Do the Oakland Raiders have their punter on the current roster?

Johnny Townsend struggled as a rookie punter for the Oakland Raiders last season, and the team may decide to go another route in 2019.

There are many position battles occurring at Oakland Raiders training camp right now, and one is the battle for the punting job. The Raiders currently are trying out two players for the position, Johnny Townsend, who was with the team last season, and AJ Cole.

Reports coming out of camp so far are that neither of the punters are looking too impressive. As of now, it seems as if the battle between the two is pretty even, but a few solid kicks from AJ Cole may have given him the slight edge so far.

Both punters shanked a few punts through the competition, with AJ Cole nailing some in between. If neither of these punters look good enough to Gruden and the rest of the staff, what are the odds that they bring someone else in?

One punter that the Raiders could turn to is Marquette King. King and Gruden do not appear to have the best relationship, but King has shown interest in returning to the team, and if Townsend and Cole continue to disappoint, don’t rule out Marquette King.

There is still time to figure out which punter will be taking the field for the silver in black in week one, but as of now, it is unsure if the Raiders have their starting punter on the roster. The front office went through multiple kickers last season before finding their guy, so do not be surprised if they do the same with their punters.

There are always young punters who go undrafted looking for a shot in the NFL, so expect to see a few of them coming in in the next few weeks to compete with Townsend and Cole. It is hard to believe that the Raiders will not be able to find a punter better than Townsend and Cole, so I would expect to see a different player to be starting for the Raiders in week one.

The Raiders have improved every position going into 2019, and there is no reason that they should not improve their punter. Whether it is a rookie, Marquette King, or some other veteran taking over the spot, I would not expect Townsend or Cole to be the starter for the Raiders.