Matt Araiza did the unthinkable for a punter during the 2021 college football season.
He created a draft buzz.
The San Diego State redshirt junior did so by setting an NCAA record with 36 punts of 50-plus yards in 2021, including 17 that went at least 60 yards and even two that traveled at least 80(!) yards.
Along the way, he even earned himself an unforgettable nickname: The “Punt God.” Araiza won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter and was a first-team All-American, while being named the Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Year.
All of that made Araiza an attractive NFL prospect – especially here in Buffalo. Matt Haack struggled for the Bills last season in his first year with the team, ranking 25th in the NFL in gross punting average at 42.9 yards. Araiza, meanwhile, set an NCAA record with a 51.2 average in 2021.
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As a result, several Bills mock drafters had Araiza coming to Western New York in their seven-round projections, sometimes as early as the fourth round. Araiza’s NFL.com scouting report even speculated that because of his “elite power and field-flipping ability” that Araiza could become the highest-drafted punter since Todd Sauerbrun went 56th overall in 1995. That proved to be overly optimistic.
Araiza lasted until the 201st overall pick – the first one in the sixth round. He was the third punter taken, followed by Penn State’s Jordan Stout with the 130th overall pick in the fourth round to Baltimore (the pick the Bills sent to the Ravens to move up for Kaiir Elam in the first round) and Georgia’s Jake Camarda to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 133rd overall pick in the fourth round.
“The people who know me know that I take a lot of things very personal,” Araiza said of sliding down the draft board. “Yeah, we’ll just say that I’ll have a lot of motivation to dominate this season.”
A draft-day tumble
So, why did Araiza slip?
In simplest terms, he’s a work in progress.
Although his leg strength is obvious, punting in the NFL is about more than just bombing the ball as far as possible. Araiza has plenty of work to do when it comes to hang time, directional punting and pinning teams inside their own 20-yard line. According to punting stats kept by Greg Hart and posted on social media, Araiza’s average hang time was just 3.92 seconds, which was behind both Stout and Camarda. Additionally, Araiza placed 37% of his punts in short-field situations into the end zone for touchbacks – a number that will need to come way down in the NFL, especially considering the Bills have a potent offense that can move the ball.
“I think every aspect of the pro level I need to continue to work on,” he said. “I'm by no means a complete player yet, but I'm excited to get into the building and work with the staff and work with the other teams and get ready to just help the team as much as we can on special teams.
“That's maybe one of the things that I'm most excited for is that I know that I have so much to learn and so much to get better at. I think that was my biggest upside as a player, going into this draft, is that I don't believe that I've really scratched the surface of what I'll be able to do, so I'm really excited about getting to Buffalo and getting to work."
It’s not a surprise Araiza has things to continue to improve. He was a full-time punter in college for only one season, which is remarkable considering all that he accomplished. Araiza came to San Diego State as a place kicker. After redshirting in 2018, he made a school-record 22 field goals and was perfect on extra points in 2019, while also ranking sixth in the Football Bowl Subdivision by placing 78.5% of his kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks.
“When I was a true freshman, there was a senior place kicker and a junior punter, both of them veterans, both of them had played before,” Araiza said. “I ended up kicking first. It's pretty rare to let someone do both, so it became somewhat of an uphill battle to punt because I was labeled as a kicker, but the truth is I like punting a lot more, so I'm excited that I got this last season to show that and kind of rebrand myself as a punter now.”
Araiza said that, to his knowledge, no player has ever punted, kicked and handled kickoffs for an NFL team, so that’s a long-term goal. For now, though, he’s thrown himself entirely into punting.
“I understand that at the NFL level, there are 32 punters in the world that get to play and 32 kickers in the world that get to be a starter, so I understand it's kind of a one step at a time process. My first goal is to be a starter as a punter and a holder. That's more on my mind right now,” he said. “I've mostly put field goals to the side, at least for this pre-draft process, because I had more things I needed to change about my punting game. I needed to add hang time and add direction and become more of a pro-style punter. So I definitely had more work to do in the punting department.”
