(2012 Commit Ian Maltz/Kicking.com)
The Great Kicker Battle of 2012 has taken yet another turn.
According to One on One Kicking, a training facility for kickers and punters, Ian Maltz has signed with the University of Massachusetts for the 2012 season.
Maltz comes to Amherst from the Hun School, a high school in New Jersey that UMass has been recruiting particularly hard during the past few months.
Of all the kickers that UMass has either offered or extended a preferred walk-on position to, Maltz is by far the most decorated. Kicking.com has Maltz’s list of awards, and it appears the four-year starter is ready to make an immediate impact.
You can check out his highlights here.
According to his NCSA page, Maltz has some wheels and runs the 40 in an outrageous 4.51.
Unless someone redshirts, next year’s kicking competition is going to come down to Colter Johnson (transfer), Blake Lucas (preferred walk-on), Jeremy Stinson (preferred walk-on) and “incumbent” Brendon Levengood.
Maltz and Lucas are two of the top high school kickers, according to Kicking.com.
There is always the possibility that one or more of these guys attempts to compete for the starting punting spot with Jeff Strait, which is far from a closed competition.
Maltz may be particularly suited for this role if he is not kicking for points as he averaged more than 40 yards a punt this past season.
Maltz also runs a 4.51 forty! Before he became a highly recruited kicker he played slot receiver and safety.
I have seen Ian Maltz kick at several camps around the country and this kid is the real deal! I saw him win the last man standing kicking competition at the University of Houston by hitting a 54yarder (with ease) with many people and coaches on the field watching. He can put the ball out of the back of the endzone on kickoffs and is a pretty good punter as well. At the University of Florida camp then coach Urban Meyer commented that he has “never seen a kicker with better form.” This is a great grab for coaches Molnar,Sollazzo & Plummer!
This seems like a particularly good move, considering the kicking game has been on life support for the last couple of years. (Not to mention the FG attempt that clanged off an upright in last week’s spring game.) We may not be able to match strength for strength and speed for speed in 2012, but can we at least have a better than 50/50 chance of hitting a field goal if a drive stalls within reasonable distance?
I agree – and with several guys fighting for a scholarship, it will should be a good competition.