College Football

Penn State Football: The Argument for Tyler Davis for Special Teams MVP

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:15 p.m. ET

Fansided, Barry Leonard Jr./FanSided via Victory Bell Rings

Kicker Tyler Davis was automatic during the 2016 season.

Having a reliable place kicker is an overlooked commodity in college football. Knowing that the guy standing back there ready to kick is nearly automatic is a great asset to a football team. Tyler Davis certainly brought that to Penn State this past season.

The Nittany Lions enjoyed success in place kicking at the end of Sam Ficken’s career in 2014, but then struggled to find consistency during the 2015 season. Joey Julius was supposed to be the answer, but too many missed field goals and extra points took him out of the conversation.

Taking Julius off of field goal duty was actually a good thing, as he was able to focus all his attention on kick offs. Penn State was able to enjoy a unique dynamic in 2016 with two different kickers each with a different job.

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When it came to scoring points, Tyler Davis was the man for the job.

He converted all 62 of his extra point attempts and didn’t miss a field goal kick. Technically, he converted 22 of his 24 field goals, but the two that he didn’t convert were blocked, not missed by him.

Davis has a strong case to be named Penn State’s MVP on special teams thanks to his ability to give the Nittany Lions a reliable option when needed. Knowing that Davis was so good on field goals had to make some decisions easier on head coach James Franklin.

Tyler Davis was money for the Nittany Lions in 2016 and helped them transform into one of the biggest surprises of the season.