Alabama football fixes biggest weakness with Transfer Portal

Alabama football got even better this week

It was clear that the transfer portal was going to help Alabama football, but that belief was proven recently. The Tide have already landed a starting-caliber receiver and one of the best linebackers in college football, but the portal isn’t only about big moves. It’s about improving the roster in any way, and Alabama just fixed the biggest weakness on the roster.

Since JK Scott went to the NFL, Alabama has been unable to find a quality punter. Alabama has gotten decent reps from Ty Perine and Charlie Scott, but no one has been consistently solid for the Crimson Tide.

This has been of minimal concern since Alabama has been the best offense in football. Most games have seen two punts at most, so it was never going to change the outcome for Alabama football. Still, having a consistent punter is valuable, and the Tide just landed one from the transfer portal.

Jack Martin, a punter and placekicker from Troy, has committed to play for the Tide. Martin averaged 46.1 yards per punt after 25 attempts last season, and he never had a game where he averaged less than 40 yards per punt. That proves his consistency. To put this in perspective, JK Scott averaged 43 yards per punt in his final season with the Crimson Tide.

Alabama hasn’t had anyone average at least 46 yards per punt since Scott’s junior season. To be fair, circumstances change the yardage. In some instances, Alabama punters had to intentionally kick the ball short to avoid a touchback. Still, over half of Martin’s punts landed inside the 20, and he only had four returned last year.

Alabama football fans never want to see the punter on the field. That clearly means that the offense failed. Still, it will be nice to know that Alabama has a trustworthy leg to turn to when needed.

It will be interesting to see what Martin does in Tuscaloosa, but fans can expect him to avoid the disastrous plays on special teams that we have seen in recent years.