Former Vanderbilt Football Player Finding Success in NFL With New Orleans Saints
A former Vanderbilt Commodores player that went to NFL, but stayed in black and gold, has found quick success at the next level.
Australia-born punter Matthew Hayball was the second overall pick in the 2024 CFL global draft, but went unselected in the NFL draft. He ended up signing a deal with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent.
Even though Hayball didn't sign with the CFL, it was still clear that he was one of the best players available. He was the first special teamer selected in the draft and was taken over Tory Taylor out of Iowa, who was the most popular at the position.
The former Commodores punter was an All-SEC first team selection as well as a All-American second team player after his stellar 2023.
He spent the start of his college career with the Florida Atlantic Owls after being selected out of the Chapman's Prokick Australia academy to head to the United State to play college football in America.
Pretty quickly, he became one of the top punters in Conference USA and eventually became one of the best punters in the country.
He finished his Vanderbilt career as the all-time leader in punting average with 46.5 yards and was top-10 nationally for most categories.
Taylor was the only punter drafted into the NFL, leaving Hayball to go to the Saints as a free agent. They were desperate to upgrade on special teams and Hayball just happened to be the guy that they depended on.
The Saints have notably had one of the worst offenses in the league, which means Hayball has heard is name called quite a bit. The 27-year-old has had a couple of standout performances since going to New Orleans.
His first notable game came at the end of October when he punted the ball nine times for 437 yards. Despite punting the ball so often, he was able to finish with one of his best averages yet at 48.6 yards.
Most NFL fans heard his name for the first time when he pulled off a fake punt for a first down against the Carolina Panthers this past weekend.
Punter Matt Hayball, FIRST DOWN.
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 3, 2024
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/eXdmpmHjtp
Next Gen Stats further pointed out just how impressive the punter was on the fake, as his 20.19 mph speed reached was the fastest of any punter since Johnny Townsend back in 2018.
He hasn't been the best punter in the league by any means, but he is improving and showing that he has playmaking capability.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders