Tag: ethan evans

Watch: Rams P Ethan Evans hits 7 booming punts with ridiculous hang time

This video of 7 straight booming punts by Ethan Evans shows he’s on track to be much better in 2024.

Ethan Evans had what most would describe as a subpar rookie season in 2023. While he has a powerful leg, he only downed 20 of his 64 punts inside the 20 and had a net average of just 39.1 yards per punt – the second-worst mark among all qualified punters.

Some of that was out of his control, in part because of the Rams’ awful coverage unit on punts, but he also outkicked his coverage too often with long punts that lacked hang time. He’s looking to improve in Year 2 and based on this recent workout video, he seems to be getting more air under those booming kicks.

The video below shows seven straight punts by Evans, which all had a hang time of at least 5 seconds. For reference, JK Scott led the NFL in average hang time last year at 4.72 seconds, according to PFF, so anything over 5 seconds is outstanding.

Evans’ best hang time in the video is 5.56 seconds but he was consistently going over 5.3 seconds.

The Rams hope Evans rarely has to go on the field to punt the ball away but when he is called upon, it seems he could be much improved in his second NFL season.

Duke men’s golf finishes tied for fifth at The Prestige

After a lengthy winter break, the Blue Devils men’s golf team got back on the course and produced two top-12 individuals out in California.

The Duke men’s golf team got its spring schedule underway at The Prestige from Monday to Wednesday, a three-day tournament held out in La Quinta, California at PGA West.

The Blue Devils performed admirably in their return to action, finishing in a tie for fifth behind two standout performances and a stellar second round.

Ethan Evans and Bryan Kim both went low from the opening day at the Greg Norman Course, firing matching 5-under 66s in round one. Evans balanced a double-bogey 6 at the 18th hole with seven birdies.

Kim poured in six birdies of his own, all within a nine-hole stretch. He circled 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 14 to wash away a bogey at the third hole.

None of the other three Duke golfers recorded a round lower than 74 in the first go-round, but the Blue Devils did most of their damage in round two. All five players shot a 72 or better during their second trip around the course.

Kim couldn’t vault himself farther up the leaderboard, making two birdies and two bogeys for an even-par 71, but Evans could. The sophomore fired a 3-under 68 despite yet another double-bogey, this time on the third hole. He also bogeyed 6 and 9 but birdied the first, the fourth, and the fifth before rattling off four in a row from 14-17.

Luke Sample and Kelly Chinn matched their teammates’ energy with a 4-under 67 and a 3-under 68, respectively.

Sample could have put together something scary good, with four birdies in his first 10 holes before an eagle on the 12th got him to 6-under for the day, but three bogeys over his last six prevented him from something eye-popping. Chinn, on the other hand, balanced five birdies with two bogeys in his round.

Overall, the five Blue Devils combined for 23 birdies during the second round, and the team total of 10-under 274 was second only to eventual champion Texas Tech.

Unfortunately, Duke’s third round resembled the first more than the second. Evans, who began the tie in a tie for second on the individual leaderboard, signed for a 1-over 72 after his three birdies were overruled by two bogeys and his third double of the week. He finished the tournament in a tie for seventh, six strokes behind Kansas’ Cecil Belisle.

Kim put together a 1-under 70 to finish in a tie for 11th on the week, including three birdies in four holes around the turn. Daniel Choi, the Blue Devils’ fifth golfer, also managed a 1-under 70, and Chinn mustered an even-par 71. Sample fell back two strokes with a 73 to finish in a tie for 45th on the individual leaderboard.

The Blue Devils finished first among the two ACC teams in attendance, with Louisville coming in solo 13th, but future conference foe Stanford finished in third.

Duke gets back in action at the Wake Forest Invitational on March 4-5.

Rams P Ethan Evans wins NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Rams rookie punter Ethan Evans has won his first award, being crowned the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week

Even amid an up-and-down 2023 season, the Rams have managed to win several weekly awards this year – largely thanks to Puka Nacua and Byron Young taking home Rookie of the Week honors four times combined in the first seven weeks.

