Canal Street Chronicles
A new era of New Orleans Saints football is officially underway—but their comeback fell short in the 20-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday’s Week 1 matchup.
The breakout player from the Saints’ season-opening loss to the Cardinals proved why he won his position battle this offseason: P Kai Kroeger.
The 23-year-old UDFA out of South Carolina put together a solid NFL debut after winning the training camp punting competition over second-year guy Matthew Hayball and fellow rookie UDFA James Burnip.
On his four attempts, Kroeger pinned two inside the 20-yard line for a total of 202 air yards (50.5 yards per punt, with a long of 54). Three were returned for a combined 30 yards, and one was fair caught, while he averaged 4.66 seconds of hang time per attempt.
It’s safe to say that between Hayball and Burnip, the Saints made the correct choice with Kroeger.
