We’ve got one last top on our 2025 NFL Draft positional preview – special teams. We’ll take a look at the kickers, punters, and long snappers in this year’s class.

Kickers

For the New England Patriots, kickers should be the primary focus. Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said earlier this month that the team plans on bringing in another kicker to compete with John Parker Romo for the starting job, and suggested that kicker could be a rookie (as opposed to tapping into the thin veteran market). However this is a pretty thin kicker class, with only a few players expected to be drafted, and that player could very well come as a UDFA as well.

Springer stressed consistency during his press conference, and no kicker in this class was more consistent than Andres Borregales throughout his college career. He hit 86% of his kicks over four years as a starter at Miami, never hitting fewer than 81% in a single season. That includes a 17-of-21 mark from the crucial 40-49 yard range, while going 7-of-10 from 50-plus.

Ben Sauls took over as Pitt’s kicker in 2022 as a redshirt sophomore. He was excellent that year, but didn’t have the same success in 2023. However he bounced back in a big way last year hitting 87.5% of his kicks including going 7-of-9 from 40-49 and 6-of-7 from 50-plus.

Sauls also has some environmental experience that the Patriots might value. He’s used to kicking in inclement weather in the Northeast and spent his entire college kicking at Acrisure Stadium, which Pitt borrows from the Steelers on Saturdays. It’s often cited as the toughest stadium to kick at in the NFL.

Ryan Fitzgerald had a shaky start to his career at Florida State, going 26-of-40 over his first three years including inconsistent results inside of 40 yards. He turned the corner in a big way in 2023 when he went 19-of-21, then last year hit all 13 of the field goals he attempted including five from 50-plus yards. His kickoff control remains a question though, and with Springer stressing the importance of kickoff ability with the new rules, he projects as less of a fit.

The biggest leg in this class might belong to Tyler Loop from Arizona. Loop hit six of his nine kicks from 50-plus last year, including a 62-yarder. However he is more erratic from shorter distances, and missed two extra points last year.

Punters

The punter position seems to be handled for the Patriots. While 2024 was up-and-down for Bryce Baringer at times he ultimately improved in net yards per punt, I-20 percentage, and return yards allowed compared to his rookie year.

Jeremy Krensaw from Florida and James Burnip from Alabama are the two punters who are projected to be drafted this year. Ray Guy Award winner Eddie Czaplicki from USC and Kai Kroeger from South Carolina should also find their way to NFL rosters.

Long snappers

Joe Cardona isn’t just back to be the Patriots’ long-snapper, he’s one of the few returning captains from 2024 and now the team’s longest-tenured player. In the past the team has kept a second long-snapper at times just to help manage reps, but anything more than that seems unlikely.

William Wagner from Michigan and Austin Brinkman from West Virginia were the two long snappers at the Senior Bowl this year. Both have a chance to be late second-round picks. There is also a local product – Donato Crisanti from URI – who is in this class. He’d make sense as a second option at the position in training camp.