With the majority of the media spotlight on quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers, punters remain underappreciated in what they contribute to football teams.
According to a 2012 NBC Sports article, the top 20 most followed NFL players (at the time) on social media were explosive defensive players and offensive juggernauts. Not one was a punter.
In terms of changing the game, a punter has the ability to do so night in and night out. In most cases, after an unsuccessful scoring drive, a team will elect to punt, which changes the opposing team's position on the field and limits its ability to score.
A good punt can challenge the opposing team's ability to score or possibly win. Punting the football away can put the defense in a new position to stop the opposing team's momentum or possibly even create a safety.
"To give an idea of how underappreciated punting is, consider how few programs, even at the highest level of the sport, have dedicated kicking coaches," Louis Bien of SB Nation wrote.
A punter position change is never ESPN breaking news minutes after it happens, unlike the news of quarterback and running back changes.
Gamecock redshirt senior Joseph Charlton is a huge contributor to the football program and can almost dictate a game by himself. Charlton has averaged 45.2 yards per punt throughout his tenure at South Carolina.
That stat alone is impressive, as the best yards per punt is only about two yards different from the leading punter in the NFL, Los Angeles Rams' Johnny Hekker, who has a career average of 47 yards per punt.
Since 2000, Charlton is 16th in yards per punt in the entire NCAA and sixth in the SEC. These accomplishments deserve more praise, as not many punters can say they rank in the top 20 per-punting yards in the NCAA since the beginning of the century. Charlton is averaging nearly 50 yards per punt this season, which is a phenomenal stat by itself.
Charlton is currently second in the SEC in punting this season, behind Max Duffy of Kentucky. The Columbia native has proven to put teams in a difficult position on the field, making their drives on offense much more of a challenge against the Gamecock defense.
Charlton's farthest punt this season so far is a 63-yard boot against the Kentucky Wildcats, which proved to be too much ground for Kentucky to cover, as they only put up seven points in the game.