If Walter White is the man who knocks, Tyler White is the man who punts.
And BREAKING: He’s not bad.
He’s really, really good.
On Monday, Texas A&M punter Tyler White was named the SEC’s co-Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in Saturday’s 21-17 win over Arkansas in Alrington.
White shares the honor with Kentucky’s Alex Raynor, who hit a pair of field goals in the Wildcats’ 20-17 upset of Ole Miss.
Ironically, the last Aggie to earn Special Teams Player of the Week honors came after A&M’s 2023 win over Arkansas when Ainias Smith accumulated 131 punt-return yards and a touchdown vs. the Hogs a year ago.
In a defensive battle, White punted nine times for a 43.1-yard average with a long of 58.
However, what was most impressive about his showing was that seven of those nine punts were downed at or inside the Arkansas 15-yard line.
Further, what was even more impressive is that five of those seven were downed at or inside the Razorback 10.
White was instrumental in helping the Maroon & White win the special teams battle, even after the Hogs' trickery on a first-quarter fake punt.
Even on nine punts, the Razorbacks registered ZERO return yards as all Isaiah Sategna could do was wave for fair catch after fair catch.
With the redshirt freshman from Southlake Carroll flipping the field on multiple occasions, Arkansas’ overall average starting field position was its own 18-yard line. After White punts, that moves to the Arkansas 14-yard line.
On the year, White has punted 16 times in four games (his services were not needed in a 52-10 thrashing of McNeese) for 737 yards, which equates to a 46.06-yard average.
For comparison, during his Ray Guy-winning 2018 campaign, Braden Mann averaged 51.0 yards per attempt with 19 downed inside the 20-yard line.
While his average is certainly below Mann’s, White already has 11 downed inside the opponent’s 20 on 34 fewer boots.
He’s not Walter, but Tyler seems to be cooking up an All-American season.
