Oakland Raiders: 2016 Offseason In House To Do List

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Oakland Raiders
Dec 13, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Oakland Raiders punter Marquette King (7) reacts to punting the football to the two yard line against the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Raiders defeated Broncos 15-12. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Marquette King

The Raiders have a history of having punters who are weapons in and of themselves – Ray Guy and Shane Lechler to name but a couple. Marquette King absolutely deserves a spot in the conversation. Time and time again, King let loose a booming kick that had the returning backpedaling. Time and time again, he pinned the opposing offense deep in their own zone.

And he’s currently an unrestricted free agent.

For his career, King has punted 276 times for 12,734 yards – that’s an average of 46.1 yards per punt. While true that 2015 was something of a down year for him and he posted a career worst in average – 83 punts for 3,697 yards, an average of 44.5 yards per kick – his 40 kicks down inside the 20 was good for second place in the NFL.

Ray Guy showed the world how much of a weapon a good punter can be. He showed how a good punter can change – or at least help influence – the course of a game, and just how important it is for a team to have a punter they can rely on to help put the defense in a good position. With his booming kicks that seem to stay in the air forever, Marquette King is cut from the same cloth.

Reggie McKenzie and the Raiders need to make re-signing King a priority this offseason. He’s a dangerous weapon to have in their arsenal and they absolutely need to retain him.

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