Raiders special teams: AJ Cole just misses out on leading league in punting

Daniel Carlson finishes 6th overall in kicking; return unit needs work

AJ Cole III was his usual robust-self in the Las Vegas Raiders’ regular season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers this past Sunday.

Sending the ball into orbit three times for 180 yards and an impressive 60 yards per boot average, the Silver & Black’s big-legged punter showcased why he’s one of the elite specialists in the game.

Yet, that one final booming performance to close the 2024 campaign wasn’t enough to push Cole into the league lead. Ending with a career-high 50.8 yards per punt average, the 29-year-old finished just shy of leading the league in punting — again — as the Detroit Lions’ Jack Fox takes the cake as the NFL’s top punter with an average of 51.0 (also a career high mark). Cole lead the league in punting in 2021 when he showcased a tremendous 50.0 yard average per punt.

In total, the Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Stonehouse finished with a 50.6 yards per punt average giving three punters that healthy sum. For Stonehouse, however, that mark is the lowest average of his career as he led the NFL in punting the previous two seasons with twin 53.1 per boot averages in 2023 and 2022. Stonehouse is also the youngest of the three punters who averaged over 50 yards per punt at age 25 (Fox is 28).

Cole did enter Week 18 trailing both Fox and Stonehouse for the punting lead so finishing just shy of where Fox ended up was impressive.

Overall, the Raiders punter capped his sixth season in the league with 65 punts for 3,304 yards. Those tallies have Cole ranked 13th and 12th in the league, respectively. He ended with a 42.5 net yards per punt average (average minus return/touchback yards) and had a long punt of 71 yards on the season. He did have a career-high eight touchbacks (tied for second most) and 27 of his punts were downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line (the second lowest sum of his career).

The 2024 campaign also saw Cole get two of his punts blocked due to miscommunication with between the personal protector and the rest of the special teams crew. The two blocks are the first pair in Cole’s career.

Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images

Par For The Course

In a season where even the most accurate place kicker in NFL history struggled (Justin Tucker who went 22-for-30; 73.3 percent conversion rate), Daniel Carlson’s 2024 campaign was par for the course.

Going 34-for-40, Las Vegas’ kicker netted an 85 percent conversion rate which is the third lowest mark of his seven-year career (81.0 in 2018 (rookie year) and 73.1 in 2019). The 29-year-old went 10-for-10 between the 20-29-yard line, 11-for-11 between the 30-39-yard line with his mises coming from 40 yards or more.

Carlson also went 23-for-25 on extra point attempts racking up 125 points in 2024.

That sum marks a middle of the pack-type year as Carlson’s lowest point output was 66 in 2018 and highest 150 in 2021.

Amongst his peers, Carlson ranked sixth in the league in attempts (40) and makes (34). And his overall 85 percent field goal percentage was good for 19th in the NFL.

Diminishing Returns

Five different players got an opportunity on the Raiders return units and it didn’t produce much other than flashes of excitement.

Veteran tailback Ameer Abdullah paced the kick return group with nine returns for 296 yards (a long of 68 yards). Rookie running back Dylan Laube contributed six returns for 164 yards (long of 59) while wide receiver DJ Turner pitched in with four returns for 106 yards (long of 31).

Abdullah was the lead punt returner fielding 10 punts and returning them for a total for 91 yards (long of 19). Speedy wide receiver Tre Tucker returned eight punts for 72 yards (long of 21) while Turner fielded seven punts for 77 return yards (long of 24).

Suffice it to say, but Las Vegas needs to refine the return game and get more production from the units in 2025.

By The Numbers

Heading into the offseason and 2025 campaign, both Cole and Carlson are in the final year of the extensions they respectively signed with the Raiders.

Cole, who signed a four-year, $12 million extension in 2021, has a $3.733 million cap number next season ($3.333 million base salary and $400,000 prorated signing bonus), which is quite affordable considering the production he brings.

Carlson, who signed a four-year, $18.4 million extension in 2021, holds a $5.15 million cap number next year ($4.35 million base salary, $800,000 prorated signing bonus), which is also manageable.

While both are nearing their 30s, specialists tend to have long careers and we’ll see if Raiders general manager Tom Telesco deems the pair extension-worthy next season.

Interestingly enough, the deal Cole signed in 2021 is the fourth-richest contract amongst NFL punters. Carlson’s pact, meanwhile, is 11th richest amongst his peers.