2017 NFL Draft: Big Ten’s All-Draft Team

Special Teams

Punter

1st Team: Cameron Johnston
2nd Team: Kenny Allen

Both Cameron Johnston and Kenny Allen are NFL caliber punters. Punters are weapons in the NFL and a good one can regularly flip the field for their team. But, with a limited supply of jobs in the NFL, these players often get overlooked in the draft.

Johnston was one of three finalists for the Ray Guy award (NCAA best punter) and has four years of experience where he has had solid success. He had punts of 60, 61, 68, and 70 this year and punts of 71 and 73 over his career. He should be drafted on day three.

Kenny Allen split duties between kicking and punting this year at Michigan and it looked to have hurt his ability to either at an elite level. He is not an NFL place kicker, but he has an incredible leg, and a penchant for punting big in big games. A fringe draftable prospect, he should find his way to an NFL camp one way or another.

Kicker

1st Team: Tyler Davis, Penn State (redshirt junior)
2nd Team: Emmit Carpenter, Minnesota (redshirt sophomore)

Both Tyler Davis and Emmit Carpenter are underclassmen and expected to return to school. As solid as they were this season, neither is draftable right now.

Kick Returner

1st Team: Desmond King, Iowa
2nd Team: Will Likely, Maryland

Desmond King is a terrific player and returning kicks was an important part of that at Iowa. But he has NFL starting talent and will be so valuable on defense at the next level, I’m not convinced he be used as a return man in the NFL.

Will Likely is one of my favorite college players because of his kick return abilities. Likely is considerably undersized (5’7″, 171) and an October knee injury cut his senior season short, but if he’s going to make it in the NFL, it will be as a returner.

Punt Returner

1st Team: Jabrill Peppers, Michigan (redshirt sophomore)
2nd Team: Riley McCarron, Iowa

When discussing Jabrill Peppers value to an NFL organization, it’s important not to overlook this aspect of his game. This will definitely be something he’s asked to do in the NFL.

At 5’9″, 186 Riley McCarron may not have an NFL future at wide receiver, but he had a nice season this year as a kick returner at Iowa.

Holder

1st Team: Garrett Moores, Michigan (redshirt junior)

Garrett Moores ran his holder of the year campaign in a similar way most schools run their Heisman ones. Here’s Moores hype video:

But he’s not all hype, there is substance to his game. After pulling down an errand snap against Ohio State and getting it down in time for a game tying extra point, NFL.com’s Chad Reuter tweeted this:

It became official on December 8th, when Moores was awarded the 2016 Martell Holder of the year Award. here’s a look at his acceptance speech:

Next: Jabrill Peppers wins the 2016 Hornung Award

All joking aside, this year the Big Ten was loaded with NFL draft talent, and it should be a sign of things to come. The conference as a whole had one of the most successful seasons in a decade. And, as new talent finds its way onto the field, the future is bright for the Big Ten.