Anthony Fera Commits to Michigan
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3 CommentsAnthony Fera, a kicker from Houston, committed to Michigan today. Fera is one of 2009′s best kickers, and he is a pretty good punter as well. Fera just received a long-awaited offer from Michigan in the last week and didn’t need to wait very long to make a decision. He also had an offer from Penn State, who is assumed to be the second-place finisher in his recruitment. Ohio State had interest in Fera as well, but with an already full recruiting class, they didn’t offer him a scholarship.
With a somewhat limited amount of scholarships to hand out, it is understandable that there will be some questions regarding why Rich Rodriguez decided to give one to a kicker, especially with kicker Bryan Wright already on scholarship. Well, I guess it shows that Rodriguez values special teams, and Fera is going to be an important player to have in the future. Zoltan Mesko has only two years of eligibility left (this season and next season) and K.C. Lopata is a 5th year senior. Fera will be able to come in and replace Lopata in 2009, and then in 2010 he very well could become the starting punter as well.
I’ve never been a big fan of a player handling both kicking and punting duties (Hayden Epstein’s punting may have scarred me for life), but I’m more than okay with it if Fera can already do both. The coaches have actually converted Bryan Wright into Mesko’s backup punter, so it can be done. Since Fera will join Michigan with already established punting skills, it works for me.
What works for me even more is that Michigan landed one of the best high school kickers in the nation. He has three stars on Rivals and is ranked 2nd at his position, and ESPN also speaks very highly of him.
Fera has excellent leg strength as a kicker. Gets good power into his kickoffs; normally kicks the football deep into the endzone or out. Kickoffs also are over 4.0 hang time. Shows good timing on his kickoffs by gradually accelerating into teh [sic] kick. Good leg extension and follow through on kickoffs. Consistent field goal kicker that demonstrates the ability to make field goals well into the 40′s distance wise; longest is 58 yards. Also an above average punter. Gets good heigth [sic] on the punts; helps the coverage unit get down the field to make a play. Fera is an excellent place kicker and a good punter.
On top of his skills, landing Fera means Michigan has added yet another Texas native. U-M has really had a nice pipeline in Texas the last few years, and it’s good to see that is continuing in 2009.
For an up close look at Fera’s skills, check out the video below.
After some of the kicking issues Michigan has had in the past, it’s good to know that that shouldn’t be an issue in the future.
Seems like a good player. Hopefully this prevents future games like the Washington opener back in 2002 (I think).
Don’t rule out Wright being moved full-time to punter, he’s buried on the depth chart beneath Gingell and Lopata, he’ll only be called upon for long distance field goals.
Fera looks great. As you pointed out, Rich understands the importance of special teams and I find it very refreshing to have a kicker on scholarship.