With week 4 of the USFL finishing, let's take a look at how the league's specialists have been performing;
Kickers
Kickers pulled it together after an abysmal week 3 of only making 47% of their attempted field goals. This week they were able to make 17 of their collective 25 field goal attempts, which is good for about 68%. Let's discuss how the players performed with a look at my (un)Official Week 4 USFL Kicker Power Rankings;
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Vogeltron (HOU)will take over the number 1 spot in this week's Power Rankings after having another perfect game. Not only did he connect on all 3 field goal attempts, but he also came awfully close to the league record with a clean 53 attempt.
Soccer player-turned-kicker Brandon Aubrey (BHAM) had another great week, solidifying himself as a firm contender for the USFL's Best Kicker Award. He continued his greatness with a perfect 49 yard field goal in the first quarter. He did however record his first miss on the season, which came after an announcer jinxed him on a 41 yard attempt.
Tyler Rausa (TB) is, for better or for worse, staying in the top 3 this week after making 1 of his 2 field goal attempts. His miss came off a record-breaking-attempt of 58 field goal so we will cut him some slack. He did manage to send a bullet through the uprights from 37 yards out though, which looked very nice.
Matt "Nuker" Mengel (PHI) had a stellar performance this week, connecting on 4 of his 5 field goal attempts and both PATs, which is enough to move him up 2 spots to number 4. His best attempt of the night came in the form of a beautiful 44 yard field goal.
Brand new Breaker, Taylor Bertolet, performed very well in his first showing for the USFL and made me eat my words after advising Breakers fans to not hold their breath earlier this week. In his first week, he already won Special Teams Player of the Week! He came ready to play ball and did so, connecting on a 50 yard field goal for his first-ever kick as a Breaker. He would go on to make 3 of his 4 field goal attempts (one was blocked after a lineman forgot how to block) and 2 for 2 on PATs. If Bertolet continues to perform well, I may just have to root for the former Hamilton Tiger-Cat... yuck.
After a rough Week 3, Ramiz Ahmed (PIT) came back and was 2 for 3 on field goal attempts. He also completed his only point-after attempt. Ahmed will need to clean up his act if he wishes to continue in this league, as we are now seeing more players being replaced as we head into week 5.
Speaking of players who have been released, Nick Rose (NJ) will no longer be playing for New Jersey after his poor week 4 performance. He missed 2 field goals, bringing his season percentage all the way down to 30%. I wish you luck Nick and am looking forward to your next opportunity.
Seemingly a trend this week, Michael Carrizosa (MICH) was also released following a rough game-winning field goal attempt that doinked off the left upright from 21 yards out. If it is any consolation to Panthers fans, Carrizosa did manage to make a 22 yarder earlier in the night.
Punters
There was only a little bit of movement this week for punters, lets discuss it with a look at my (un)Official Week 4 USFL Punter Power Rankings;
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Matt White (NO) will take the number 1 spot on my rankings this week after he continues to perform better than the rest of the competition. He leads the league in Net AVG (41.8), number of punts inside the 20 yard line (7), and longest punt (77). White is certainly in contention for the USFL's Best Punter Award.
Hot on his heels is Brandon Wright (TB). Brandon continues to put up impressive numbers but faltered a bit this week with a season-low 40.5 net yards per punt. If his coverage team can get their act together, we will likely see Brandon stick around the top of the Power Rankings.
There was no movement from positions 3 through 6. All these players performed well, but with only 9 punts between the four of them, there just wasn't enough data to justify moving anyone. 5 of those 8 attempts came from Colby Wadman, who will remain in the top 3 with an above league average 44.6 yards per punt (5 punts).
Andrew Galitz (HOU) will sneak out of last place after a good performance where he punted 8 times for an average of 43.4 yards per punt. He was able to bring his net yards per punt up 5 yards (35.9 NET AVG).
Max Duffy continues to struggle with his third consecutive week in the bottom 2 positions. He is punting well under the league average of 43.7 yards per punt, with only 39.4 yards per punt on 21 punts. I hope Max can turn this season around for the second half.
Returners
Just wanted to post a quick update regarding returners in this league. I have come to the realization that the return game is not for me. It doesn't spark the same joy I get from watching guys kick the ball and so I'm letting you all know now that I will no longer be collecting the statistics for the league returners. Here is a link to the league website where those statistics can be found.
New Heights
While there where no USFL records broken this week, plenty of players were able to out-perform themselves. Let's take a look;
BHAM Stallions Kicker Brandon Aubrey kicks a 49 yard field goal (Personal Best)
HOU Gamblers Kicker Nick Vogel kicks a 53 yard field goal (Personal Best)
MICH Panther Kicker Michael Carrizosa kicks a 22 yard field goal (Personal Best)
NJ Generals Punter Brandon Miller punts 61 yards (Personal Best)
NO Breakers Kicker Taylor Bertolet kicks a 50 yard field goal (Personal Best)
PIT Maulers Kicker Ramiz Ahmed kicks a 47 yard field goal (Personal Best)
PHI Stars kicker Matt Mengel kicks a 44 yard field goal (Personal Best)
Thank you for making it this far in my article! Please let me know what you think about the article through the contact page! Have a good day everyone :)