Tag: Matt Araiza

4 things to love, 3 things to question about the Bills’ 2022 draft class

4 things to love, 3 things to question about the #Bills’ 2022 draft class:

The Buffalo Bills have settled into their 2022 NFL draft class as we’re now well removed from the event. There, the team made eight selections.

Some of the team’s actions were easy to love.

Others left us curious.

With that, here are four things to love and three things to question regarding the Bills’ 2022 draft:

PFF: Bills rookie P Matt Araiza led college football in important stat

PFF: #Bills rookie P Matt Araiza led college football in important stat:

Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza is ridiculously decorated.

That’s what comes with winning the Ray Guy Award (college football’s top punter) and the nickname “Punt God.”

Among Araiza’s historic numbers in college football that he owns, includes, ranking first in FBS history in punt average (51.4 avg.), 60-yard punts (18) and 50-yard punts (39).

But Pro Football Focus broke down Araiza’s game and found an important fancy stat to like about his game. According to the football analytics outlet, Araiza led college football punters with 41 kicks landing inside the 20:

Naturally landing inside the 20 is something the Bills and head coach Sean McDermott will love. Make the other team work for more yards when their offense comes on the field.

Somehow, the San Diego State product was not the first punter selected at the 2022 NFL draft despite these accolades. That was good news for the Bills, who landed Araiza with the first selection in Round 6.

There are reasons for that, namely Araiza’s hang time and lack of experience as a holder. Buffalo punter Matt Haack had a poor 2021, but Araiza is not going to be handed the team’s punter job if he doesn’t prove himself in these categories.

But clearly if he does, there’s a lot to like about Araiza’s potential in the pros.

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One thing to love about each of the Bills’ eight 2002 NFL draft picks

One thing to love about each of the #Bills’ 8 2002 NFL draft picks:

The Buffalo Bills have eight new rookies joining the team. More new faces will follow, but that’s the number of players the Bills selected at the 2022 NFL draft.

From the first one joining the Bills to the late last one, there are things to like about each and every one of them.

With that, here is one thing to love for each member of the Bills’ 2022 draft class:

2022 NFL draft: Grades for all eight Buffalo Bills picks

2022 NFL draft: Grades for all eight #Bills picks:

The 2022 NFL draft is in the rearview mirror. Now comes time for the incredibly, unrealistic job of handing out marks to teams for their picks without ever seeing them hit the first.

Anyways, we’ll jump right into it. Here’s how Bills Wire graded all eight selections made by Buffalo at the draft:

Brandon Beane didn’t think Bills would land Matt Araiza at 2022 draft

Brandon Beane didn’t think #Bills would land Matt Araiza at 2022 draft:

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It was expected the Buffalo Bills would be in the punter market this offseason. Matt Haack struggled in his first season with the team in 2021.

When the 2022 NFL draft rolled around, an addition became expected.

With the way things started to unfold at the event, it wasn’t very clear who or how a punter could end up in Buffalo. Even general manager Brandon Beane admitted that via the Pat McAfee Show. 

The answer ended up being Matt Araiza, better known as the “Punt God” from San Diego State in Round 6. But even that seemed like a longshot for a period of time to the GM.

“When the two went in the fourth, we had a fifth, we still had some guys on [their draft board]. We took the kid from Boise (Khalil Shakir), we thought no way Matt would still be there,” Beane said.

Thankfully, Araiza was.

For more from Beane, check out the full segment below:

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2022 NFL draft: Bills punter Matt Araiza motivated after slide

2022 NFL draft: #Bills punter Matt Araiza motivated after down the board:

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The Bills made some buzz with their selections in the 2022 NFL Draft and did so on day three, no less.

With the first pick of the sixth round the team took left-footed and right-handed college punting sensation Matt Araiza off the board, a player who was considered by many to be the top talent at his position going into the draft.

During the 2021 college football season as a redshirt junior at San Diego State, Araiza set NCAA records with a 51.2-yard average and 36 punts that went for 50-plus yards, 17 of which were good for a minimum of 60 yards, two that went at least 80 yards, and one of which that went for 86 yards.

He won the 2021 Ray Guy Award as the best collegiate punter and was named a first-team All-American and the Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Year.

Still, NFL teams viewed him as a project, resulting in a slide down the draft board to the sixth round, during which two other punters were selected ahead of him.

