Week 7 is in the books and what a week it was! Let's take a look at how the league's specialists have been performing;
Kickers
Week 7 of the USFL Season will go down in history as the best week for kickers across the board! We saw multiple kickers make 4+ field goals and score over 10 points in a single game. Kickers also had their best week in terms of field goal percentage this week, making 22 of their combined 26 attempts, which is good for 85%. Let's discuss how the players performed with a look at my (un)Official Week 7 USFL Kicker Power Rankings;
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Another stellar week from Brandon Aubrey (BHAM) will keep him in the first. He is leading the league in points scored, and it's not even close. he went 4/4 on field goals this week and scored a season-high of 14 points.
Nick Vogel (HOU) struggled again this week, making 1/2 of his field goal attempts. He will remain in the second position this week because he is more consistent over 50 yards than any other kicker in the league. I fully expect Vogel to return to form to close out the season as one of, if not, the best kicker in the USFL this season.
Cole Murphy (MICH) did it again this week and won himself another Special Teams Player of the Week. After setting a USFL record last week, Murphy broke it again by kicking a beautiful 60 yard field goal. He is only ranked in the third position this week because he doesn't have as many attempts under his belt, but Cole is quickly asserting himself as one of the best kickers in the USFL after making 4/5 of his attempts this week.
Taylor Bertolet (NO) had another great week, going 2/2 on field goal attempts, and 3/3 on PATs. He will fall to the fourth position this week as competition around him heats up, which is something we aren't used to in the USFL.
The biggest change of the week comes from Philadelphia Stars Kicker Luis Aguilar moving up from the eighth spot to the fifth spot after making all 4 of his field goal attempts. Luis will remain the only kicker who has never missed a kick.
Tyler Rausa (TB) has had a fall from grace after 2 weeks of his team not allowing him to attempt a field goal. He will drop to the sixth spot with a respectable make percentage (70%) on field goals attempted. I want to see the Bandits kick more field goals next week against the Gamblers.
Ramiz Ahmed (PIT) had his best statistical game of the season this week, making 3/4 of the field goals he attempted and going 1/1 on PATs. He also hit a very impressive 58 yard field goal, that would have been a USFL record if the Michigan Panthers weren't finding success in Cole Murphy. I want to see Ramiz clean up his misses, as he hasn't had a single game this season where he has gone 100% on field goals with more than 1 attempt.
Finally, in eighth place Austin Jones (NJ). He had a decent week hitting 2/3 of his field goals, with a new personal best as well. He is currently in last place because he has only made 4 of his 6 field goal attempts. He needs to figure that out before he has a chance to move up in the rankings.
Punters
Punters continued to separate themselves into 2 distinct groups this past week. The first half punting over 39 NET yards and the second punting under the league-wide average of 37.6 NET yards per punt. Let's discuss how the players performed with a look at my (un)Official Week 7 USFL Punter Power Rankings;
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Matt White (NO) will stay in the first position for the fourth week in a row now despite not having the highest NET Avg. Pinning his opponents inside their own 20 yard line 41.4% of the time leads the league and I think that's more impressive.
Brandon Wright (TB) will climb back into the second position after performing better than his competition this week. He punted 2 times for 93 yards (46.5 AVG) and one pinned the opponent inside their own ten yard line. Brandon is one of the most consistent punters in the USFL and will be in contention for the USFL's Best Punter Award.
Colby Wadman (BHAM) will fall to the third position this week after seeing his statistics decline slightly. He hit a low this week, but will likely come back in the next couple of weeks to end the season on a high note.
Brandon Miller (NJ) remained in the fourth position in the power rankings this week. He is consistently punting for a NET Avg. of 39 yards per punt. He had shown now that he can kick if far, averaging 51 yards on 4 punts during week 5. He has also proven that he can pin teams inside their twenty yard line, doing so on just under half of his punts through the last two weeks. He represents the cut-off line of the first group mentioned earlier.
Max Duffy (PIT) played very well this past week, hitting season highs on both NET Average and longest punt. He will move up to the fifth position.
Andrew Galitz (HOU) has been struggling over the course of the season to bring his NET avg. up but has failed to do so. This is why I've decided to move him down in the rankings this week.
Louis Aguilar (PHI) and Kyle Kramer (MICH) will both remain where they were last week as both of them had uninspiring weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing if they are able to turn it around.
New Heights
For the second week in a row, we are treated to the USFL Record for the Longest Field Goal was once again broken! By the same kicker no less! Let's discuss that;
MICH Panthers Kicker Cole Murphy kicks a 60 yard FG (League Record) (PB)
MICH Panthers Kicker Cole Murphy scores 13 points (Personal Best)
MICH Panthers Punter Kyle Kramer punted for a Net Avg. of 33.6 (Personal Best)
MICH Panthers Punter Kyle Kramer punted for a long of 49 yards (Personal Best)
BHAM Stallions Kicker Brandon Aubrey scores 14 points (Personal Best)
NJ Generals Kicker Austin Jones kicks a 43 yard FG (Personal Best)
PIT Maulers Kicker Ramiz Ahmed kicks a 58 yard FG (Personal Best)
PIT Maulers Kicker Ramiz Ahmed scores 10 points (Personal Best)
PIT Maulers Punter Max Duffy punted for a Net Avg. of 37.2 (Personal Best)
PIT Maulers Punter Max Duffy punted for a long of 59 yards (Personal Best)
PHI Stars Kicker Louis Aguilar scored 15 points (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 :)