Better punter, Reggie Roby or Tory Taylor?

[isuisshit]

Tough call here.

In 1982, reggie averaged 48.1 yards per punt, for his career he averaged 45.4 yards. He had kick off duties and routinely booted them through the uprights back then (they kicked off from the 40 back in the day). He was Iowa's long range FG kicker as well. Can't find any info about his net punting average at iowa, I doubt they kept track of that back then.

Tory is averaging 48.3 this season, 46.1 last year and 44.1 in 2020. His net average is impressive, 43.0 this year, 42.1 last year and 42.8 in 2020.

Most of us know of Reggie's long NFL career and being one of the best punters in NFL history, It's also BS that half the punter of the year trophy isn't named after him.

 

[HawkAlum2002]

Important to note that Tom Nichol did the pooch punting when Roby was here, 20 kicks for a 33 yard averaged in 1981 and 1982 for instance, while Roby averaged 49 and 48 for about 100 punts over the two seasons. Taylor does the pooch punting also, so his average likely won't be as high as Roby even if the longer ones are on par with Reggie's numbers.

 

[bumpstock]

Tory's placement is better, but Reggie's hang time was far superior. Reggie still has two, or three punts that haven't landed yet.

 

[hawkod]

I'm old enough to have seen both play. I'd vote for Tory; his ability to drop balls inside the 20 is far superior.
Overall he helps the team more. Zero disrespect for Reggie..

 

[Hawkeye Marching Band]

Tory's placement is better, but Reggie's hang time was far superior. Reggie still has two, or three punts that haven't landed yet.

Reggie wore a watch to monitor the hang time. He must have had the longest hamstrings in history to get his foot up that high. For the record, though, I think Tory's placement ranks him ahead of Reggie in Hawkeye history.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

Tory's placement is better, but Reggie's hang time was far superior. Reggie still has two, or three punts that haven't landed yet.

No doubt. Tory is phenomenal and I do think his placement is amazing, but Reggie’s hang time was unreal. I’ve never seen a punter get the kind of height Reggie got, and I’ve never seen a crowd OOOOH and AAAAH at a punt like the Kinnick crowd did when Reggie would punt. His punts almost seemed to defy physics. They would go a mile, but they were these incredible towering kicks where the ball just seemed to hover up there forever. Absolutely unbelievable talent.

 

[rchawk]

No doubt. Tory is phenomenal and I do think his placement is amazing, but Reggie’s hang time was unreal. I’ve never seen a punter get the kind of height Reggie got, and I’ve never seen a crowd OOOOH and AAAAH at a punt like the Kinnick crowd did when Reggie would punt. His punts almost seemed to defy physics. They would go a mile, but they were these incredible towering kicks where the ball just seemed to hover up there forever. Absolutely unbelievable talent.

I've never heard a crowd chant a punter's name before or since when he jogged onto the field. "Re-ggie! Re-ggie! Re-ggie!"

 

[Rustys Dad]

Tough call here.

In 1982, reggie averaged 48.1 yards per punt, for his career he averaged 45.4 yards. He had kick off duties and routinely booted them through the uprights back then (they kicked off from the 40 back in the day). He was Iowa's long range FG kicker as well. Can't find any info about his net punting average at iowa, I doubt they kept track of that back then.

Tory is averaging 48.3 this season, 46.1 last year and 44.1 in 2020. His net average is impressive, 43.0 this year, 42.1 last year and 42.8 in 2020.

Most of us know of Reggie's long NFL career and being one of the best punters in NFL history, It's also BS that half the punter of the year trophy isn't named after him.

The thing about Roby is Iowa had another punter to handle short punts…. Don’t get me wrong, Roby had a cannon … But Taylor (all around) is better in my opinion.

 

[Rustys Dad]

Important to note that Tom Nichol did the pooch punting when Roby was here, 20 kicks for a 33 yard averaged in 1981 and 1982 for instance, while Roby averaged 49 and 48 for about 100 punts over the two seasons. Taylor does the pooch punting also, so his average likely won't be as high as Roby even if the longer ones are on par with Reggie's numbers.

Yes… this. Roby had a cannon … Overall, I think Taylor is the better of the two from an overall perspective.

 

[JupiterHawk]

I've never heard a crowd chant a punter's name before or since when he jogged onto the field. "Re-ggie! Re-ggie! Re-ggie!"

They have been chanting something for Taylor. I I didn’t catch what it was the other night,

 

[joelbc1]

Regis was phenomenal, espeçially in ‘81. I remember one opposing coach describing Iowa’s football team saying “they beat you up on defense all day long and then on offense, they simply kick it over your head.”
In particular, I remember Reggie keeping Nebraska in shitty field position all game long when Iowa beat them that year. I bet Reggie flipped the field on Nebby 3-4 times that day with his kicking.

 

[GunnerHawk]

Too hard to pick between the two. Both great punters. I saw Reggie also, punted the ball sky high, let it rip.

Tory's ability to control his punts is amazing. He stretches the field on the opposition by dropping inside the 10 often. FWIW, our punt coverage is awesome, Robert's has been amazing and DeJean not far behind

 

[K OKeefe]

Why pick? Enjoy both for who they were and are. Most importantly they were/are both Hawkeyes.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Why pick? Enjoy both for who they were and are. Most importantly they were/are both Hawkeyes.

