Tory Taylor Has Developed Into A Legitimate Weapon For the Bears

Bears punter Tory Taylor began his career with extremely high expectations after being selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He became only the fifth punter to come off the board before the fifth round since 2008.

Only the special punters are that highly coveted, and Taylor fit that billing at the collegiate level. The Iowa State product was on campus during a period of significant offensive turmoil, and he was arguably the Hawkeyes' best player. He set a single-season punting yardage record with 4,479 yards on 93 punts and earned unanimous All-American honors and the Ray Guy Award for his efforts.

Expectations don't always translate to initial excitement when it comes to making the jump to the NFL, though. Many questioned Ryan Poles' decision to prioritize a punter with Chicago coming off a disappointing 7-10 campaign. They had many weaknesses, and a punter certainly wasn't going to help them develop into a contender.

Conventional wisdom says that a team coming off a rough season should prioritize positions of need on offense or defense. As it turns out, conventional wisdom isn't exactly batting a thousand when it comes to early-round punters, as the 2021 Buccaneers were the only team of the aforementioned five to have a winning record before pulling the trigger on a hopeful field-flipper.

We're starting to see why Poles prioritized Taylor, though. The Iowa State product is paying major dividends this season.

Tory Taylor has mastered the "banana punt"

With Chicago's offense firmly among the league's best, Taylor's punting stats don't really pop off the screen. His 17 punts are tied for ninth-fewest in the league, and all but three players with fewer attempts have played fewer than six games. He's also tied for seventh in the league with 49.3 yards per punt.

However, his affinity for "banana ball" punts, which wobble sideways rather than end-over-end, makes him unique from his peers. The technique, which Taylor picked up from his Australian Rules background, makes it tough for returners to field the ball cleanly.

So far this season, Chicago has recovered two muffed punts after opponents put the ball on the ground. The first occurred in the regular season, when Panthers receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. failed to wrangle a punt in the third quarter. Falcons rookie receiver Zachariah Branch was the latest victim, muffing a punt just before halftime on Sunday. The Bears enjoyed great field position and promptly capitalized with touchdowns.

Taylor shed some light on the technique after the Week 1 victory. He actually said that a standard punt is more difficult for him to hit consistently than the banana ball approach.

"Americans, they didn't really grow up playing Australian Rules Football, so it's easy when you're just building it from the ground up," Taylor said. "I've had to change so many things. Get rid of so many poor habits that I've had in the past and I've got to get new ones to be able to like get consistent spirals."

Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower also praised Taylor for his performance to begin the season after the team's disappointing Week 5 loss against the Packers.

It took some time, but Ryan Poles' vision finally came to fruition. Taylor has not only cemented his status as one of the league's best punters, but he's also developed into a legit weapon for Hightower's unit.