July Player Performance Index top 30 deep dive: No. 20 P Dylan Joyce

CaneSport is breaking down the top 30 Miami players on the roster, and today we’re at No. 20, P Dylan Joyce.

THE BIG PICTURE

Joyce fills the big shoes of departing Lou Hedley, who was a four-year starter at Miami and an All-ACC punter (he had 206 attempts in his time at UM, with a career average of 45.2 yards). The early feedback on Joyce, who may be a freshman but is 23 years old and, like Hedley, is form Australia, is that he has as strong a leg as Hedley and should be one of the conference’s better punters. But the question always remains in Year 1 how consistent a freshman – even an older one – will be. And Miami needs to be able to flip the field position like it did with Hedley given some of the teams issues off a 5-7 season.

THE ANALYSIS

Joyce looked like he had a very solid leg this spring, and like Hedley he was signed out of Prokick Australia and has a background in Australian rules football. Joyce is a 6-2, 213-pound punter with the leg strength to put the ball 60 yards downfield in the air. Again, though, there is always a question of consistency with a true freshman punter. So we will find out early in the year if Joyce has what it takes mentally to really be solid in every scenario for Miami.

THE PROJECTION

We don’t expect Joyce to be Hedley right off the bat, but if he can consistently put up hang time and average 42 plus yards it would be a really good start. We are hearing very good feedback on Joyce off the spring and his summer workouts, so there is a lot to be encouraged about here. As his Prokick Australia coach, Nathan Chapman, said, “I would say what you’re probably going to see is Lou Hedley with less tattoos. You’ve got the same skillset. You’ve got the same body type. You’ve got the same athlete. You’ve got the same movement. You’ve got the same speed, strength, all those types of things.”

THE JUMP HE NEEDS FROM SPRING TO FALL CAMP

Miami didn’t do a lot of live punting in the spring, but when called upon Joyce certainly had the ball jump off his foot. He will be tested more in fall camp, with coaches no doubt wanting to put him in simulated pressure situations. He has to respond to those well and then take that mental and physical training into the season. Miami needs special teams to be a solid area if the Canes are going to out-pace expectations.

THE QUOTE

“I don’t want to be Lou Hedley 2.0. I want to have my own punting style. I basically just want to be the first me.” -Dylan Joyce

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