Alabama Crimson Tide fall camp previews: Special teams

Football is back in the air. Alabama kicked off its fall camp on Friday with its first practice. Today, BamaInsider wraps up its positional series by taking a look at the Crimson Tide’s special teams.

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It’s a telling sign that in one of the top signing classes in Nick Saban’s tenure, the most anticipated member might be a kicker. Will Reichard comes to Alabama as the No. 2 kicker in this year’s class and will be a welcomed addition to a Crimson Tide team that missed nine extra points last season, the most among all 130 Division I teams.

Reichard, a Hoover, Ala., native, was 27 of 31 on field goals and made all 109 of his extra-point attempts during his high school career. He helped solidify the hype surrounding his name this spring, hitting a 43-yard field goal while connecting on all four of his extra-point tries during the A-Day game.

“I think the guy’s a really talented guy,” Saban said on Early Signing Day in December. “I mean, he’s a really good person, hard worker, really good specialist in all regards. He can punt. He’s a really good kicker.”

While Reichard might be the answer to Alabama’s extra-point problems, the Crimson Tide’s struggles in the kicking game were a bit overblown. Due to its high-powered offense, Alabama attempted just 20 field goals last season, its lowest total since 2013. Of those, the Crimson Tide’s primary field goal kicker, Joseph Bulovas, made a respectable 14 of 18 (77.8 percent) of his attempts. Still, Bulovas was inconsistent at times, missing three kicks inside of 40 yards. His two misses on A-Day did little to endear him to the Crimson Tide faithful. Meanwhile, Reichard appears to be the more trustworthy option at the position.

Depending on how things play out, the freshman could actually provide more value in the punting game where Alabama ranked No. 128 in the nation, averaging just 35.76 yards on 42 punts.

After struggling last season, sophomore punter Skyler DeLong seemed to conquer his demons on A-Day. He averaged 47.5 yards on four punts and boomed two of his kicks 50 or more yards while twice pinning his opponents inside the 20. While those numbers are encouraging, Reichard could provide insurance if DeLong reverts back to last season’s struggles. The freshman was also used as a punter on A-Day and averaged 42.2 yards on a team-high six punts with a long of 47 yards.