Players Spotlight:
Kyle Larson, Cincinnati Bengals

By Marty Gitlin, NFLHS.com

It was no surprise that Kyle Larson commanded attention from college scouts during his senior year at Kearney High School in Nebraska.

After all, he averaged 46.5 yards a punt that season. NFL punters make the Pro Bowl when they even approach that.

But it's also no surprise that although Larson hasn't matched that number since, he considers himself a far superior punter these days.

Andy Lyons, Getty Images

Four years at the University of Nebraska and two more as the starting punter for the Cincinnati Bengals have taught him well. And one of the many lessons he's learned about his position is that it's not all about how far one can boot the ball.

It's about hang time. It's about avoiding the rush. It's about directional punting. It's about coffin-corner kicks. It's about not allowing all those dangerousreturners in the NFLto glide under the ballwith room to roam.

"With everystep up you take in football, the speed of the game picks up," says Larson. "In college, I always had to make sure I worked quickly and thatdefinitely hasn't changed one bit in the NFL.

"Butwhat really comes to mindup here is the return game. In college, you might face one great returner one week and another three or four weeks later. In the NFL, there's one every week. One week it's Antwaan Randle El and another weekit's Dennis Northcutt.

"(Bengals special teams coach) Darrin Simmons places a lot of emphasis on making the returner move for the ball and pinning him to the sideline. That's an emphasis from college that has translated into the NFL."

Larson is more proud of his 35.6 net punting average than his 43.2 overall mark a year ago. Though he admits he'd like to raise that former number to 37.0 this season, both were Bengals bests since 1998. He also set a team mark with a 75-yard bomb against Jacksonville last season.

Too slow to play linebacker and too small to play center in Division I, Larson dropped those positions after high school to concentrate on punting, for which he admits a lifelong passion.

But playing those spots on the field gave him an appreciation of the sport that remains with him today. In fact, so doeshis entire high school football experience.

"To be frank, that's where it all starts with me," says Larson, who grew up on a Kearney-area farm. "I learned so much even my freshman year in high school about the speed and the techniques of the game. I also started appreciating the common bond you form with the other players.

"I still enjoy going back to Kearney and seeing the coaches. I just like to hang out with everyone back there and talk about old times. I used to play against a kid from Lincoln Northeast High School named Trevor Johnson who turned out to be my roommate for four years at Nebraska and is now a defensive end for the New York Jets."

Larson signed with Cincinnati as an undrafted free agent, which is typical of most punters. He became the first rookie to snag a starting punting position for the Bengals since their inaugural 1968 season when won the job in the 2004 training camp.

"Every week I've tried to learn something more about punting," he says. "I try to soak in knowledge from my coaches and teammates. It's just unbelievable what you can learn. I always try to learn not only from my own experiences, but from other players.

"For instance, my rookie year I had to get used to the 'K' balls, which are the balls they use just for the kicking game in the NFL. In college, they can use balls that have been broken in already, but they always have a ball in the kicking game in the NFL that are brand new, right out of the box. They don't fly quite as far because there's not as much give in the leather."

Now that's something Larson didn't know when he was booting them 46.5 yards-a-punt back at Kearney.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.