The Los Angeles Rams announced that they have signed former Buffalo Bills punter Corey Bojorquez.
This is quite the homecoming for Bojorquez having grown up in nearby Bellflower, California. He attended Mayfair High School in Lakewood and played at Cerritos College before transferring to New Mexico.
Bojorquez came into the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2018 with the New England Patriots but was waived leading up to Week 1 as part of their final cuts. Fortunately, he was quickly picked up by Buffalo where he spent the next three seasons handling punting duties and is coming off his best year yet.
Bojorquez finished the 2020 campaign leading the league with an average of 50.8 yards per punt, which was also tied for fourth-best in league history with Shane Lechler from 2011. He also tied Cincinnati Bengals punter Kevin Huber for the longest punt with 72 yards. Meanwhile, punter Johnny Hekker’s long from last season was 63 yards.
There is still some room for improvement for Bojorquez, especially when it comes to distance control on long punts. Only 18 out of his 41 punts were downed inside the 20-yard line while another seven went for touchbacks, which was tied for most in the league.
Hekker is coming off another disappointing year where he averaged a career-low 45.6 yards per punt. He downed 28 of his 68 punts inside the 20-yard line, however, he also had five touchbacks for the second straight year.
Hekker still has three years left on his contract and remains a candidate to become another cap casualty this offseason. Releasing him could save the Rams $3.75 million in cap space while taking on only $1.2 million in dead money.
Special teams underwent some major changes last offseason with the departure of coordinator John Fassel and Greg Zuerlein. They lost another key piece this time around after long snapper Jake McQuaide reunited with Fassel and Zuerlein with the Dallas Cowboys.
Hekker remains the last member of what was once one of the most productive groups in the NFL. Even if Bojorquez does not emerge as a potential contingency plan, the Rams will at least usher in some more competition alongside Brandon Wright.
