When it comes to Iowa football, punting has been the backbone of the program in recent years.
That is why it is not a surprise that Iowa punter Rhys Dakin made it onto the recent list of the Top 100 Returning Players in college football.
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Dakin was the only Iowa player who made it onto the list, which is fitting.
Coming in at No. 98 overall, he proved how valuable he was for head coach Kirk Ferentz and the rest of the Hawkeyes last season.
In 2024, Dakin had a whopping 64 punts that went for an average of 44.1 yards per punt.
The Australian native was able to land 29 of his 64 punts inside the 20-yard line, which demonstrated his ability to flip the field. He only had five touchbacks, too, which is equally as impressive.
It is not easy replacing a great college punter like Tory Taylor, who won the Ray Guy Award, earned All-American honors, was named the Big Ten Punter of the Year twice, and has the highest career punting average in FBS history (46.3).
However, Dakin performed admirably in his role, which is a necessity in Iowa City, where offense has not been completely existent over the last few years.
Rhys Dakin Needs To Keep His Leg Ready
Last season, the Hawkeyes finished ranked 14th in the Big Ten in total offense as they recorded an average of 328.8 yards per game. They had the second-worst passing offense in the conference (131.6 yards per game).
When it comes to third down percentage, the Hawkeyes also finished 12th in the conference (41.8%). All of these stats point to the fact that the team struggled to put anything spectacular together on offense.
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The funny thing is that they ended the season with a quality record of 6-3 in Big Ten play and found a way to win games. Regardless, punting is an integral part of the success of Iowa and cannot be overlooked moving forward.
This is why Dakin is going to have to stay as loose as possible so that he can continue to affect the game in a positive way for Iowa.
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