Exactly. Being old enough to have seen Roby in person, I won't vote against Reggie. Especially given that he had a 16-year career in the NFL. Taylor may be a NFL punter, but that is not known yet. If you give Roby today's college rules where you can block differently and send people down the field before these rugby style punts, I would like to see how Roby performed given those rules. But each era is different.

If you judge a player by how good he was compared to his peers, Roby is the clear best punter in Iowa history. I know that is not what is being asked here, just where I am on the subject.

 

[toddhawkwi]

I'm not sure why we'd compare 2 punters from different generations. Roby was truly a generational talent in his day.. there simply wasn't another punter like him. Today with the soccer style punters, yes Tory is amazing to watch. But when you look at the relative stats, he's not alone. I was surprised last year how many teams had punters just as good as Tory. It's the times we live in. But I loved watching Reggie and love watching Tory. We're lucky we had both.

 

[abby97]

I remember watching Roby kick in high school at old Sloan Wallace Field in Waterloo. He would kick field goals and XP's over the uprights across the street and the ball would land in a neighbor back yard.

 

[goodbyebobby]

Tory's placement is better, but Reggie's hang time was far superior. Reggie still has two, or three punts that haven't landed yet.

Only two or three?

 

[beatdahuskers]

Only Reggie could make 60,000 fans stand and cheer that it's 4th and long.

Tory is very close to doing that.

 

[Twoooooooo]

Until Tory has an ice cream treat named after him, this isn’t even debatable 😉

 

[ichawk24]

I've never heard a crowd chant a punter's name before or since when he jogged onto the field. "Re-ggie! Re-ggie! Re-ggie!"

This past game, there were general cheers whenever Tory came on the field, and a couple M-V-P! chants.

 

[JupiterHawk]

 

[JupiterHawk]

Madden as an announcer.

 

[JupiterHawk]

 

[isuisshit]

They have been chanting something for Taylor. I I didn’t catch what it was the other night,

mvp! mvp! mvp!

 

[kcgolfer]

I'm old enough to have seen both play. I'd vote for Tory; his ability to drop balls inside the 20 is far superior.
Overall he helps the team more. Zero disrespect for Reggie..

Agree. I loved Roby but I give the edge to Taylor.

 

[rchawk]

Agree. I loved Roby but I give the edge to Taylor.

Iowa is darn lucky have had both.

 

[sabula]

TT is I think team MVP after three games. He turns field position almost every time he punts. I'll judge him vs RR after he spends 10 yrs in NFL. But damn he's good.

 

[jonesy5960]

Reggie wore a watch to monitor the hang time. He must have had the longest hamstrings in history to get his foot up that high. For the record, though, I think Tory's placement ranks him ahead of Reggie in Hawkeye history.

I read somewhere that Reggie actually knocked himself out 3 times over the course of his career.

 

[cf2087]

Great question. Reggie’s boomers were more impressive, breathtaking to watch. But if you’re talking about value to the team, Tory’s uncanny ability to either kick long or to drop the ball inside the 10 makes him more valuable.

 

[DBQ Hawk]

I watched Reggie his whole career, and he was great, but Tory’s ability to kill the ball inside the 5 is unmatched by any punter I’ve ever seen. And Reggie—while he had a superhuman leg and kicked 60+ with ease—sometimes out-kicked his coverage, leading to big returns

The answer is Tory. Reggie could kick farther, but Tory kicks are more accurate, long or short (and he kicks almost as far)

 

[bman546]

Toby was great but it isn’t close. As previously mentioned, Nichol came in for the pouch punts. Roby lacked the touch and it also kept his average up near 50 because he didn’t even attempt the shorter 40 yard punts hoping to land it inside the 5 yard line. Taylor does not just dobeverything, he excels at it.

 

[CarterHall]

Never seen Tory do this:

 

[Packer54]

I've never heard a crowd chant a punter's name before or since when he jogged onto the field. "Re-ggie! Re-ggie! Re-ggie!"

1st game this year the crowd was chanting MVP....MVP....MVP when Tory came off the field.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Tough call here.

In 1982, reggie averaged 48.1 yards per punt, for his career he averaged 45.4 yards. He had kick off duties and routinely booted them through the uprights back then (they kicked off from the 40 back in the day). He was Iowa's long range FG kicker as well. Can't find any info about his net punting average at iowa, I doubt they kept track of that back then.

Tory is averaging 48.3 this season, 46.1 last year and 44.1 in 2020. His net average is impressive, 43.0 this year, 42.1 last year and 42.8 in 2020.

Most of us know of Reggie's long NFL career and being one of the best punters in NFL history, It's also BS that half the punter of the year trophy isn't named after him.

Reggie definitely had the stronger leg. But remember, his junior and senior years they used Tom Nichol as "pooch" punter. That sort of "protects" his average.

Tory has much better coverage downfield than Reggie had. Much of that is changes in ST philosophies, as well as mindset. They used to talk in terms like, "Roby outkicks his coverage". That was partly true, but mainly due to the fact people simply weren't used to a guy who could--without leaving his plant foot--kick 50-plus yards effortlessly, all day long.

Roby almost singlehandedly saved several big games in 1981 (Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin) in the second half. Taylor has been just as important.