Tennessee football: Paxton Brooks on Ray Guy watch list, but winning it would be bad

Paxton Brooks is a reliable punter for Tennessee football. He earned his third-team Preseason All-SEC spot, and in many ways, he has helped carry on the tradition of Punter U. The only reason his overall average was middle of the pack last year was because of how the Vols move the ball.

As a result, it should come as no surprise that Brooks was named to the 2022 Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List. He was one of 48 players overall to make the list, including six players who came from the SEC alone.

Last year, Brooks averaged 44 yards per punt, a career high. He pinned 18 punts inside the 20 and sent 11 50 yards or more. His spot on the watch list was revealed Thursday morning by the Ray Guy Award Twitter account.

UT takes pride in its punting history, which is significantly helped by the Colquitt brothers and now rivals its wide receiver history. Dustin Colquitt should have won the Ray Guy Award in 2003, and it’s about time somebody from Rocky Top brought it home.

However, the Vols don;’t want that in Brooks for from any punter for as long as Josh Heupel is head coach. Heupel’s offense is based on tempo and possessions, so already field position can’t ever be too much of a focus. If it is, the defense won’t be built to take advantage of it.

In general, you never want to rely on your punter too much in today’s game. However, the Vols at least want to be able to move the ball enough, even when they don’t score, that Brooks won’t have the chance at a solid average, which will hurt his case.

If Brooks punts enough to even qualify for the award or has a good average, then the Vols are in trouble. The best stats they need from him are as few punts returnable as possible and a high percentage of punts nailing opponents inside the 20-yard line.

Historically, the best years by Tennessee football punters coincided with mediocre years by their offense anyway. That 2003 season with Colquitt did have Casey Clausen as a senior quarterback, but it had no elite receivers and a below average running game, which caused lots of problems.

Arguably the best season ever for a punter outside of 2003 in UT history was Trevor Daniel’s 2017 campaign, when he averaged 47.5 yards per punt. That coincided with one of the worst offensive seasons in school history and resulted in the worst season of SEC play in school history.

Simply put, punting is the most overused play in the sport already. Brooks’ leg can be very helpful for Tennessee football, but the Vols and Heupel should also go out of their way to make sure they don’t need it too much. Otherwise, the season will be a disaster.