Outside of a few players, there haven’t been a whole lot of positives surrounding the Raiders this season. Sitting at 2-6, the Raiders have one of the worst records in the NFL. For a team that made the playoffs last year, it’s been an incredibly disappointing season.
However, there have been a few players that have had outstanding seasons to date. That list includes Josh Jacobs, Maxx Crosby and Daniel Carlson. But the player who is arguably having the best season of all is punter A.J. Cole.
In a recent article by Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus, he named his All-Pro team midway through the 2022 season. That team included A.J. Cole, who is having another marvelous season.
“There are punters with better averages, but none with a better combination of distance, direction and hangtime on their kicks this season than A.J. Cole III.”
After averaging 50.0 yards per punt last year, Cole is averaging 49.9 yards per punt this season. He’s one of the league’s best at pinning opponents inside their 20-yard-line and he rarely has a bad punt.
In a year where a lot has gone wrong for the Raiders, it’s nice to see someone stand out like Cole. Look for him to be an All-Pro selection again at the end of the season for the second-straight year.
