Getty ImagesThe Jaguars needed a new punter after Adam Podlesh signed with the Bears as a free agent, so they decided to be proactive about it.
Jacksonville selected Cal punter Bryan Anger with the seventh selection of the third round, number 70 overall, on Friday night in New York. The pick likely comes as a surprise to some, but no to Anger. He told the Bay Area News Group that he was “pretty much guaranteed” to get drafted, a pretty bold statement for a player at a position that saw one player selected last season.
Anger is in some pretty limited company. The last time a punter went in the third round of an NFL Draft was when the Chiefs took Dustin Colquitt with the 99th pick in 2005. The last time a punter went higher than Anger was when the Bears took Todd Sauerbrun with the 24th pick of the second round in 1995. Only four other punters have ever gone higher than the seventh pick of the third round.
So it’s an unusual move. Based on his production in college, it could also be a successful one. Anger had an average of 43.5 yards per punt over his career and put 90 kicks inside his opponent’s 20-yard line. Anger will need to put up those kinds of numbers in the NFL to stop people from thinking the Jaguars reached by taking him when they did.
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Punter in the third round! Makes sense for the Jaguars because Blaine Gabbert sucks, so they’ll be punting a lot.
The Broncos draft made me sad.
After seeing this pick, I strangely feel better about it now.
Uncover the seats in the upper deck! Chad Henne in free agency and now a punter in the 3rd round? Shahid Khan is building a winner!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is my favorite team…
A team that needs everything except rb drafts a punter in 3rd rd.
Amazing
Thanks Gene. Thought I might actually get a summer to where it wasn’t laughable to be a Jags fan. Two great picks following by the normal foolishness. Have fun explaining that one to Kahn.
Sauerbrun had a pretty long, solid career, his best years coming with the Panthers. Dustin Colquitt is a top 10 punter and looks like he will have a long career as well. So it sounds like Bryan Anger will do well in the NFL.
Taking a punter in the 3rd when u could’ve gotten him in the 7th, HA. That’s why the Jags will continue to be a 6-10 team.
I mean, seriously, can you really imagine the Jaguars front office staff cheering and high fiving after they picked him, saying “WE GOT OUR GUY!” etc? Lol.
NationalFlagFootballLeague says:Apr 27, 2012 9:54 PM
A team that needs everything except rb drafts a punter in 3rd rd.
Amazing
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Obviously, you forgot Jacksonville had the #6 defense last year…
I wish Jacksonville was in my fantasy league!
Gene Smith Suck. I was a fan of him earlier. But now I have feeling it was he was the reason why we are struggling now. I gotta feeling he is not building a winner. Gene could have traded this pick to fourth round and some picks and still landed this guy.
What a looser Gene is? Jaguars will only build a winner if he gets fired.
Annnd that’s why they’re the Jaguars…
i agree it was a surprise pick but to say the Jags need everything but a running back is just plain silly. they had the 6th ranked defense last year. remember, those who know little should remain silent.
Truly amazing. No wonder their stadium is empty
Gene smith is building the depth in the punting position. What a great GM he is?
Who did they believe they were stealing this guy from by using a 3rd on him?
I mean – who did they have to get in front of (like Cleveland at #3) to make sure they got this gamechanger?
It’s almost like a contest to see who can make the most rediculous reach this year.
Vital for their success.
Nice vote of confidence for Gabbert.
Well lets be honest
If you’re a punter and you want to work, you can’t do a lot worse than us lately.
Good pick Gene
Al Davis approves.
Oh my Tebow. I am speechless. I am without speech.
So, that guy who was pretending to be Gene Smith for the first two rounds – yeah, I’d like for him to come back.
I really didn’t see this coming !! He better be farking great !!!
It looked like they knew what they were doing with Blackmon… And then they went and pulled this stunt.
There is absolutely no excuse for taking a Punter in the 3rd.
Nothing a punter ever does will make him worth this high of selection. If you need one, just invite the best UDFAs to camp and let them battle it out.
gojags says:
Apr 27, 2012 10:08 PM
Gene Smith Suck. I was a fan of him earlier. But now I have feeling it was he was the reason why we are struggling now. I gotta feeling he is not building a winner. Gene could have traded this pick to fourth round and some picks and still landed this guy.
What a looser Gene is? Jaguars will only build a winner if he gets fired.
Who’s the loser, Gene Smith or the guy who can’t spell LOSER correctly??
Here’s how it went down:
Mark Dominik: We can move down to 7. What are you offering?
Gene Smith: We’ll give you our third and fourth round picks.
Mark Dominik: That still doesn’t seem like enough after what Minnesota got, but I like you. Tell you what, give us the fourth, and draft a punter with the third round pick, and you’ve got a deal.
Gene Smith: (inaudibly) Sucker! I was taking punter in the second.