Araiza is a left-footed punter, but throws right-handed. Beane said punts that come from left-footed punters can sometimes be a bit tougher for returners to field.
A new responsibility
One other area Araiza will have to brush up on – and it’s a big one for the Bills – is as a holder. Since he kicked in both high school and college, he has no game experience as a holder. He spent the pre-draft process training in his hometown of San Diego with former Chargers kicker Nick Novak. He held for Seahawks kicker Jason Myers in those training sessions, so he’s been able to learn exactly what veteran kickers are looking for in the hold.
The Bills kept Haack last season mostly because, in their eyes, he’s an “elite” holder for kicker Tyler Bass, so it’s a part of the job that should not be overlooked.
“I'm very confident in my hands, I'm confident in myself as an athlete and I'm someone who cares a lot about the success of my team. I think all of those qualities will translate well to holding,” Araiza said.
Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said he’s confident that Araiza has the skills to hold in Buffalo, but he’ll have to prove that, just like he’ll have to prove he can punt directionally, and for both distance and accuracy.
“Every kicker that I've ever seen, they always want it a certain way, it's not the same,” Beane said of the art of holding. “Some of them like the ball more up, some like it more angled, Tyler could tell you way more than I can about all that but it's always kind of the kicker will kind of describe how he wants it.”
The Bills did not have a ton of pre-draft contact with Arazia in the process. Special teams coordinator Matt Smiley conducted a Zoom call with him. Beane, however, paid close attention to the punters at the NFL scouting combine, Araiza included.
“There were several, and a few got drafted, that you heard the difference when the ball hit their foot, you saw the difference,” Beane said. Araiza “can do a lot. He can kick off, he can kick field goals, if we need him. Obviously, we’ve got Tyler here to do that. But it’s nice.”
Beane confirmed the Bills will use Araiza exclusively at punter, but there is some comfort in knowing that if something were to happen to Bass in a game, Araiza could step in.
“I tell you what, his tape is fun to watch,” Beane said. “He’s actually trying to run by guys, if you ever go flip his film on, to make tackles. We’ll probably have to tell him some of these guys might hurt him so let’s don’t do that here. He plays with an edge. We have a sticker we put on guys if they’re just a violent player, called a ‘Rambo’ sticker. We’re like ‘This may be a punter that we should put the Rambo on.’ ”
Another thing Araiza will have to prove is he can handle the elements in Buffalo. He’s coming from the idyllic climate of San Diego to what can be swirling winds inside Highmark Stadium.
“I’m kind of excited for that challenge,” he said. “I love it. I think the biggest job in the NFL is to out-punt the player across from you. As long as I can bring better field position to my team than the team we’re playing against, that’s kind of my goal. I think leg strength and athleticism are two things that help a lot in the conditions. Those are two things I pride myself on and two things I’ll continue to work on. So I’m excited and I’m confident I’ll be able to do well in these conditions.”
As a draft pick, Araiza will have – forgive the pun – a leg up over Haack in the competition. He won’t be handed the job, though.
“Matt (Haack) had a down year. He's a better punter than what he just played last year,” Beane said. “He's got a new focus. So it's competition. And Matt knows that and we talked about that with Matt when we brought him back, ‘Hey, we're gonna bring in competition, either a veteran or somebody in the college draft or free agency that doesn't get drafted.’ ”
Enter Araiza, who will graduate from San Diego State on May 15 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies.
“It feels great and I don't even think it's completely set in yet,” he said of being drafted by the Bills. “I'm excited. I'm grateful. I feel incredibly motivated right now. I had somewhat of a short list of things that I was hoping to end up with, qualities of a team that I would end up with, and being a Super Bowl contender was absolutely up there, so I couldn't really ask for anything more.”
Right after he was picked, Araiza tweeted “SOMEONE GET ME A TABLE,” a shout out to what has now become a Bills Mafia tradition.
“I’ve only played football in Southern California, where football is pretty good here, but it’s not the main priority of the residents,” he said. “I never played football in a place like Texas or Buffalo where it seems to mean a lot more to the people, to the fans, so I’m really excited for that aspect of being a Bill.”
