The Bills signed a new punter this offseason in Matt Haack, which means they also got a new holder on field goals and extra points. But while the holding job just defaults to the punter on most NFL teams, Haack said it’s a job he takes seriously.
Haack, who was previously punter and holder for the Dolphins, told the Buffalo News that he has already touched base with kicker Tyler Bass and long snapper Reid Ferguson about getting together for offseason work so that there are no miscues with holds.
“It’s extremely serious because it ties directly into points,” he said. “Any time you can get points on the board, I mean, that’s how you win football games, is scoring more than the other team, right? Getting Tyler comfortable with the way I hold and whatever he likes and having him be confident in his holder I think is huge and sets him up for success and makes the unit better as a whole, so I take that job very seriously. It’s like going out and hitting a big punt. If you don’t have a good hold, it screws up the whole operation.”
Haack said that he views continuity on special teams as a major part of success.
“A lot of the best units around the league are guys that have been together for a while,” Haack said. “I think that’s huge. You can have successful years here and there with a guy coming in here and there, but I think overall with long-term consistency, in that aspect, having guys that are comfortable with each other and work well together and are confident in each other, I think it goes a long way.”