GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The only thing that matters when it comes to the Green Bay Packers punter is who has the job on Sept. 10.
But on June 1, the Packers ended the competition between Jacob Schum and Justin Vogel before it ever started when they released the incumbent. The two never squared off in a head-to-head kicking battle because Schum sustained a back injury and was waived injured on Thursday.
It was the final week of the preseason last summer when the Packers claimed Schum off waivers to replace their punter of six years, Tim Masthay. Now, it appears they will have a third punter in as many seasons.
“You’d like to be status quo there, but I think change is human nature,” Packers special teams coach Ron Zook said. “People resist change, but it is what it is in this league. But you deal with it and do what you’ve got to get done.”
That doesn’t mean it will be Vogel when the Packers open the season against the Seahawks, although he’s the only punter on the roster. The Packers had two punters on their roster at this time last year -- Masthay and undrafted rookie Peter Mortell -- and neither kicked in the NFL last season.
“I know it makes me the only guy here, but I know the situation: they could bring in another guy tomorrow,” Vogel said. “I could go all the way through the preseason, and they could bring in a guy at the very end. I’m just taking it like how it is and keep moving on. Right now, it means I get more reps at practice, which is always a good thing, so the coaches get more familiar with me. Hopefully, they’ll see one day that this is the guy they want and they won’t bring anyone else.”
In his only season with the Packers, Schum posted the second-best net average (39.1 yards) in team history behind Masthay’s 40.3-yard mark in 2015. Still, Schum’s net ranked only 24th in the NFL last season.
Enter Vogel, who was listed as one of Mel Kiper’s top undrafted free agents to watch. There weren’t any punters selected in the draft his year. Vogel, who began his career at the University of Florida but transferred to Miami, said he signed with the Packers in part because of the uncertainty over Schum’s future.
“The problem with a lot of the kicker positions is that a lot of guys are seasoned vets that have big contracts, so it’s hard to overthrow a guy like that,” Vogel said. “Schum just got a one-year deal, so I knew that there’s a better chance in terms of financially to release someone like that rather than a guy who’s being paid a lot of money.”
Vogel averaged 43.8 yards per punt as a senior last season and put 25 of his 64 punts inside the 20-yard line. Perhaps just as telling was that he had only 20 of his 64 punts returned, an indication that his hang time and/or direction was strong.
Vogel hasn’t kicked during either of the two OTA sessions that were open to the media. Zook said Vogel has a strong leg but couldn’t say yet whether he’s an NFL punter.
“We’re just looking at what we’re trying to get accomplished in practice,” Zook said. “That to me is on down the road when we make that kind of decision.”