AJ Cole (American football)
.jpg) Cole in 2019 | |||||||||||
| No. 6 – Las Vegas Raiders | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Punter | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | November 27, 1995 | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Woodward Academy (College Park, Georgia) | ||||||||||
| College: | NC State | ||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2019 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||||||
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A. J. Cole III (born November 27, 1995) is an American football punter for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina State.
Early life and high school
Cole grew up in College Park, Georgia and attended Woodward Academy, where he played basketball and football. As a senior, Cole was named All-Metro Area by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[1]
College career
Cole was a four year starter at punter for the NC State Wolfpack. He finished his collegiate career with 9,288 punting yards (third-highest in school history) and averaged 42.2 yards per punt.[2] He was a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy as a junior and a semifinalist for the award as a senior.[3] In 2017 Cole was awarded Honorable Mention All-American honors by GPR Analytics.[4]
Professional career
Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders
Cole was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Oakland Raiders on May 6, 2019 after participating in a rookie mini camp with the team.[5] He beat out incumbent punter Johnny Townsend during training camp to make the Raiders 53 man roster.[6]
Cole made his NFL debut on September 9, 2019 against the Denver Broncos, punting three times for 134 (44.7 average).[7] Cole finished his rookie season with 67 punts for 3,081 yards (46.0 yards per punt).[8]
References
- ^ Saye, Chris (December 28, 2013). "High school All-Metro teams". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Smith, R. Cory (August 14, 2019). "A.J. Cole is the lone punter on Raiders training camp roster". 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ "Cole Named Semifinalist for 2018 Wuerffel Trophy". GoPack.com. November 1, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ "GPR Punt Rating". Gpr2017. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Bradham, Matthew (May 6, 2019). "NC State's P AJ Cole Signs Free Agent Deal with the Raiders". PackInsider.com. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Doug (August 14, 2019). "Rookie A.J. Cole Wins Raiders Punting Job". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Tucker, Tristan (September 10, 2019). "NC State quarterbacks shine in entertaining week one games". Technician. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
- ^ "Raiders In Review: AJ Cole taking control". RaiderRamble.com. January 5, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.