Green Bay Packers: 5 biggest questions facing special teams

4. Will JK Scott live up to the hype?

In a rare move, the Packers spent one of their three fifth-round picks to select a punter. However, they didn’t select some average guy. They selected Scott out of Alabama, who is arguably the top punter to come out of college in the past 10 years. The team has been cycling through punters with mixed results. While they had Tim Masthay for six seasons, his abilities dwindled later in his tenure, resulting in his release. Justin Vogel had some moments, but he was rather inconsistent.

Scott’s career average of 45.6 would put him fourth all-time on the Packers’ career list. He also ranks fifth all-time in NCAA average. The Packers granted Vogel his requested release, which gave Scott the job. Vogel’s issues were inconsistency related, which is why the team wanted Scott. He’s younger, more consistent and simply better than Vogel was.

Anyone that has ever watched college and pro football knows there’s a very large difference in the punting game. Fewer players drop back to block, with far more rushing the punter going for blocks. Scott has a decently quick punting motion, but he has to show that it’s consistent. If he ends up being a bust, similar to Roberto Aguayo, the team could look extremely foolish for taking a punter in the draft and handing him the keys.