Australian Arryn Siposs Stars in NFL Debut

After only one game, the Eagles new punter looks like a keeper

There were a number of strong performances by Eagles players in Atlanta on Sunday and the higher-profile ones got all the love with Jalen Hurts and Javon Hargrave leading the way on their respective sides of the football.

But, what about special teams?

Punter Arryn Siposs had a brilliant NFL debut, punting four times and pinning the Atlanta offense inside its own 20 three times. The only rep in which Siposs wasn't able to do that was his longest punt of the day (54 yards) and the Falcons were still inside the 25.

The long fields were untenable for a Falcons offense that generated only 260 total yards, 146 of them on the first two drives that generated all six of Atlanta's points in the 32-6 drubbing.

It was the type of complementary football that Nick Sirianni wants as Siposs finished with a 47.3 gross average and a 44.5 net.

"I thought Arryn did a phenomenal job," special teams coordinator Michael Clay said Tuesday. "... I kind of felt this from the first day I met Arryn working with him, first time working with him in rookie minicamp. Arryn’s a different type of person in terms of he's not a rookie in terms of the age. He's not 21, he's not 22, he's 28.

"He's dealt with real-life situations."

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A former Australian rules football player, Siposs started exploring a transition to American football with ProKick Australia before receiving an offer to play for Auburn in 2017 as a 25-year-old college freshman.

By 2020, Siposs was in Detroit for a training camp competition with arguably the NFL's best punter in Jack Fox. Siposs obviously didn't win the job but he was impressive enough that the Lions kept him around on the expanded practice squads as a COVID-19 contingency.

The Eagles, wary of losing another Aussie punter, Cam Johnston, in free agency this offseason, identified Siposs early and signed him to a futures deal back in January as an insurance policy.

When Johnston did in fact get a big deal from Houston, the Eagles were ready to rock with Siposs, something highlighted by the fact no competition was brought in for him.

"It was never any nerve things I was worried about with him," said Clay. "He always comes ready to prepare Wednesday, Thursday, when we have our big punt days, and it just paid off.

"I'm just really happy for him. I know he's been working really hard to get to this spot, his first real NFL game. He really performed to the level that we all know he can."

Coupling leg strength with directional skills is what every STC is looking for in a punter these days, something Siposs echoed back in the summer.

“I try to make sure that I put [the football] in the right spot every time,” said Siposs. “The game has kind of changed to where punting has become a little bit more directional these days, [instead] of just hitting the big one all the time. 

"While I still have to do [the powerful kicks], I try to make sure I put it in the right spot every time so our team can go down there, and either get fair catches or be in the right spot to make that tackle.”

The real hallmark to a great punter is consistency and the next test awaits for Siposs Sunday against San Francisco.

"There are still some things he can get better at and he knows that and that's the best part about it," said Clay. "He's going to be able to build off this [Falcons] game and hopefully keep getting better and better. He can really be a very, very good punter in this league if he just keeps doing what he's been doing."

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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.