Rookie P Jeremy Crawshaw Passes Broncos' Special Teams Culture Test

The departure of veteran punter Riley Dixon, who defected to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the offseason, looked like it might lead to an open competition at Denver Broncos training camp. Football geeks were doubtless salivating at the prospect, poised with their stopwatches to measure some prodigious hang time in the thin air of Mile High.  

Alas, Broncos head coach Sean Payton ended those dreams after he used a sixth-round draft pick on Australian-born booter Jeremy Crawshaw. Critics could argue that Crawshaw might have been available as an undrafted free agent anyway, but the Broncos weighed up the interest in the former Florida Gators special teams ace and played it safe by picking him 216th overall. 

Crawshaw's career average of 46.4 yards per punt at Florida made the scouts' ears prick up considerably, but his character traits also jumped out to Broncos special teams coach Darren Rizzi. 

"Probably Jeremy the person. His maturity. It's not easy to come from another country and play a sport he had never played before," Rizzi detailed last week. "Think about that. Here's a guy that came from Australia, went to an SEC school, a top-level college program [and] had a ton of success. His maturity level, he's kind of beyond his years if you will." 

Many of Payton and general manager George Paton's moves during the offseason were designed to build additional muscle to the frame of a squad they believe is entering a championship window. No position has been allowed to slip through the net, even the frequently dismissed punting duties were evaluated forensically, and the Broncos' investigations turned up the name of Crawshaw. 

Rizzi feels the strong-legged Aussie has the maturity and demeanor that will allow Crawshaw to navigate the pressure-filled moments that come with operating largely on your own. 

"That was when we were kind of evaluating all the punters in the draft, his name came up. I really feel like his intangibles, his off the field stuff was A-plus. Now his talent level is tremendous as well. I really believe that at that position, at a specialist position, your demeanor might be just as important as your ability because it's a one play and done," Rizzi said. "You have to have the mentality of kind of a batter in baseball if you will, or a golfer. You have to go on to the next swing. I really like his level-headedness. I really like his maturity. I really like his approach. Getting to know him in the process was a big part of us drafting him, so that was pretty cool."

Make no bones about it, the release of fellow punter Matt Haack has already cleared the path for Crawshaw to claim the punting job uncontested, but you could easily say that it may weigh down the rookie with too much pressure. 

On the flip side, clearly Rizzi and company feel Crawshaw is mature enough to handle the punting responsibilities, and on a team with bona-fide championship ambitions. 

After all, you don't draft a punter simply to release him without seeing what he's got in the heat of battle, but that's something that Australians tend to relish.