack Browning (P/K), Gabriel Plascencia
Browning returns to the Mesa as the Mountain West’s reigning special teams player of the year and he earned every bit of that honor with an 80% field goal success rate and a 41.9 net yard per punt figure which ranked 12th in the FBS. Sooner or later, he’s going to need a catchy nickname like predecessors Matt Araiza and John Baron II.
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