Philadelphia Eagles: Johnny Townsend is a Senior Bowl player to watch

As the Philadelphia Eagles prepare for the Super Bowl, their scouting department is at the Senior Bowl. Here’s why PT Johnny Townsend is a player to watch.

Though there isn’t a professional football game this weekend, there is a game that could have a significant impact on the Philadelphia Eagles‘ future.

And no, I don’t mean the Pro Bowl.

On Saturday, January 27th some of the nation’s best football players will descend upon the city of Mobile, Alabama to take part in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, a game that pits some of the nation’s best senior college football prospects against one another right in front of representatives from all 32 NFL teams.

While the Eagles will obviously be focusing the vast majority of their attention on their fast approaching bout against the New England Patriots for a chance to be named Super Bowl LII champions, the team simply can’t overlook the Senior Bowl if they want to continue to build championship caliber rosters for years to come.

With current stars like Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson, and Carson Wentz all cutting their teeth as Senior Bowl standouts, the Eagles could very well find their next great player this week in Alabama.

Here’s why Florida punter Johnny Townsend is a player watch at the 2018 Senior Bowl.

(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images) /

Meet the Prospect

Johnny Townsend, a three-star kicker from Orlando, Florida was in high demand coming out of Boone High School. After initially committing to punt for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Townsend apparently decided to flip his allegiance to the Alabama Crimson Tide, before ultimately staying close to home to play for the University of Florida.

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And it appeared that Townsend made the right decision.

As a true freshman, Townsend appeared in six games and punted 29 balls for 1217 yards (42 ypa) on his way to becoming a member of the SEC All-Freshman team as the team’s second-string punter.

But in 2014, Townsend didn’t get another chance to follow it up.

After putting up promising numbers as a reserve in 2013, Townsend was redshirted for the 2014 season and had to wait until the following season to eventually become the team’s full-time punter.

And he became a darn good one.

Over his final three seasons on campus, Townsend developed into one of college football’s best punters, finishing his career with 240 punts for a Florida Gators’ record 11090 yards, good for 46.2 yards per attempt.

And since the Gators struggled to get much going on the offensive side of the ball for under then-head coach Jim McElwain, Townsend got a lot of action.

Now ready to take his talents to the NFL, Gator Nation won’t have to search far for their next great punter, as Johnny’s brother Tommy is currently inline to take over the Gators’ vacant punting spot.

ATLANTA, GA – DECEMBER 5: Damien Harris /

Why he’s a fit with the Philadelphia Eagles

Though the Eagles currently have a solid punter in Donnie Jones, he isn’t getting any younger.

While Jones is still playing at a high level, the 37-year old punter finished the 2017 season as the 23rd ranked punter according to ESPN and has slowly started to show his age on Dave Fipp‘s unit.

Going into the 2017 preseason, the Eagles brought in undrafted Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston to compete for the team’s punting spot, but fortunately for Jones, Johnston didn’t have the pinpoint accuracy from deep to unseat the 14-year veteran.

Townsend, on the other hand, does.

Townsend’s 47.5 yards per punt average ranked number one in the entire nation and set a Florida record with11090 yards on 240 punts over his five-year career in Florida.

And Townsend does more than just punt.

Townsend finished his college career with six tackles, which signifies a willingness to run down the field and drop the hammer on return men with his 6-foot-1, 211-pound frame. In addition to his abilities to be a formidable last line of defense, Townsend also offers some trick play potential.

In his four seasons in Gainsville, Townsend threw two passes as a sophomore, completing one for seven yards on a fake punt. While this is, for the most part, a superfluous skill for a punter, having a player who can throw a pass on a fake punt, or make an athletic play on a broken punt is a nice trick to add to Fipps’ playbook.

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Though the Eagles may have to use their sixth-round pick into guarantee they can bring Townsend to South Philly, his size, versatility and leg strength may be worth the investment. With the team going young at both kicker and long snapper, adding Townsend could ensure that the Eagles’ special teams unit remains special for years to come, and can grow together as a unit.

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