Koch's Kicks Count

Ravens' punter Sam Koch is used to having a lot of balls in the air.

That's a good thing for the Ravens, who want Koch's punts to be in the air for a long time this season.

One year removed from being thrust into the starting role as a rookie out of Nebraska, Baltimore's hopes to utilize its top-ranked defense and win the field position battle rest with Koch – and his outstanding rookie season prove that such hope is not misplaced.

Although Koch's 43 yards per punt average tied him for 19th in the NFL, he started opponents' drives inside the 20-yard line 30 times, fifth best in the league. And both Koch and his teammates know how beneficial his services are.

"Numbers are hard with this team because you're trying to pin them inside the 20 a lot of the time," veteran place kicker Matt Stover said. "Sam had good opportunities to kick the ball away and when he did, he did a pretty good job."

Koch has a similar outlook, and though he knows he could kick the ball farther on occasion, he values setting up the Ravens' defense even more.

"The numbers are nice but the most important thing is helping your team in critical situations," Koch said. "Obviously from a personal standpoint impressive numbers would be nice, but I guess I'd rather stay on a team than make myself look good."

Stover is also very familiar with Koch's versatility, as Koch is in his second year as the Ravens' holder.

Stover says he appreciates the former Cornhusker's serious approach to holding, and Koch says that he and Stover are to the point where they primarily focus on the finer details, such as making sure the laces always end up away from the kicker.

"I make sure I go out there and don't botch a snap," Koch said. "It's something we work on everyday and it's important to Matt, so it needs to be important to us."

Multitasking is no problem for Koch, who at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, was recruited from the town of Seward, Neb., to Lincoln as a fullback, linebacker, and punter. Koch says that once he started to realize how much punting in the NFL could help his career, he began to focus on refining his craft.

"When Nebraska came to look at me [in high school] for fullback, linebacker and punter, punting really occurred to me as something you can do for a while if you get into the league," Koch said.

"I went to Nebraska, and they asked me if I wanted to play linebacker. I figured now was the time to make a decision in what I want to pursue, so that's when I chose punting."

Not all of Koch's transitions have been as smooth as taking a snap from long-snapper Matt Katula, however.

At 25 years old, Koch is married and has three children, the youngest born last May, only a few weeks after the draft and just five days before he had to report to Baltimore. Though Koch says the draft was exciting and he was glad to be with his wife Nikki for the birth of their child, the circumstances were not perfect.

"It didn't make it any easier for my wife that I had to leave five days later, but it certainly was nice that I didn't have to be down here," he explained.

Now things have settled down for Koch, and coming into his second season he is looking to make an even stronger impact in Baltimore.

As someone who has seen a number of players make the important shift into their second season, Stover is optimistic about Koch's chance to shine.

"Your second season helps determine what kind of person you are," Stover said. "Did Sam take care of his business during the offseason? Absolutely. Was he responsible with his time and effort towards being ready for the first game? Yes. I wouldn't say that about every player in the League, based on what I've seen."

Stover, who has been in Baltimore since the team arrived from Cleveland in 1996, also said that the first regular season game is the best determinant of how successful a player's offseason actually was.

"Stover's been here for a lot of years so he knows what to grade himself on, especially in the offseason where I felt like I did a lot," Koch said. "I guess if that's the way he grades himself, it is a good benchmark for me to grade myself."

One area in which Koch may struggle to improve are his touchbacks. Last season, he kicked only three in 86 punts. That stat is second only two San Diego's Mike Scrifes among the league's starting punters. Scrifes kicked only two of his 69 punts into the endzone in 2006.

Still, Koch knows that being a good NFL player means more than just a good first impression.

"That first year you're a rookie," he said. "Now, they know what you can do and you just have to sustain that, punt after punt."