FSU Preseason Position Breakdown: Specialists

Over the past decade, Florida State has done its part to erase bad memories of kicks sailing wide right by being consistently solid in the kicking game.

Dustin Hopkins and Roberto Aguayo have brought consistent placekicking over the last seven years while last season, Cason Beatty was the ACC’s leading punter. Beatty was a 4-year starter at punter following a 2011 All-American campaign by Shawn Powell.

Talent again won’t be a problem for the Seminoles on special teams in 2016, but the squad is very young. Here’s a look at the names to know for FSU in the kicking game:

1. The Name to Know: Logan Tyler
A do-it-all specialist, Logan Tyler is expected to compete for both the placekicking and punting duties in 2016. A freshman from Missouri, Tyler has a huge leg and made some noise this offseason as his punts continually flirted with the roof at FSU’s indoor practice facility.

Tyler is expected to come in and be the guy for the Seminoles when it comes to punting. He could also vie for time as placekicker and kickoff specialist.

2. Burning Question: Can FSU Avoid a Significant Drop-off on Special Teams
As mentioned before, the Seminoles are not only replacing the ACC’s leading punter in Cason Beatty, but they’ll be replacing arguably the best kicker in college football history in Roberto Aguayo.

As a redshirt freshman in 2013, Aguayo won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker and a year later, he was named a Consensus All-American. For his career, Aguayo never missed an extra point or any kick under 40 yards while connecting on nearly 89 percent of his career field goal attempts. Aguayo was recently selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While Tyler is expected to take over the punting duties, the placekicking could be left to Aguayo’s younger brother, Ricky Aguayo, a freshman. Levonta Taylor, a defensive back, could also make an impact as a special teams player returning kicks.

3. Put Your Future Stock In: Ricky Aguayo
Though Ricky is the younger brother of Roberto Aguayo, it was hard to tell the difference between the two during the spring. Aguayo showed very good accuracy and a strong leg. Though Aguayo will have the compete with Tyler for the kicking duties, it’s hard not to think that he’ll make a huge impact for the Seminoles by the time his days in Tallahassee are over.

4. Other Names to Know: Jack Steed, Stephen Gabbard
Jack Steed is a senior transfer from Oklahoma who hopes to compete with Tyler for the punting duties. That isn’t likely to happen, but Steed will add some depth to a position that usually doesn’t need it.

Stephen Gabbard is expected to be the long snapper for a third straight year. The Seminoles have had no trouble with snaps during Gabbard’s tenure.

5. Food for Thought
While Florida State has a proud history at several positions, FSU is slowly making its claim as “Kicker U”. Since the inception of the Groza Award in 1992, the Seminoles are the only school with three different winners including Sebastian Janikowski, the only 2-time winner of the award. Tulane and UCLA are the only other schools with multiple winners.

The other Groza Award winner from FSU was Graham Gano in 2008. Gano is the last FSU specialist to handle both the kicking and punting duties. That could change with Tyler this season.

Despite having solid kicking and punting a year ago, Florida State ranked just 69th in special teams efficiency. A big reason for that is because FSU was 115th in punt return average at under four yards per return. With Kermit Whitfield being a proven dangerous return man, the Seminoles ranked 28th in kickoff return average.