We have reached the end of the road for our roster outlook position previews as we discuss the special teams. If you have missed any, click the link below.
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Quarterbacks
Coming out of the 2019 season, the Flames were set to return every major contributor on special teams. Then, kicker Alex Probert elected to transfer to Iowa State, leaving a gaping hole at kicker for Liberty.
Returning
Jason Stricker came into the program a year ago and redshirted. The 6’2″, 180 pound redshirt-freshman is listed as a kicker/punter. He’s from Charlotte, North Carolina where he attended Marvin Ridge High School. It was originally expected that Stricker would take over for Probert when he moved on, but that was expected to be a year from now. He made 20-of-29 field goals in his high school career including 9-of-15 as a senior. He had a school record and career long of 51 yards as a junior.
Aidan Alves enters his 3rd season as Liberty’s full time punter. After a rock 2018, he steadied himself in 2019 with an average of 41.6 yards per punt on his 54 punts. His punts that were less than 30 yards were much less frequent than in 2018. With another year of experience under his belt, Alves could be one of the better punters in the country in 2020.
Liberty seemingly has always had a steady long snapper for most of this century. Austin Mock is no exception to this trend.
As a true freshman, Shedro Louis averaged 27.6 yards per kick return and had 1 returned for a touchdown. His explosiveness is something the Flames have missed for a while in the kick return game. He has the potential to be one of Liberty’s best returners in school history. He could move over and take the punt return duties as well.
DJ Stubbs has been the team’s punt returner for most of the past two seasons, but he has struggled to find much consistency. In 2019, he had a long of just 13 yards and averaged only 2.2 yards per punt return. These are all numbers that must improve for the Flames in the punt return game in 2020.
Newcomers
Alex Barbir joined the roster shortly after Probert announced he was transferring. Barbir was a Liberty student, where he has been since January 2018. He began his collegiate career at Penn State as he was the 11th best kicker in the class of 2016 and a 3-star recruit according to 247Sports. He was on the roster at Penn State for 2016 and 2017, redshirting his first season and getting limited playing time in his redshirt-freshman season. He will compete with Stricker for the team’s top placekicking duties.
Outlook
The only question mark among this group is at kicker. If Stricker or Barbir can lock that position down for 2020, the special teams unit under Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns has the potential to be the best special teams unit Liberty has seen in quite some time.
The Flames have a punter, holder, and returners that are experienced and talented. In recent seasons, special teams have been a weakness for Liberty, but they could be a team strength in 2020.