I’m hoping Anger struggles just so I can see the headline “Jaguars have Anger issues”… or “Jaguars special teams coach needs to manage his Anger better”….
Oh, man, the “Anger” jokes are endless…
Look at this way
they have no 4th rounder. Would this guy be there in the 5th?
Again, if we had this guy or even Podlesh we may still have had the same record, but it may not have been such a kicking
Yes, that’s the Genius Gene we have known all along. Great 1st round pick, ok 2nd round and then the experiments begin. A big middle finger to the fans.
I think Gene Smith does this just to get his name mentioned in the press. He’s like the Kardashian of the football world.
“Look at me! Look at me! See what I have done here!”
What makes great football teams great year after year is consistent drafting. I have a hard time imaging Bill Belichick green lighting a punter in the third round – even if his current punter was a 90 year old woman.
As much as a hate to admit it this….Punter is probably the most important position on the team….watch out NFL number 32 ranked offense in the league coming at ya! FML come on Jags
Khan’s reward to Gene Smith – choose player to be drafted in 3rd round
Khans challenge to Gene Smith – push all of the square pegs through the square hole.
C’mon Khan ! at least give him star shapes !
northshorejag says:
Apr 27, 2012 10:49 PM
Look at this way
they have no 4th rounder. Would this guy be there in the 5th?
_____________________________
Yes.
And if not, the Jags would have missed out on ….. a punter.
Ray Guy
This is why some teams always suck. Your bad team has million holes to fill and with the third pick you take a punter? Idiots!
Oh I forgot “they hated rated much higher on their weenie board and were shocked he slipped into the top of the 3rd round”.
I can’t wait to see the train wreck of the Jag’s season. As a Dolphins fan, it is heartening to see another hapless team just a few hundred miles away.
Honestly, with the 6th best defense, having a guy who can pin a team inside the 20 consistantly could be a huge upside. IF they can get points on the board, that is…
I am so getting a ANGER jersey!!!!!
zzr600guy says:
Apr 27, 2012 10:00 PM
Taking a punter in the 3rd when u could’ve gotten him in the 7th, HA. That’s why the Jags will continue to be a 6-10 team.
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6-10? How generous of you
This ANGERs me.
Shaun Powell from FSU is a whole lot better!
Best part about this is that Anger is having his draft party tomorrow. if I’m him, I’m angry about getting drafted too early.
Whatever. A 3rd pick for a P? Podlesh was a 4. He rocked. How bout keeping this one this time?
Tiki Barber had no idea what flabbergasted truly means.
Now he does.
I don’t know if I was following close enough, but I see them trade up to draft a punter in the 3rd? Wow
@blancodiablo
Pats actually had your old punter Hanson for awhile. He was teh suck. We were ecstatic when the Pats got Mesko.
I wish this kid had gotten drafted by Indy. Then they would have Anger and Angerer.
His last name probly fits how jaguar fans are feelin right about now.
Making fun of the Jags for taking a punter is like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s almost too easy. Keep in mind they drafted Podlesh who they really liked and he bolted for Chicago. They replaced him, regrettably, with Matt Turk who singlehandedly cost them 2 games last year. While this may be knee jerk reaction to that unfortunate signing, I also believe a number of targeted players were taken in the 10 picks prior to their 3rd round selection. They don’t have a 4th (but they do have a Blackmon!) and Anger would likely have been gone by their 5th round pick. You can disagree, but it’s true. I am not as upset about this pick as some Jag fans will be because I know how good this team can look when they win the field position game.
@blancodiablo Gene Smith is the polar opposite of a Kardashian. He is more like Hans Moleman from the Simpsons. Nice try though.
hrudey says:
Apr 27, 2012 10:42 PM
Here’s how it went down:
Mark Dominik: We can move down to 7. What are you offering?
Gene Smith: We’ll give you our third and fourth round picks.
Mark Dominik: That still doesn’t seem like enough after what Minnesota got, but I like you. Tell you what, give us the fourth, and draft a punter with the third round pick, and you’ve got a deal.
Gene Smith: (inaudibly) Sucker! I was taking punter in the second.
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This is comedy gold right here, lol.
Well done, hrudey.
any pick in the first three rounds, heck….probably the first four rounds….is too valuable to be playing games with. there are no punters or kickers in this world worth wasting a pick that high on. utter stupidity. you can ALWAYS find SOMEBODY to kick the ball….you DONT waste a prime pick on them. i couldnt care less about the jags and im disgusted…i cant imagine how ticked off actual jags fans are.
Let’s see if I have this right.
People who know diddly about football don’t like this pick.
If the ‘experts’ were so ‘all knowing’ then a team with Trent Dilfer at qb, Gallery and Mandarich as book-end tackles and K. Carter at rb would be good for 3 or 4 Super Bowls. If they added Packman Jones at cb it could be as many as 6 or 7.
