Post by CrimsonPhantom on Jul 25, 2017 17:21:46 GMT -7
With fall camp opening next week, I wanted to take a look at what we can expect and what to look for on both sides of the ball and special teams.
While the focus every year is improving defensively, I could argue special teams is the area the Aggies need the most improvement.
"The biggest thing is (junior college transfer) Dylan Brown and Parker Davidson competing," NMSU head coach Doug Martin said. "I want to see what Dylan can do. The second biggest thing is getting more athletic people covering punts and I think the last thing is our return game and finding those key guys on kickoff and punt returns."
This unit cost NMSU a home win last year against Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern scored 13 of its 22 points off of NMSU special teams misques in a game where NMSU outplayed its opponent for most of the night.
The fact is the Aggies have some pieces here to at least contribute to winning football. The punter position was a glaring weakness two years ago. Doug Martin gave a scholarship to Payton Theisler last year and he finished fourth in the Sun Belt with 41.58 yards per punt while on 74 attempts, which tied for the second most punt attempts in the conference.
Unfortunately there was nobody to cover them, as the Aggies surrendered four punt return touchdowns, as well as a kickoff return.
"That was a coverage issue more than it was the punter," Martin said.