Tennessee football: 10 Vols most likely to win postseason awards in 2022
Scouting Report. Punter. Senior. 5. player. Pick Analysis. Paxton Brooks. 839
6’6″ 201 pounds
Obviously, kickers and punters who are cemented as starters are always going to be among the players with the best chances to win postseason awards. That’s because, barring injury, they are the only players who will do their job, so these are two of the most merit-based positions out there. This is the case with Tennessee football.
Paxton Brooks is back for his second senior season to continue punting duties, a role he has held since early 2019. On top of that, he is also likely to take back over kickoff duties, which he apparently relinquished last year because he spent the entire season with a tweaked hamstring.
In spite of that hamstring issue, Brooks averaged 44 yards a punt on 45 punts, his best output of his career, and he also did it with a shorter field than in years past given the way Josh Heupel’s offense moves the ball. Add in 26 punts fair-caught and 18 pinning opponents inside the 20, and he pretty much did everything he was supposed to do.
There’s a reason Brooks made both Preseason All-SEC teams and is on this year’s Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List. He has more than proven himself, and now with a year fully healthy, the only thing that may hold him back is having too many short fields due to Tennessee football’s offense moving the ball well.