Better Know a Buckeye: Blake Haubeil

This week's Better Know a Buckeye feature continues with a profile of Blake Haubeil, a kicker from Buffalo.

Haubeil was arguably the break-out performer from a one-day position camp in June 2015. He kicked field goals from 35-to-50 yards in front of Meyer before the Ohio State head coach asked him and his father to talk with him in his office. Haubeil returned a month later for Friday Night Lights. Ohio State's coaches offered him then and he committed on the spot.

I retell his story below. I start with a note about how specialists (i.e. kickers, long snappers, punters) do not have the typical college prospect recruitment and that Haubeil's story does not deviate much from the standard recruitment for these positions. I then focus on how Haubeil's performance at that one-day camp in June 2015 resulted in a return trip the next month for Friday Night Lights, an offer, and a spot commitment. I then offer a scouting report of Haubeil and what he can do at Ohio State. I close with a projection of a redshirt and highlight film to watch at the end of the feature.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Long-time readers of this feature know the recruitment of specialists (punters, kickers, long snappers) follow a template, for which there is little deviation.

Times have changed this statement a little, but it's not uncommon for college football coaches to rely on walk-ons to do these jobs. After all, specialists do niche jobs and football regulations generally protect them at all levels. They have a longer shelf life (at least in the pros) than most every other position on the field and durability amid these protections is less of an issue. Some college football coaches operating under roster restrictions do not need "depth" at the position nor do they feel compelled to extend a scholarship (i.e. waste a scarce resource) that could be better used on depth at a more salient position like wide receiver or defensive tackle.

Specialists seek out college scholarships but they are not readily available when coaches are less concerned about position depth or wonder if the position needs a scholarship at all. Specialist recruits do not have exciting recruitments nor an abundance of offers. They will typically travel to what's the best, sometimes only, offer available. For example, the top kicker in the 2017 class is from Colorado and signed with Auburn. The top punter in the country is from California and signed with Colorado State. Specialists go where the job takes them.

Urban Meyer, given roster needs, seeks out the best specialists to fill an immediate need at the position. The best coaches, like him and Nick Saban, do this. All-world punters, kickers, and long snappers are rare but finding them is a worthy investment when the alternative is a job done poorly. Compare, for those who remember, how valuable Bryce Haynes was as a long snapper for Ohio State's national championship team to the canonical case of outsourcing a long snapping job to a hack: the 2002 New York Giants in its infamous playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.

On kickers, think of Alabama's fate in the 2000 Orange Bowl—or, more recently, Ohio State in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl against Clemson—as illustrations of the danger of outsourcing a kicking job to walk-on and hoping for success.

Ohio State may have privately wondered about Sean Nuernberger after his freshman season or may have simply been thinking about the kicking job after him when Ohio State went kicker shopping in the summer of 2015 with an eye toward its 2017 class. The kicker it got would enter the program as a freshman as Nuernberger prepares for his fourth season.

Coaches worried about a time commitment in finding the best kicker for their needs may have felt reprieved when arguably the best kicker in the country came into their orbit. Blake Haubeil arrived at Ohio State for a one-day position camp and, more than other camp participants like Isaiah Pryor, drew immediate attention from the coaches.

Haubeil was arguably the star of the one-day camp, as much as a kicker can be a star of these camps. He was reliable from 35-to-50 yards in front of Urban Meyer. After a lunch break, he kicked field goals in front of Meyer again from the same distance. Meyer was so impressed that he asked Haubeil and his father to come to his office for a talk. Haubeil did not leave with an offer, but at least had credible interest from a coaching staff excited that the search for a kicker may not take long.

His next visit came a month later for Friday Night Lights, a visit sufficient for an offer and a spot commitment.

HIS COMMITMENT

Blake Haubeil committed to Ohio State at Friday Night Lights as the fifth member of what would become Ohio State's 2017 recruiting class.

The offer came the night of Friday Night Lights, notwithstanding serious mutual interest from the past month. Haubeil and Ohio State's coaches, principally Kerry Coombs, had been talking about two or three times a week for the past month. Haubeil, without an Ohio State offer, or any other offer in hand, began romanticizing the idea of playing for Ohio State.

