There's a Reason Teams Draft Punters: Special Teams Are Important

Punters are often overlooked as necessities, but not "real football players" or some such silliness. It's all fun and games until the special teams costs you a game. Then, not so much. That's why Andy Lee and Mike Scifres are so well regarded -- and appreciated -- by their teams.

Anyway, in an effort to beef up its special teams, the Steelers used a fourth-round pick on Daniel Sepulveda. Not a very well received move in some parts of the Pittsburgh media; in fact, one writer suggested the team would've been better off with Mike Barr, the free agent that was annually invited to Steelers training camp only to lose the job to whoever the competition was.

Like clockwork, Barr lost out to Sepulveda, was released, but did land a job with the Cardinals. That lasted 11 games until Arizona sent him packing earlier this week. The reason? He was awful, of course. And even without looking at the stats, the fact that the Cards invited Mitch Berger, Tom Rouen and Chris Gardocki to compete for the job is reason enough to think that Barr wasn't faring very well. (For the three of you who care, Berger won the job. Season saved in the desert.)

And for anybody else who thinks punters aren't important, here's what Dr. Z had to say following the Steelers-Dolphins Monday night game:

You know how the Dolphins could have beaten [the Steelers] on Monday night? With superior punting, something that would have put the Steelers in a hole. It never happened. It's always amazed me, why an NFL team can't spend a couple of million or so to sign the most dynamic punter in the game. They're always yacking about how important special teams are, yet they won't spend a quarter to fortify that unit. It goes back to college, where I've seen some really high-powered teams with some scared-faced punter, popping a little weenie of a 3.4 hanger, shaking his head, etc. I mean how tough would it be to recruit some really dynamite high school boomer and give him a lovely scholarship and a job for his girlfriend and grandfather and whatever else he wants?

The lesson: Punters are people too. Learn it. Know it. Live it.