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3 of California's Top Returning Kickers
By Anthony Ascarrunz
Posted On: 01/8/21 5:01 PM
The key to recognizing special teams is that it's a third of the game and it can make or break a football game at any moment. It also can usually result in good or bad field position for an offense or defense. The kicking game for these 3 student athletes has put them in a position to thrive and be recognized as one of best in California.
Cole Becker - 6'3, 205 lbs - Rocklin - Senior
Twitter: @colebecker01
Being 100% on 31 PATs last season, Cole Becker also was 90% on field goals making 14 out of 15 attempts in 11 games. Tied for first in the state of California in made field goals, Becker committed to take his talents to Colorado in November to continue his kicking career. Making a career long of 45 yards as a junior and constantly kicking the ball out of the endzone on kickoffs, Becker has proven to be one of best kickers in the state talent wise to go along with his statistics. Keeping his head all the way through a kick, Becker can kickoff the ball extremely well regardless if the ball is on
The key to recognizing special teams is that it's a third of the game and it can make or break a football game at any moment. It also can usually result in good or bad field position for an offense or defense. The kicking game for these 3 student athletes has put them in a position to thrive and be recognized as one of best in California. Cole Becker - 6'3, 205 lbs - Rocklin - Senior Twitter: @colebecker01 Being 100% on 31 PATs last season, Cole Becker also was 90% on field goals making 14 out of 15 attempts in 11 games. Tied for first in the state of California in made field goals, Becker committed to take his talents to Colorado in November to continue his kicking career. Making a career long of 45 yards as a junior and constantly kicking the ball out of the endzone on kickoffs, Becker has proven to be one of best kickers in the state talent wise to go along with his statistics. Keeping his head all the way through a kick, Becker can kickoff the ball extremely well regardless if the ball is on the right or left hash mark. The Colorado Buffaloes will be bringing in a stud of a kicker. Adrian Melesio - 5'11, 193 lbs - Patterson - Senior Twitter: @adrianmelesio_ The 2 Time All-Section and 2nd Team All-State Kicker from Patterson High School, was tied for first with Cole Becker for most field goals made in the state. Having made the 6th longest field goal last season from 49 yards out, Melesio will be a great addition to any special teams unit at the next level. He is a bit more of a narrow footed kicker but he can pin the ball on kickoffs near the goal line to put his defense in a good position. Some coaches prefer the near goal line kickoff to pin the opponent's offense behind the touchback line to gain an advantage. Melesio had a 70% success rate on field goal tries last year making 14 out of 19 and also made 100% of his PATs making 56 straight kicks. As a sophomore, he was tied for making the 2nd longest field goal in California from 54 yards. His good follow through with power drive will create more offers for him sooner rather than later. Josh Bryan - 6'0, 190 lbs - Sierra Canyon - Senior Twitter: @Bryan9Joshua The Notre Dame commit, has been on varsity every year of his high school career for the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers. In 3 seasons, Josh Bryan made 120 out 133 PATs and 22 field goals, having a career high of 47 yards. He has totaled 101 touchbacks in 246 kickoffs in those 3 years and also punted 48 times as a junior for 1830 yards with 17 punts that landed inside the 20 and has a career high punt of 60 yards. Bryan does have a big leg and does not over or under step on his kicks and punts. He puts good hang time on punts to give the punt coverage enough time to get down the field and pin the ball. Outside of his kicking game, what I believe helped him to be a highly recruited kicker is his ability to tackle and his experience playing meaningful linebacker reps as he racked up 172 tackles in 3 years. His tape does show good angles and pursuit with good form tackling. The kickoff coverage at any level is sometimes seen as a 11 vs 10 because normally the kicker is discounted for to due to lack of ability. But in this case, Bryan can actually play as a defender and can help the special teams unit in 2 phases.
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