VIA TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS COMMUNICATIONS -
The National Football League today announced that Tampa Bay Buccaneers punter Jake Camarda was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September. Camarda is the second punter in team history to win Player of the Month honors (also Josh Bidwell, Nov. 2005), and the first Buccaneers special teamer to win the award since 2012.
In three games during the month of September, Camarda punted 14 times for 768 gross yards (54.9 avg.) and 629 net yards (44.9 avg.), and tied for the NFC lead with seven punts pinned inside the 20-yard line. His 54.9 gross yards per punt lead the NFL this season, while his 44.9 net yards per punt rank fifth in the league (min. 10 punts). Camarda also connected on a 74-yard punt in Week 3, matching his franchise record and tying for the longest punt in the NFL this season. He leads the league in punts of 50+ yards (nine), punts of 55+ yards (seven), punts of 60+ yards (five) and punts of 70+ yards (two). Tampa Bay’s average opponent starting field position following a punt return is the opponent’s own 20-yard line, which puts Camarda third in the NFC.
In addition to his punting duties, Camarda converted 11 kickoffs for touchbacks this month and recovered a blocked field goal in Week 2.
The second-year punter out of Georgia won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week recognition for his Week 2 performance vs. Chicago, in which he pinned three of his four punts inside the 20-yard line, in addition to finishing third in the NFL in Week 2 in yards per punt (52.8 avg.) and fifth in net yards per punt (47.8).
For his career, Camarda ranks second in NFL history in gross average (49.8) and seventh in net average (42.1) among players with 90-or-more career punts.
Since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Camarda has now won Player of the Week honors twice (Week 2 of the 2023 season and Week 9 of the 2022 season), in addition to claiming his first monthly honor this September.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES