Raising Zona
FanSided

Arizona Cardinals profiles: Drew Butler

By Scott Allen

January 16, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals punter Drew Butler (2) kicks the football during the first quarter in a NFC Divisional round playoff game against the Green Bay Packers at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Packers 26-20 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
January 16, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals punter Drew Butler (2) kicks the football during the first quarter in a NFC Divisional round playoff game against the Green Bay Packers at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Packers 26-20 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Arizona Cardinals have concluded mini-camp with next stop training camp in Glendale

We continue our annual look at player by player from A to Z on the current Arizona Cardinals roster as we are now entering the final stages of the offseason before the start of training camp. The next stop is training camp on July 28th.

In this profile we look at punter Drew Butler.  Butler enters his fourth season in the NFL and third with the Cardinals.

2015: Butler averaged 42.9 yards-per-punt last season.  That was an improvement over 2014 when he averaged 42.1 yards-per-punt.  Butler punted a total of 60 times.  He was able to pin the opponent inside the 20 on 22 of those occasions.  He had one punt blocked last season.

2016: Butler still has much room for improvement in many fans eyes and apparently in the eyes of the Cardinals front office as well.  He will have competition in training camp this season.

The Cardinals brought in a rookie, Garrett Swanson from Fresno State to compete with Butler in camp.  The Cardinals could be lighting a fire under Butler to be more consistent.  Butler has had his moments but he has been inconsistent at best.

His net punt average was down almost a yard and a half from 36.8 to 35.4 net-yards-per-punt last season.  Swanson will be given a chance but in the end I believe unless something crazy happens, the Cardinals will likely stick with Butler as their punter.

Make no bones about it though, Swanson will be more than just a camp body.  If Swanson performs well, you never know.  Look what happened when kicker Chandler Catanzaro came in a surprised everyone by beating out incumbent Jay Feely.  No one is guaranteed a job no matter the position.

Home/Cardinals News