Oakland Raiders: Top 5 takeaways from Saturday’s preseason opener
By Justin Fried
4. The punter job is A.J. Cole’s to lose
From a fullback battle to the competition at punter. Ingold wasn’t the only niche specialist to gain a leg up (no pun intended) on his competition on Saturday.
Undrafted rookie A.J. Cole looks to be the clear favorite to earn the punter job this summer following a solid showing in the preseason opener. But more importantly, it was his competition who struggled a bit.
Second-year pro Johnny Townsend did manage to boot one for 55 yards but also kicked one for just 34 yards to the Rams 20-yard-line. And thus has been the story with Townsend’s short tenure in the NFL so far.
The Raiders selected Towsend in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft due in part to his big leg. Unfortunately, the Florida product shanked just as many punts as he managed to boom.
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Call him the ultimate boom or bust punter.
Cole has been more consistent in training camp and looked steady in the preseason opener downing two kicks inside the Rams’ 20-yard-line and not allowing a single return on any of his punts.
Oakland is more likely to go with consistency over potential at the punter position meaning that this job looks to be Cole’s to lose.
As long as Cole could avoid any major mishaps, he shouldn’t have to do much to defeat the ever-inconsistent Townsend. Saturday’s game only further solidified that notion.