Iowa punter Rhys Dakin already showing improvement after impressive freshman season

IOWA CITY — On a scale of one to 10, Rhys Dakin would give himself somewhat of a modest score for the punter’s freshman season at Iowa.

“I’d probably give it like a seven out of 10,” Dakin said last month amid spring practices. “Six or seven honestly.”

A six or seven on Dakin’s 10-point scale would be superb for many other college punters. He averaged 44.1 yards per punt and had 29 punts inside the 20-yard line versus five touchbacks. Only 12.5 percent of his punts were returned — the second-lowest percentage among FBS punters with at least 40 attempts — according to Pro Football Focus.

But as he aims for a better score, some encouraging signs already have emerged.

“We definitely have seen improvement from Rhys,” Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods said this spring. “He’s also trying to be a little bit more consistent with that.”

Dakin has “gotten a lot stronger,” the punter noted as he thanked a reporter for noticing the added weight.

“I was actually in Coach Rai’s office a couple days ago just trying to work out the progression,” Dakin said, referencing head strength coach Raimond Braithwaite. “But I put on like 25 pounds, 30 pounds since first coming here last year in January. So they’re tremendous at what they do in the weight room. … I feel like it’s only going to help me get better on the field, too.”

Dakin’s weight room numbers, as of April, were a hang clean of “225 to 235, something like that” and a squat of “about 200” pounds for four reps.

“Still need to get it up,” Dakin said. “Obviously against all these linemen dudes, I feel like a little guy, so that humbles me at times.”

As for how exactly that strength translates to punt distance, he perhaps wisely does not “want to set any expectations.” But it’s an obvious positive.

“I definitely find I’m getting a bit more distance on my kicks than I did last year, especially in spring ball,” Dakin said. “Now, it’s just trying to adjust it and stay consistent with it.”

The consistency was not always there for Dakin as a freshman in 2024. He averaged 49-plus yards per punt in Iowa’s games against Troy, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin — numbers that would likely lead the country if sustained over the course of an entire season.

At the same time, he had some less-than-stellar punts, too — like the 35-yarder in his Iowa debut against Illinois State or the punt that led to Troy’s 77-yard touchdown return a couple weeks later.

“There’s a few issues going on with my feet and my swing coming across my body,” Dakin said. “I’ve really just got to think more linear, and that can help it, that can help with direction and putting the ball where I want it to go.”

Woods also noted Dakin has “improved dramatically as a holder.” Dakin was the second-team holder last season, with backup punter Ty Nissen handling the first-team holding duties.

“He’s done a really good job in that role, and excited for him and the sky is the limit for him as well,” Woods said.

As for Dakin’s modest review of his freshman season, others seem to be a little more optimistic about what Iowa’s latest punter from Australia already has achieved.

Dakin “sort of got thrust into everything” in 2024, as Woods phrased it, but “you’ve seen him improve each and every game last year.”

The Football Writers Association of America named him to its freshman All-America team. He also received second-team all-Big Ten honors from the conference’s media panel and the Associated Press.

“To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting any honors, but I’ll take it,” Dakin said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

Sign up for our curated Iowa Hawkeyes athletics newsletter at thegazette.com/hawks.