Ohio State kicker Blake Haubeil kicks during an NFL Pro Day at Ohio State University Tuesday, March 30, 2021 in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: Courtesy of AP Photo/Paul Vernon
NFL coaches, general managers and media members, alike, gathered Tuesday to watch former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields perform at the Buckeyes’ pro day at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Not many traveled to Columbus to see former kicker Blake Haubeil and former punter Drue Chrisman show off their talents, as the duo who anchored Ohio State’s special teams unit the previous two seasons did not even receive any television coverage of their workouts.
“That’s the dream, is to get drafted,” Chrisman said. “Every year, though, it’s not a guarantee, sometimes not even a single punter gets drafted.”
Haubeil said Tuesday’s workout consisted of field goals, alternating which hash mark he would kick from. He started at 30-yard field goals on the left and right hash, working his way back in 5-yard increments until he kicked 55 yarders.
Chrisman said he was just doing some standard punts, trying to really dial in and emphasize the hang time he can put on the ball.
“I didn’t get the exact numbers back, I’d heard I hit a few five-O’s which is always a good thing to hear,” Chrisman said. “It was pretty breezy out there too, so I was certainly trying to cut through the wind as well, so still able to hit that target mark and place it where I was wanting to with that hang time. I think I displayed that pretty well today.”
In terms of draft value, kickers and punters have gotten the short end of the stick in recent years as there have only been 21 kickers and 17 punters selected in the previous 10 NFL drafts.
71 percent of those players are still in the league today.
The highest drafted special teams player of the last 10 drafts was former Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo, who was taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 2016 draft. Other than that, 34-of-38 kickers and punters selected in the previous 10 drafts were taken in the fifth round or later.
“Last year we got a few,” Chrisman said. “This year it’s looking good, just with the salary cap situation, so some team might be able to pull the trigger. I hope they do.”
In the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, Chrisman averaged 45 yards per punt— his best average of his four-year Ohio State career and good for 17th best in the nation. His career-long 74-yard boot against Michigan State Dec. 5, 2020, tied him for the ninth-longest of any punt in the country.
Haubeil’s career will be remembered for a lot of heroic, captivating moments in the scarlet and gray.
Haubeil famously pooched an onside kick down the sideline to then-sophomore wide receiver Chris Olave in the first quarter of a Nov. 9, 2019 game against Maryland. He also nailed a 55-yarder as time expired in the first half against Northwestern Oct. 18, 2019, followed a week later by a 49-yard field goal that he drilled in Columbus’ rainy and windy conditions against Wisconsin.
2020 was not how Haubeil envisioned though, hampered by injuries that kept him sidelined and a COVID-19 diagnosis that caused him to miss the National Championship against Alabama.
“Missing the National Championship, like I said, it was some personal adversity, but we experienced a lot of difficulties throughout the year with not being able to play at times,” Haubeil said. “One thing I’ve actually learned in this offseason is it just makes you stronger, forms of adversity.”
Haubeil said the biggest thing for a kicker to succeed in the NFL is building consistency in kicking technique which will produce consistent results.
In preparation for the draft, Chrisman has been working with both his kicking coach, Mike McCabe at One On One Kicking, and Ohio State’s strength coaches.
“I’ve been bouncing around here back in Columbus and then training with my kicking coach in Alabama,” Chrisman said. “When I’m down there kicking, that’s kind of more technique-wise and then when I’m back up here, still working with the same strength staff I was with for the last five years, it’s more developmental body-wise.”
The two Buckeye special teamers will find out if their names are called at the 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland April 29 through May 1, an opportunity Chrisman said he hopes he earned today.
“I was hoping that I showed enough today that they would take a chance on me,” Chrisman said. “There’s no guarantees and I hope everything works out.”
