A. J. Cole III
 Cole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024 | |||||||||
| No. 6 – Las Vegas Raiders | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | November 27, 1995 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Woodward Academy (College Park, Georgia) | ||||||||
| College: | NC State (2014–2018) | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2019 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2023 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Alfred James Cole III[1] (born November 27, 1995) is an American football punter for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at N.C. State.
Early years[edit]
Cole grew up in College Park, Georgia and attended Woodward Academy, where he played football, basketball, and soccer.[2] As a senior, Cole was named All-Metro Area by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[3]
College career[edit]
Cole was a four year starter at punter for the NC State Wolfpack.[4] He finished his collegiate career with 9,288 punting yards (third-highest in school history) and averaged 42.2 yards per punt.[5] He was a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy as a junior and a semifinalist for the award as a senior.[6] In 2017, Cole was awarded Honorable Mention All-American honors by GPR Analytics.[7]
Professional career[edit]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4+1⁄8 in (1.93 m) |
217 lb (98 kg) |
33+3⁄8 in (0.85 m) |
8+3⁄4 in (0.22 m) | |||||||||
| All values from Pro Day[8][9] | ||||||||||||
2019 season[edit]
Cole was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Oakland Raiders on May 6, 2019, after participating in a rookie mini camp with the team.[10] He beat out incumbent punter Johnny Townsend during training camp to make the Raiders 53 man roster.[11]
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Cole made his NFL debut on September 9, 2019, against the Denver Broncos, punting three times for 134 yards (44.7 average).[12] Cole finished his rookie season with 67 punts for 3,081 yards (46.0 yards per punt).[13]
2020 season[edit]
In the 2020 season, Cole punted 44 times for an average of 44.1 yards.[14]
2021 season[edit]
On December 9, 2021, Cole signed a four-year, $12.4 million contract extension with the Raiders.[15] On December 20, 2021, Cole was named to the 2022 Pro Bowl.[16] Cole led the league among qualified punters in yards per punt in 2021, averaging 50.03 yards per punt.[17][18] Cole received first-team All-Pro distinction in 2021.[19]
2022 season[edit]
At the start of the season Cole was named, for the first time in his career, one of the team captains.[20] On the 2022 season, Cole had 59 punts for 2,884 net yards for a 48.88 average.[21] On January 30, 2023, Cole was named to his second Pro Bowl, replacing Tommy Townsend.[22]
2023 season[edit]
On November 5, 2023, in the victory 30-6 against the New York Giants Cole punted five times and totaled 318 yards on those punts, setting the NFL record for gross punt average in a game, with 63.6 yards.[23]
References[edit]
- ^ "Sheldon Named To Ray Guy List". GoHeels.com. October 31, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ^ "AJ Cole, Woodward Academy , Punter". 247Sports. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ Saye, Chris (December 28, 2013). "High school All-Metro teams". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ "A.J. Cole III College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ Smith, R. Cory (August 14, 2019). "A.J. Cole is the lone punter on Raiders training camp roster". 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ "Cole Named Semifinalist for 2018 Wuerffel Trophy". GoPack.com. November 1, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ "GPR Punt Rating". Gpr2021. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ "A.J. Cole III, North Carolina State, P, 2019 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ "A.J. Cole, Combine Results, P - North Carolina State". nflcombineresults.com. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ Bradham, Matthew (May 6, 2019). "NC State's P AJ Cole Signs Free Agent Deal with the Raiders". PackInsider.com. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Doug (August 14, 2019). "Rookie A.J. Cole Wins Raiders Punting Job". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Tucker, Tristan (September 10, 2019). "NC State quarterbacks shine in entertaining week one games". Technician. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
- ^ Aspuria, Ray Leonard (January 5, 2020). "Raiders In Review: AJ Cole taking control". RaiderRamble.com. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- ^ Lamarre, Tom (July 8, 2021). "Raiders Get Their Kicks Out of Carlson and Cole". SI.com. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
- ^ "Daniel Carlson and AJ Cole sign multi-year extensions with the Raiders". Raiders.com. December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ "Maxx Crosby, AJ Cole, Denzel Perryman named 2021 Pro Bowlers". Raiders.com. December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- ^ "AJ Cole 2021 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ "2021 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards". Pro-Football-Reference.com. January 9, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ "2021 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ "Raiders announce team captains for 2022 season". Raiders.com. September 9, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
- ^ "AJ Cole 2022 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ Damien, Levi (January 30, 2023). "Raiders P AJ Cole named to 2023 NFL Pro Bowl". Raiders Wire. USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ Smith, Michael David (November 6, 2023). "Raiders' A.J. Cole sets NFL record by averaging 63.6 yards per punt vs. Giants". Pro Football Talk. NBC. Retrieved November 7, 2023.