The New Orleans Saints brought in an expansive class in the NFL draft this year. The team made all nine of their picks and followed it up with an 11 man undrafted free agent class.
The Saints tend to see a few undrafted free agents make the team and stay on the roster for a while. If there was a player who would make the cut in 2025, who would it be? Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski thinks Alabama punter James Burnip is the player with the best chance of making the roster
What makes James Burnip special?
Burnip finished his time at Alabama with an average of 43.9 yards per punt. That was good for second all-time. This past season, the Crimson Tide held opponents to just one yard per punt return. That success is a mixture of Burnip getting good hang time, good directional kicking and Alabama's coverage unit. Still, it's a very impressive way to close your collegiate career.
A punter isn't exactly the sexiest pick Sobleski could have made. Most people don't remember when special teams players are drafted, and it is rarely a part of their career story. If we're isolating likelihood of making the team to solely obstacles in their way, Burnip has an upper hand on his peers
As a punter, there's only one player in Burninp's way, Matthew Hayball. The lack of competition is a gift and a curse, in a sense. Burnip only has one person to beat out, but there's also only one spot to be had on the main roster.
Matthew Hayball is an interesting evaluation
Hayball, like Burnip, was an undrafted free agent. His rookie year was interesting. That may be the best word to describe it. His stats were slightly slanted by the offensive tendency of moving the ball but stalling out before they could get into scoring range.
You won't see a lot of booming punts out of Hayball. Sobleski pointed this out by highlighting Hayball ended his rookie year "30th and 25th in punting average and net punting average." He wasn't a field flipper, and some will critique him for that. That doesn't mean he didn't impact the field position game.
As previously mentioned, the Saints would stall out offensively after moving the football. While Hayball didn't boom punts from his own 10 yard and reset the field, he had the most punts inside the 20-yard line and the highest percentage of punts land inside the 20-yard line. He was pinning the opposition in their own territory frequently.
It makes it hard to evaluate Hayball. How you feel about him may come down to what are you looking for? Do you want the strong legged punter who can kick you out of a bad situation or do you want someone who specializes in coffin corners? If you prefer the latter, you were happy with Hayball as a rookie. For the Saints, that skill often came in handy.
However, the lack of big punts also keeps the door open for a potential replacement in 2025.