The Jets came into the draft with a need at punter and Joe Douglas didn’t want to wait until the undrafted free agent period.
With the Jets’ first sixth-round pick, they selected Braden Mann out of Texas A&M. Down in College Station, Mann broke several NCAA records. He’s been consistently dominant and draft pundits like Mel Kiper Jr. view him as a Pro-Bowl caliber punter. The Jets certainly need a punter after electing not to re-sign Lachlan Edwards, who led the NFL with 87 total punts last season.
Here are four things to know about the Jets’ new punter.
Ray Guy Winner
Braden Mann’s first full year punting for the Texas A&M Aggies resulted in him earning unanimous All-American honors and the Ray Guy Award winner as the nation’s top punter.
Mann also set the NCAA record with 51.0 yards per punt, placing 19 of 50 punts inside the 20-yard line and forcing 11 fair catches during his 2018 campaign.
Kickoff Specialist
Braden Mann didn’t become Texas A&M’s starting punter until his third season with the program.
In his first two seasons with the Aggies, Mann was the team’s kickoff specialist. On kickoffs, Mann had 55 touchbacks on 76 kicks in 2016 and 33 touchbacks on 73 kicks in 2017. Mann continued his kickoff duties even when he assumed the role of starting punter; 57 of his 80 kickoffs went for touchbacks.
The Jets asked Mann if he’d be comfortable doing kickoffs as well as punting, which he said yes to.
NCAA Records
Braden Mann broke the NCAA Division I FBS records for single-game punting average, single-season punts of 60-plus yards and single-season punting average.
The Jets are hoping that Mann’s ability can translate to the next level. He’ll go down as one of the more successful college punters of all time.
Tackling Machine
Another impressive aspect of Braden Mann’s game is that the punter isn’t afraid of contact. Mann made four coverage tackles on kickoffs in 2019.
“I used to play middle linebacker when I was younger,” Mann told Jets reporters after being drafted. “I like to get into it.”
Though Mann wanted to play linebacker in high school and college, he was not able to due to his size (5-foot-11, 190-pounds) and injuries. Instead, he’s able to show off his linebacker skills on kickoff coverage.
