Boise State roster countdown 2018: Day 46, Joel Velazquez

Day 46. Just barely over a month and a half until we reach the promised land: Kickoff. On that note...

#46, Joel Velazquez, Redshirt Sophomore, K/P

Stats

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 227

High School: Trabuco Hills High School, Mission Viejo, California

How’d he get to The Blue^TM?

Mr. Velazquez came our way via a 3-star ranking from Scout.com, following a high school career that had him selected to the All-CIF Southern Section Southwest Division Team as a punter in 2015, named to All-Sea View League First Team, and the Orange County Register’s All-County Third Team (as a punter). He was also a perfect 35-for-35 on PAT attempts and went 6-for-9 on field-goal attempts, sent 41 of his 54 kickoffs for touchbacks, averaged 39.4 yards over 56 punts with a long of 72. Further, he competed in shotput and discus for the Trabuco Hills track and field team, earning three varsity letters. He holds top-10 school marks in 10-lb. and 12-lb. shotput events, and in 1.6-kg discus.

Nickname

”Balenciaga”

Because he’s known for his kicks.

Look-alike

Wreck-It Ralph

FanPop.com

Career highlights

At the beginning of last year it seemed like Joel was going to be the lone kicker for the Broncos, but the talents of Haden Hoggarth could not be ignored. Hoggarth ended up kicking a bunch, Quinn Skillin ended up doing a bunch of punts, and Velazquez did a bit of both and some kickoffs. He averaged 40.6 yards across 22 punts (long of 63) and had 53 kickoffs go for touchbacks. Probably his most impressive kick of all, though, was the expertly controlled one that helped finish off the comeback against Colorado State:

2018 Prospectus

With Hogarth and Skillin around for another year, it seems likely that the division of labor will be about the same as it was last season, with Velazquez primarily handling kickoffs and some punts.

Is he on Twitter?

Affirmative

Completely made up fact

Joel is the only human being on earth, aside from Charlie Kelly, who has never consumed a pear.