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#40 Joshua Appleby
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Class: Junior
Ht/Wt: 6-3/222
Position: Kicker
Hometown: Athens, AL
Twitter: N/A
Thoughts: Appleby is still listed as a kicker but I think Joshua will be the man this year in regards to punting responsibilities. Appleby got six opportunities last season to punt and had a 42.3yd avg, including a long of 49 yards. Joshua also played well in the spring game earlier this year. Appleby had a shorter average distance in that game of 40 yards but pinned two inside the 20 and had a 51 yarder on five attempts. With Ryan Johnson graduating Appleby appears to be the “boot in waiting” for 2016 and (fingers crossed) he may get a few more opportunities on kickoffs. I’d like to see Appleby move his punting average closer to 45 or 46 yards and I think he has the leg to do it consistently. Last year Johnson finished the season ranked 94th for average distance (39.9) and at times we relied on our defense to get us out of some tough field position battles. Obviously distance is nice but we also need hang time, and that’s something Johnson was pretty good at. If Appleby can pin the ball inside the 20 and then we run our front seven out there…that’s a damn good start to making something good happen. And if he doesn’t do it….we “put him in a bodybag!” You know, cause he looks like Johnny from Karate Kid. Stay with me people.
Sweet Tweet: I searched and searched for a twitter from Appleby but had no luck, and here’s the kicker…get it? You know, because he's a kicker. Dammit.(I typed three different intros to that joke and all three were equally poor. The “time invested vs. payoff received” for that one was a huge failure. Guess they can't all be winners.)
If the kicker/punter doesn’t have a twitter only one response is acceptable. Fake. Punt. Video.