Broncos special teams coach dubs rookie one of the most talented prospects he's had

Punter hype? Punter hype!

After losing Riley Dixon to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during NFL free agency, the Denver Broncos used a sixth-round draft pick to select Australian punter Jeremy Crawshaw in April.

Advertisement

The international punter grew up playing rugby league and Australian rules football before training to kick in American football. After attending Nathan Chapman's ProKick Australia academy, Crawshaw played college football at Florida.

The 24-year-old punter impressed Broncos special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi this spring.

“Probably Jeremy the person," Rizzi said on June 11 when asked what impressed him about Crawshaw. "His maturity. It’s not easy to come from another country and play a sport he had never played before. Think about that. Here’s a guy that came from Australia, went to an SEC school, a top-level college program, [and] had a ton of success. His maturity level, he’s kind of beyond his years if you will. That was when we were kind of evaluating all the punters in this draft, his name came up. I really feel like his intangibles, his off-the-field stuff was A-plus.

"Now, his talent level is tremendous as well. I really believe that at that position, at a specialist position, your demeanor might be just as important as your ability, because it’s a one-play-and-done. You have to have the mentality of kind of a batter in baseball if you will, or a golfer. You have to go on to the next swing. I really like his level-headedness. I really like his maturity. I really like his approach. Getting to know him in the process was a big part of us drafting him, so that was pretty cool.”

That's extremely high praise from Rizzi, a high-profile coordinator who has coached in the NFL since 2009 and has experience as an associate head coach and interim head coach. Special teams players are often overlooked by fans, but Crawshaw appears to have been a huge addition for the Broncos this offseason.