Texas punter Michael Dickson proves why he’s leaving school early

Texas Longhorns punter Michael Dickson proved in his team’s bowl game vs. Missouri exactly why he’s good enough to leave school early…

There are always fascinating stories coming out of every NFL Draft class, but in the 2018 NFL Draft, there may be no one quite as interesting as Texas punter Michael Dickson.

Dickson, a former Australian rules player, came to Texas in 2015 and has been stellar ever since.

Dickson, as you may or may not know, is declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft as an early entrant, leaving his final year of collegiate eligibility on the table to turn pro.

It’s not the first time a kicker/punter has left school early, but you have to see this guy play to believe why his decision to leave early is truly justified.

This year’s Ray Guy Award recipient as the nation’s best punter, Dickson was an All-American two years in a row for Texas, and was twice named the Big 12 special teams player of the year. He was also recently named the MVP of the Texas Bowl, which the Longhorns won in decisive fashion thanks to Dickson’s contributions.

What, exactly, does he contribute?

Well, in addition to being the team’s holder on field goals and extra points, Dickson is an incredible weapon in the field position game.

To give you a little frame of reference there, he punted the ball 11 times against Missouri, and 10 of those punts landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Eight of those punts ended up inside the 10-yard line.

That’s unbelievable.

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Dickson’s ability to pin opponents deep into their own territory is something NFL teams are going to be extremely interested in, but what round will he get drafted in?

It wouldn’t surprise me if Dickson heard his name called on day two.

As much as NFL teams like to believe in field goal kickers as immediate translators to the NFL, it rarely ever works out for them. Unlike with field goal kickers, punters are tasked with keeping points off the board by keeping opponents in bad starting field position.

Dickson can be a major asset to an NFL team, and looks like a top 100 player in this year’s class regardless of position.

If he can also kick the ball off, he’ll be even more valuable.

It’s tough for NFL teams to justify a top 100 selection on a guy who only comes in for special teams plays, but Dickson’s ability to make a great defense even better by giving them long fields to work with could make him the highest drafted punter we’ve seen since Bryan Anger, a third rounder in 2012.