Trevor Daniel stepped in and continued the Tennessee football tradition of Punter U with the Houston Texans this season. In his first year, he averaged 43.7 yards a punt and nailed 36 of them inside of the 20-yard line. Those punts were the fourth most inside the 20-yard line of all punters in the NFL this year.
However, Daniel could have done better. After all, he punted 74 times, and with Deshaun Watson coming back from injury, the offense sputtered enough that he could have booted way more long punts. Instead, he was outside of the Top 20 with his averaged and on everything else. But remember, he’s just a rookie.
So as we move forward, it’s safe to say that Daniel will get better. And with a team built around a pass rush who can get physical, Daniel will have a huge role to play for the Texans in the playoffs if they’re going to make any noise.
His first game is against the Indianapolis Colts, and field position will matter a lot against a quarterback like Andrew Luck. That’s the last guy you want to give a short field to. So Daniel will have his work cut out for him early. We’ll see if he can deliver.