As for the ‘jags being the jags’…since they have been in the league (for those of you with reading comprehension issues I am talking of the time period since the start of franchise) the Jags have been more successful then the Cowboys, Lions, Chiefs, Bills, Dolphins, Vikings, etc., on the field (again, for those with reading comprehension issues success is measured on the field).
As to the ‘cute’ (but ignorant) snide comments in regard to the tarp…the capacity of the Jag’s stadium is still beyond most NFL teams. If all NFL teams had the same capacity half of all NFL games would be subject to black-outs.
I know most of the negative comments on all stories are submitted by trolls living in their (single) parent’s basement when they need to practice an alternative exercise for their right hand. But please…even though you are protected by a non-de-plume, show some pride.
Let us not forget the great Russell Erxlabben from the Texas Longhorns. Saints took him #1. He may have been # 1 overall. Can’t remember that far back. But the Saints were so crappy then, he was very near #1 overall.
What do u expect from a team that puts the franchise tag on a KICKER! !!!!!!! I guess they got a punter to kick punts into the stands to wake up the few fans that do attend their games, Jaguars …….championship! !!!….NOT!!!!
I’m I the only Jag fan that think punter Nick Harris did a decent job?
It does not matter how talented a punter Anger is. You just do not take punter in the 3rd round. EVER! Foolish pick for a franchise struggling to put butts in the seats.
Brian Anger says teams who passed on him are “gonna pay”
The jags are playing for field possession, im sure Blackmon heard that the jags was trading up to get him he was upset, cause with gabbert throwing him the ball, there goes his rookie of the year n performance bonus cause he’s not Gona catch many balls from Gabbs, he’s captain checkdown to MJD
They’re probably targeting long snapper with their 5th round pick.
hey, 6th ranked defense guys,
Bleacher Report agrees with me. You don’t draft a punter in the 3rd rd when you finish 5-11 the year before. OBVIOUSLY, you have other needs
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This grade would’ve been an A if it wasn’t for the confusing pick of punter Bryan Anger out of California.
This player was arguably the best punter in the draft, but a punter should never go this high. The Jaguars have glaring needs at right tackle and cornerback, and one of those should have been the pick in the third round.
Jacksonville has a lot of picks, and they could have easily gotten this guy in the mid-to-late fourth or fifth rounds.
Hey praetorian77…..yeah you Einstein! how many blackouts have the Jags had in the last two years? Right……same as your IQ…..zero.
That is a very, very old myth that Jag fans don’t attend home game…..lets see…. talk to Tampa. San Diego, Oakland or even….this going to get them going…..Washington fans. How many empties/blackouts did they have last year? I thought they all had waiting lists for season tickets. BS.
Come visit the us sometime. Watch us at the Players Championship in two weeks. Join us at the beach side bar for a cold one. Enjoy the weather. Relish zero state income tax. You only wish you could live here!
If I’m not mistaken the super bowl champions franchised their punter and if you watched the super bowl, you know why.
I normally don’t have an opinion over draft picks. It depends on many aspects for college players to have success or failure in transition to the NFL. But 3rd round pick for a punter might be a turning point for Gene Smith to look for a job some where else next season.
Great pick Jacksonville. Love this pick, stand up guy.
Thanks for making us Seahawk fans feel a little better!
NationalFlagFootballLeague says:
Apr 28, 2012 10:05 AM
hey, 6th ranked defense guys,
Bleacher Report agrees with me. You don’t draft a punter in the 3rd rd when you finish 5-11 the year before. OBVIOUSLY, you have other needs
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This grade would’ve been an A if it wasn’t for the confusing pick of punter Bryan Anger out of California.
This player was arguably the best punter in the draft, but a punter should never go this high. The Jaguars have glaring needs at right tackle and cornerback, and one of those should have been the pick in the third round.
Jacksonville has a lot of picks, and they could have easily gotten this guy in the mid-to-late fourth or fifth rounds.
Well, if the Bleacher Report says so….
Tell the Bleacher Report they don’t have a 4th round pick.
You guys keep saying third rounder…he was almost a second round pick, 70th overall. I know we didn’t have a 4th round pick but this guy would’ve been there in the fifth round and possibly even the sixth.
As a life long Jags season ticket holder, I feel like Charlie Brown. Everytime I feel like we are moving in the right direction: new QB learning under Garrard, going out and hiring a big name coach, bringing in some excitement with Tebow, looking like a great draft through two rounds…, then Lucy pulls the ball away as I go to kick it! Gene, you are making in hard for the fans to have faith in your plan.
Well Khan did say he wanted the Jaguars to be a known team and it looks like he has been doing that so far since he has been the owner.