“The people who know me know that I take a lot of things very personal,” Araiza said while addressing the media for the first time after being selected. “We’ll just say I have a lot of motivation to dominate this season.”

Even still, he realizes he has some work to do to compete in the NFL.

“I think every aspect of the pro-level I need to continue to work on,” he said. “I’m by no means a complete player yet, but I’m excited to get into the building and work with the staff and work with the other teams and get ready to just help the team as much as we can on special teams.”

He played as a full-time punter for only one season in college, so it says a lot that he was able to accomplish what he did. He started as a place-kicker and went on to set a San Diego State-record 22 field goals, was perfect on extra points in 2019, and placed 78.5% of his kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks.

While he has the leg strength and experience at all three kicking positions, he’ll need to improve solely as a punter in holding, hang time, and punts in short-field situations to help give the Bills offense more possession opportunities.

“My first goal is to be a starter as a punter and a holder. That’s more on my mind right now,” Araiza said. “I’ve mostly put field goals to the side, at least for this pre-draft process, because I had more things I needed to change about my punting game. I needed to add hang time and add direction and become more of a pro-style punter. So I definitely had more work to do in the punting department.”

The first player off the board at his position, Penn State’s Jordan Stout whom the Bills had a pre-draft visit, was taken by Baltimore in the fourth round using the pick they acquired from Buffalo via their first-round swap to move up and select CB Kaiir Elam.

 
As he had no experience holding in high school or in college, he’ll need to learn to develop as one for Bass on field goals and extra-point attempts. He’d worked out back home in San Diego pre-draft with former Chargers kicker Nick Novak and held for Seahawks kicker Jason Myers, beginning to learn what kickers are looking for in holding.
 
GM Brandon Brandon Beane believes he’s in a good position to learn from current Bills punter Matt Haack as well. 
 
“Some kickers are late getting it down, late getting it the way they want it, give them the laces,” Beane said while addressing the media. “You know that’s the great thing about Matt Haack is that he’s an elite holder.”
 
Araiza appears confident in his ability to adapt to holding as well.
 
“I’m very confident in my hands, I’m confident in myself as an athlete and I’m someone who cares a lot about the success of my team,” added Araiza. “I think all of those qualities will translate well to holding.”
 
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2022 draft picks James Cook, Matt Araiza have similar reaction to Bills selection

2022 draft picks James Cook, Matt Araiza have similar reaction to #Bills selection:

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At least two of the Buffalo Bills’ picks at the 2022 NFL draft understood the assignment.

In the second round, the Bills landed running back James Cook. On Day 3, punter Matt Araiza ended up landing in Buffalo in the sixth round.

Upon the dust settling, both Cook and Araiza took to their social media accounts on Twitter and sent out pretty similar messages. The two were catering to Bills Mafia.

Picked on the second day of the event, Cook first sent out a GIF message of a Buffalo fan doing the timeless tradition of jumping through a table:

Then the kicker followed.

Araiza had a bit of a different idea with his tweet. Rather than showing someone else doing the leap of faith, he suggested he’ll do it himself:

We’ll have to wait and see if Araiza pulls the stunt off. It’ll have to be in a safe environment, of course–and potentially right leg first since that left one gave Araiza the nickname “Punt God.”

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The Bills drafted the internet’s favorite specialist in ‘Punt God’ Matt Araiza

80-yard punts are on the menu in Buffalo.

It was surprising to see two punters off the board before the end of the fourth round during Saturday’s Day 3 of the 2022 NFL draft, something that’s only happened three times since 1993.

But it was even more surprising that Matt Araiza wasn’t among them.

The former San Diego State standout took the college football world by storm with his historically booming punts, winning the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter for the 2021 season. His wait was longer than some expected, but it finally came to an end during the sixth round.

Araiza was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the No. 180 pick, and he’ll join one of the top teams in the AFC.

Araiza set an FBS record with an unbelievable 51.4 yards per punt, and he had six punts of over 70 yards, including a career-long 86-yarder. No other punter in the country had more than two boots longer than that.

I mean, seriously. Just look at this kid punt.

It’s worth noting that Araiza was also the placekicker for the Aztecs this past season, and he could potentially do the same if needed in Buffalo. But let’s be honest — it’s really about the punts.

The glorious punts.

Are there concerns that Araiza’s titanium leg could be more of a hindrance than an asset at the next level due to concerns about him outkicking his coverage? Sure. But to that I say: The special teamers should just run faster.

Punt God waits for no one.

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