Chicago Bears – 2014 Draft Recap
Round 6: P Pat O’Donnell, Miami (6’4, 220) – Grade C+
My initial reaction to this pick was anger. A punter? In the 6th round of the most loaded draft in the last twenty years? There were so many guys still available that I wanted the Bears to draft that it was hard coming to grips with the fact that the Bears passed on players with 3rd-4th round grades for a punter. My second reaction was “Can he play safety”? Phil Emery did say that they were looking at position change possibilities for safety. O’Donnell is 6’4, 200 and runs a 4.6 40… Can he be worse than Conte?
All joking aside, the more I thought about how bad Adam Podlesh was last year, specifically in the crucial matchup against the Packers in week 17, the better I felt about this pick. Podlesh had the worst punting average in the NFL last year (40.6 yards) and he somehow was even worse (34.3) in the season-ending loss to the Packers. Field position is important and an under-rated aspect of the game. It’s not ridiculous to think that the Bears having a good punter instead of the worst punter in the league might have given them one more win and a playoff berth.
O’Donnell was either the #1 or #2 punter on every board I’ve seen and should be a significant upgrade over Podlesh. O’Donnell’s 47.1 yards per punt was the best in CFB, broke the all-time record at Miami and would have been the 7th best average in the NFL last year. He’s known for having a big-time leg and some of his longest punts last year came when pinned in his own end zone. O’Donnell had a 71 yard punt last season and 20 punts over 50 yards. Florida St coach Jimbo Fisher mentioned during NFL Network’s draft coverage that O’Donnell was a weapon and flipped the field position edge on them a few times when they played Miami last season. O’Donnell’s leg is strong enough that he handled kick-off duties for Miami and also was the holder on field goals. He’s 6’4, 220 pounds and runs a 4.6; It’s like having an extra defender on the field in kick coverage. O’Donnell made 3 solo tackles last season and forced a fumble.
O’Donnell is definitely an upgrade over Podlesh, but he does have a few flaws. His directional kicking needs improvement and he struggled on coffin corner kicks. O’Donnell’s hang time was also inconsistent and his release time is a bit slower than average though as far as I can tell he only had 1 punt blocked during his college career.
It’s not a sexy pick, no one is ever going to be excited about a punter. That doesn’t make it a bad pick. The Bears had one of the worst punters in the NFL last year and it was just as big of a need as back-up RB or QB. I would have rather the Bears waited until the UDFA portion of the draft to bring in O’Donnell, but if Emery identified him as the best punter in the draft and if he can help the Bears win the field position battle, then a 6th round pick is not a huge price to pay.