The rationale for the commitment largely follows that. Ohio State was the first to express a strong interest. Ohio State is close to his Buffalo home, a luxury that many specialists do not get in accepting scholarship offers. Haubeil had spent June and July of 2015 thinking about playing for Ohio State, making it an easy choice when the offer finally came.

WHERE HE EXCELS

Blake Haubeil is arguably the best kicker in the country for 2017 and was for most of his recruitment before Anders Carlson overtook him in the 247 composite rankings. 247sports individually has him as the best kicker in the country.

He might also be the most decorated kicker recruit in the country. He's a first-team All-American at Maxpreps, Scout, and USA Today.

I'm most intrigued by how athletic Haubeil is. Specialists routinely get no more than three stars from recruiting services, a dog whistle that those who play the position are not as athletic as a wide receiver or even a defensive tackle. Haubeil gladly concedes the point but it's worth noting that, at 6-3 and 200 pounds, Haubeil looks rather athletic for the position.

That's mere "eye test" though. The important point is Haubeil's demonstrated accuracy. He showed considerable comfort on extra points. He was a perfect 56/56 on those as a senior. He even made a 61-yarder as a junior.

This is the intrigue for Haubeil's potential at what is otherwise a ho-hum (if critical) position. He has a tall frame, good athleticism, good leg drive, and power to excel as a field goal kicker at Ohio State.

MUST WORK ON

Dissecting kickers is not exactly my forte, but here are a few issues to ponder.

The uprights narrow at the collegiate level by six feet. That's less of a margin for error on long field goals.

Haubeil may want to speed up his approach on kicks. Rushers get a lot faster at the college level. They'll also get bigger, which will be challenging for kickers who make the transition not accustomed to getting more lift on the ball. That first blocked kick, in practice or, worse, in a game, is always a rude awakening.

Further, watch Ohio State carefully and you'll see the coaches are rather demanding on kickoffs. Do you notice how infrequently Ohio State aims for touchbacks? That's a design from the coaches, not a "weak leg" from the placekicker.

This follows what amounts to a strategic blunder by the NCAA for the cause of "player safety" on special teams. By moving touchbacks on kickoffs to the 25-yard line, the NCAA incentivized the receiving team to take touchbacks but disincentivized the kicking team to concede touchbacks to the receiving team. So, Ohio State coaches instruct their kickers to "coffin-corner" kicks just shy of the end zone with air underneath them, forcing the receiving team to return the ball from a difficult spot without the option of a touchback but giving Ohio State's "piranhas" time to run down the play with a tackle short of even the 20-yard line. 

Ohio State translates its superior athletes, diligent coaching, and the NCAA's myopia in proposing a "rational" solution to a "strategic" problem into gains in field position for it. This helped Ohio State land at No. 12, No. 8, and No. 3 in opponent starting field position in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Ohio State took a turn south to No. 30 in the country in 2016. Ohio State tied for No. 9 in the country in 2016 for kicks out of bounds, which helps explain last year's meager performance on special teams.

I mention this for three reasons. One, it's unbelievably cool that Ohio State does this for both competitive advantage and, in this interpretation, to hoist the NCAA on its own petard. Two, it's hard. A failure to do this right either leads to a kick out of bounds or a bigger return when the kicker outkicks the coverage. Three, I haven't seen anything on Haubeil's film that suggests this is a strength of his. Everything about him highlights accuracy and power on field goals and extra points.

REDSHIRT?

This will be an interesting camp battle. Ohio State coaches may have soured on Sean Nuernberger over the past two years, effectively giving his job to a Duke transfer and, then, a walk-on former soccer player with almost zero football experience. He'll be in the running for the job as a senior but Haubeil is a credible challenger to start as a true freshman.

In other words, he could do the job and do it well enough as a true freshman. There's no real way he plays in 2017 unless he starts. Nuernberger as starting kicker means a redshirt for Haubeil. I think the latter ultimately happens, meaning Haubeil will wait a year before he gets playing time.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here's Blake Haubeil kicking a football.