Punter Ryan Donahue hopes for the best in NFL draft
Ryan Donahue’s ability as a punter already has paid for his college education at the University of Iowa, and now he hopes it’ll pay for a lot more.
Donahue is among a select group of punters that have a realistic chance of being selected in the NFL draft, which starts Thursday with the first round and concludes Saturday.
He started 51 consecutive games at Iowa and has five of the 14 longest punts in school history. He also averaged over 40 yards per punt in each of his four seasons, including a 44.6 average this past season. Still, he’s a punter, and they don’t get much love heading into the draft, unless they’re considered special.
“If you’re ranked in that top three, which I feel that I am, you have a pretty good shot of being drafted,” Donahue said. “It’s obviously different with a special teamer. So you just kind of have to hope for the best.”
Wes Bunting from the National Football Post has Donahue at the head of the 2011 class of punters and predicts that he will be drafted in either the sixth or seventh round.
“I think he’s the best (punter) in the country,” Bunting said, explaining why. “A four-year starter, punting in the cold and nasty conditions up in the Big Ten, forty yards every year he averaged.
“I just like these consistent punters. He comes from almost a pro-style team. He’s just got a lot of things going for him. He’s a level-headed kid and consistent.”
Donahue has done his research on the history of punters being taken in the NFL draft. He knows that it’s rare when more than two or three get selected in a single draft. There were three punters taken in last year’s draft.
Reggie Roby was considered one of the greatest college punters of all time when he left Iowa in 1983, but he still lasted until the sixth round when the Miami Dolphins selected him.
It’s similar for kickers, as evidenced by last year’s draft — none were selected.
However, former Iowa all-America kicker Nate Kaeding broke the trend by being taken in the third round of the 2004 draft by the San Diego Chargers.
“You kind of have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” Donahue said. “As a punter, you have to prepare for being a free agent.”
Free agency is often the preferred route for players that project to go in the late rounds because it gives them the flexibility to pick teams for which to tryout.
But for Donahue, the circumstances are different for a punter.
“The thing is the NFL teams that need punters, they usually draft them,” Donahue said. “There are only a couple teams every year. There are only 32 jobs in the NFL for being a starting punter. There is really not a practice-squad punter in the bunch.
“So you really have to be one of those 32 guys. If you do become a free agent, the odds of landing a starting job cut down significantly because other teams that need a punter draft them.”
Donahue was also considered an elite punter coming out of high school in Chicago four years ago, but that’s about where the similarity ends compared to now.
Coming out of high school, Donahue knew which colleges wanted him. Coming out of college, the NFL draft is a mystery, especially for a specialist.
“In college you have an idea because you know who is offering you and stuff like that,” Donahue said. “But with the NFL you have no idea. You don’t know what they’re thinking or what their draft board looks like.”
Donahue already has done something rare by earning a scholarship as a punter directly out of high school. Until recently, most punters and kickers earned scholarships after they proved themselves for a college team.
“I think the importance of the punter and kicker has come along over the years,” Donahue said. “I think the NFL started noticing it in the ‘80s and ‘90s and colleges just started noticing it giving kickers and punters scholarships out of high school.”
Donahue interviewed with all 32 NFL teams at the NFL combine in February, but the Chicago Bears stands out because of his ties to the city — he is from Evergreen Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb.
“That would be, obviously, amazing,” Donahue said of punting for the Bears. “But they have their own thing going. And not every person fits right for every club. So you’ve just got to hope and pray that one club will take a chance on you and prove that you belong.”
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
Would love to see him punting in Reliant Stadium for the next 15 years.
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