:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31714793/20131019_kkt_bc2_213.0.jpg)
Perhaps the hardest job to get in the NFL is a job as a punter. At least placekickers come and go based on if they struggle for a team or not. Punters, for the most part, are with a team forever and there are only 32 jobs available. It is not like quarterback, where a decent college QB can get a job as a backup. Hell, Jimmy Clausen is somehow still hanging around the NFL.
If you make it as a punter, however, you can be set for 15-20 years if you do the job well. That is where our third profiled Boiler hopes to make it.
Cody Webster - 6'1" 205 pound punter
There aren't many measurable when it comes to punting other than, "can you kick the ball really far with a lot of hang time?" the best punters also excel at pinning teams deep in their own territory inside the 20. That is what will be asked of Cody.
Strengths
Cody will get a look mostly because he was one of the best college punters. He consistently averaged 43 yards per kick and was a starter for all four seasons at Purdue. That means, like Gaston and Allen lately, he is an experienced player entering the league. He had a long of 73 yards and put 24 of 70 total punts inside the 20.
His career average of just over 43 yards per kick was better than seven punters in the NFL last season. It is hard to guess which team he would get a look from, as these jobs just don't change much. What will help Cody is that he is a versatile player, a little like Pat McAfee of the Colts. Webster was not afraid to mix it up with a handful of fakes in his career and he served as the holder on placements last season.
Webster also had a brief baseball career, as he made a handful of appearances for the baseball team in 2013 as a left-handed relief pitcher.
Weaknesses
Well, he is a punter, for one. There might be one punter drafted each season and that is usually the Ray Guy Award winner. Webster was a finalist for the award, but lost to Tom Hornsey of Memphis. Even Ryan Allen, who won two straight Guy Awards, was undrafted in 2013 before being signed by the Patriots.
Cody will get a shot though. He had 17 punts of 50 yards or more this past season, so that is probably good enough for at least a free agent look.
Final Analysis:
CBS Sports does not rate him as one of the top punting prospects, but really, it depends on how well he works out for a team and what they think of him. Webster is most likely going to be an undrafted free agent that will fight with a veteran in training camp for one of the few punting jobs.