Hard to believe, but there are under 50 days until the Broncos storm the Capital to take on the Hokies. As you may remember, last summer I embarked on the Herculean task of counting down a different roster spot for each remaining day until kickoff. So far this year, we're batting a thousand, so drop me notes of encouragement now and again so I can find the strength to get through the next couple months without breaking the streak.
We've got 49 days until kickoff...so today we'll be highlighting #49 on the Boise State roster—Brad Elkin
#49, Brad Elkin, Senior, P
Stats
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 201 lbs.
High School: Bellarmine Prep High School, Tacoma, WA
How'd he get to The Blue™?
Elkin was a three-year letterman in both football and soccer at Tacoma's Bellarmine Prep. As a senior he was named first-team all-league as a punter and first-team all-league, all-area, and all-state as a kicker. Elkin made 16-of-17 extra points and 7-of-10 field goals, which earned him a spot on the Seattle Times all-state team. As a senior, Elkin was rated the #4 punter in nation, but received but one offer—from Boise State.
Nickname
"Coffin corner" [kaw-fin kawr-ner]
Elkin was given the opportunity to become the team's main punter as a true freshman in 2007. Since then, he's been relegated to mainly "coffin corner" punt attempts.
Look-a-like
Career highlights
51-yard field goal was longest in state of Washington in 2006. Named to Seattle Times all-state team. Downed 8 balls inside the 20 as a true freshman in 2007.
Career lowlight
Lost punting duties to Kyle Brotzman almost immediately upon Brotzman being given the opportunity.
2010 prospectus
As a highly touted true freshman in 2007, Brad Elkin was expected to come in and clinch the Broncos' punting duties for the next four seasons. Somehow, just the opposite has happened—and Elkin's role in the kicking game has become all but non-existent after 3 full seasons with the Broncos. The first, and biggest problem? Consistency. No position on the team welcomes inconsistency, but on special teams, consistency is of vital importance. Elkin lost the coaching staff's confidence in year one, punting 27 times with an average of only 37 yards/punt. Conversely, the walk-on place kicker, Kyle Brotzman gave punting a shot in 2007 and averaged nearly 45 yards/punt with a long of 71 yards. Sure Brotzman's roll-out style punt was more unorthodox and potentially risky, but he was good at it, and made Elkin's high punts seem unnecessary. The numbers breakdown is striking. Since 2007, Elkin's punt attempts have gone from 27 to 10 to 11. Brotzman, who also has held down place kicking duties, has seen his punt attempt numbers go from 21 to 37 to 46. On top of that, Brotzman's average has held at 45 yards/punt since his freshman year, and his punts inside the 20 have increased each year as well.
Now that the workload has become a bit heavy for Brotzman, it has been suggested that this year another kicker (Trevor Harman or Jimmy Pavel) take over the kick-off duties and leave Brotz to the field goals and PATs. What has yet to be decided is if Brotzman will still be handling the punting duties. I'd say smart money is on Brotzman staying the Broncos' chief punter...he has had 70+ yard punts every year as a Bronco and has been so good with the roll-out (and the fakes) that Elkin has been relegated to a short-punt specialist. Expect more of the same in 2010. Elkin will be called upon on "tweener" punts where a field goal is barely out of the question, and the Broncos have a chance to really pin the opponent deep. In summary: if we have the ball at our own 37 and want to pin the opponent deep, we're using Kyle Brotzman—if we have the ball at our opponent's 37 and want to pin the opponent deep we might just used Brad Elkin.
Completely made up fact
Elkin punted the ball so high during pregame warm-ups in Moscow that it busted right through the thatched straw roof of the Kibbie Dome.