Ethan Evans joined the fun this week by being named the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against the Seahawks on Sunday. Evans punted five times for a total of 263 yards, averaging 52.6 yards per kick. His long was 65 yards and he didn’t have a single touchback, pinning the Seahawks inside the 20-yard line once.

This is Evans’ first weekly award in the NFL, but it probably won’t be his last. He’s been one of the lone bright spots on special teams, doing a nice job holding kicks for the first time in his career, as well.

Rams rookie Ethan Evans has been one of the best punters this preseason

Only one punter in the NFL has graded out higher than Ethan Evans this preseason, but there is an area where he can improve

The Los Angeles Rams went into the draft this year with no specialists on the roster. No punter, no kicker and no long snapper. With one of their 14 picks, they addressed the punter spot by selecting Ethan Evans, a lesser-known player out of Wingate University.

Evans was known for his powerful leg and through two preseason games, he hasn’t disappointed. Those 770-pound deadlifts are paying off because he’s hit some booming punts this summer.

While it hasn’t been a perfect preseason performance from the rookie, he has been one of the best punters in the league so far – at least according to Pro Football Focus.

PFF has given Evans a 79.6 punting grade this preseason, which is second-best at his position. The only punter with a better punting grade is former Ram, Corey Bojorquez, who’s at 89.3.

Evans ranks first in total punt yards (696), second in yards per punt (53.5), fourth with a long of 65 yards and second with five punts downed inside the 20. Those numbers are impressive and show just how much potential he has.

However, there is one area where Evans can improve, and it’s an important one: hangtime. According to PFF, Evans ranks 19th in average hangtime (4.43 seconds). For comparison, JK Scott leads the league this preseason with an average hangtime of 4.85 seconds.

At times, Evans appears to outkick his coverage, in part because he’s kicked some low line drives rather than high, hanging punts that allow his coverage unit to get down the field. He’s obviously getting more distance by botting those driving punts, but the returners often have a lot of space around them to return it.

It’s a big reason Evans and the Rams have allowed a league-high 181 return yards, an average of 22.6. Derius Davis returning a punt 81 yards for a touchdown in the preseason opener inflates that average, but even without that return, the Rams have allowed 100 yards return yards. That would still be the most of any punter, with Jamie Gillan of the Giants ranking second with 97 return yards allowed.

As such, Evans’ net average is 36.5 yards per punt, which is seventh-worst among all punters this preseason. That’s not entirely his fault, but the consistent returns against the Rams, along with his two touchbacks, haven’t helped the cause. The coverage as a whole could be a lot better, and should be once the regular season begins and the Rams have a consistent unit out there on the field.

Evans has a ton of upside in the NFL and the Rams should be excited by what they’ve seen. He’s only a rookie who’s played two preseason games, so there’s plenty of time for him to improve his hangtime. His directional kicking has been very good, too, angling several of his punts toward the sideline to limit the space a returner has – or preventing a return altogether.

The Rams’ seventh-round rookie has gotten off to a good start this summer and should only continue to get better.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Rookie punter Ethan Evans never held in college, so the Rams had to teach him

Ethan Evans doubled as Wingate’s kicker and punter, so he never had experience as a holder. That will change with the Rams.

Keeping with the theme of having a young and inexperienced roster, the Los Angeles Rams are going with a unique approach on special teams. Their three specialists are all rookies, two of them being undrafted players.

Punter Ethan Evans was drafted in the seventh round out of Wingate, while long snapper Alex Ward and kicker Tanner Brown were both signed following the draft. General manager Les Snead has been impressed with the all-rookie operation on special teams but they haven’t exactly been tested in a real game setting.

For Evans, he’ll be in uncharted waters when the Rams attempt their first field goal or extra point. He’s never been a holder, which is something coaches had to teach the rookie this offseason.

