SEC Football Top 150 Players: No. 101, Zach Hocker, Arkansas Kicker
Barrett Sallee@BarrettSallee
SEC Football Lead WriterMay 21, 2012
The SEC Blog will be counting down the top 150 players in the SEC every day, concluding on Aug. 30 at the start of the college football regular season.
No. 101: Zach Hocker, No. 18, Arkansas, Place Kicker
2011 Stats: 21-of-27 field goals, long of 50, 57-of-59 extra points, 40 touchbacks
Strengths
Experience. Hocker has been Arkansas' starting place kicker from the moment he stepped foot on campus in Fayetteville in 2010. He's 38-of-46 for his career, and has established himself as one of the SEC's most dependable kickers. Hocker currently holds Arkansas' career field-goal percentage record, having connected on 80.4 percent of his kicks during his first two seasons.
Weaknesses
He's a kicker, and kickers only get noticed when they don't succeed. Furthermore, a strength of his game will be mitigated this season by new kickoff rules. Hocker finished second in the nation with 40 touchbacks on kickoffs last season. However, with the ball being placed at the 35-yard line instead of the 30—and touchbacks being placed on the 25—he will be counted on to drop it inside the five-yard line more often.
2012 Prediction
Hocker will be a solid place kicker again this season. Kickers are important whether we want to admit it or not, and he's been a big reason why Arkansas has been so successful these last two seasons.