Though many punters work as the holder, Evans never did because he doubled as Wingate’s kicker.

“We only have those three on the roster and they’ve got a lot of responsibility,” Snead said on the Doug Gottlieb Show. “Are they gonna win the job? Are they gonna actually be useful to us? The punter is about 6-foot-5. If you YouTube him, he’s deadlifting and cleaning and he’s never held before because he was punter and kicker at Wingate College. Point being, we had to teach him to hold. And now you’ve got a whole rookie operation. And they’re actually doing a really, really, really nice job.”

In the past, the Rams had Johnny Hekker holding for their kickers. Then, Riley Dixon assumed the role last season when he was with Los Angeles. Now it’s Evans’ turn.

Some teams opt to have a backup quarterback hold kicks but it doesn’t seem the Rams are going down that path with Stetson Bennett or Brett Rypien. It’ll be on Evans to get the ball down quickly and smoothly this season, assuming the Rams don’t bring in another punter to replace him before Week 1.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Watch Rams P Ethan Evans’ booming punts from senior season at Wingate

The Rams got a punter with a powerful leg when they selected Ethan Evans out of Division II Wingate this year

At No. 223 overall, the Los Angeles Rams selected Wingate punter Ethan Evans – a name unfamiliar to fans. He was the first Division II player drafted this year, but the Rams feel they’ve uncovered a diamond in the rough with the powerful punter.

During his senior season in 2022, he punted 77 times for a total of 3,518 yards, an average of 45.7 yards per punt with more than half of those punts (39) being downed inside the 20-yard line.

Evans is the Rams’ only punter on the roster right now so all indications are that he will be their guy in 2023. It’s easy to see why when watching the way he kicked last season at Wingate.

Check out highlights from 2022, which include booming punts, field goal attempts (he went 10 for 18 as a senior) and kickoffs.

Watch: Rams rookie punter Ethan Evans can deadlift 770 pounds

Rams rookie punter Ethan Evans showed off his power by doing two deadlift reps of 770 pounds

The Los Angeles Rams went into the draft without a punter on the roster but in the seventh round, they found their replacement for Riley Dixon – a Division II punter from Wingate University named Ethan Evans.

Evans wasn’t a name many people recognized when it was announced with pick No. 223 in the draft, but he’s trying to make sure everyone knows who he is at the next level. He certainly has the leg strength to make that happen, and he showed off his lower-body power in a recent video.

He posted on Instagram a clip of himself deadlifting 770 pounds … twice. He made it look easy, too.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrmBDqrrj6G/

He also did eight reps of 605 pounds and benched 225 pounds eight times, not struggling at all with that, either.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr1u5kVLfY5/

Last season at Wingate, Evans averaged 45.7 yards per punt and downed 39 of his 77 attempts inside the 20-yard line. Nearly half of his punts (30 of 77) went for 50-plus yards and he had 13 touchbacks with a long of 67 yards.

The Rams feel they found a hidden gem in the seventh round with this 6-foot-4 punter and hopefully he’ll help them improve on special teams this year.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Rams select Wingate P Ethan Evans with 223rd pick in 2023 NFL draft

The Rams have taken Wingate punter Ethan Evans with the 223rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

The Los Angeles Rams finally have a special teams specialist on the roster in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL draft. With the 223rd overall pick in this year’s draft, the Rams selected punter Ethan Evans out of Wingate University.

During the 2022 season, the Rams had Matt Gay at kicker, Riley Dixon at punter, and Matthew Orzech at long snapper. All three of those guys departed the Rams in the offseason, leaving the team seeking specialists this offseason.

In his final season at Wingate, Evans attempted 77 punts and he averaged 45.7 yards per punt in 2022. While the Rams could add a veteran into the mix this offseason, Evans will certainly get an opportunity to be the starting punter for the Rams in 2023 and potentially beyond.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby8n025panb709 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]