New Chicago Bears punter surprised he wasn't picked sooner in 2024 NFL Draft

Many fans and draft analysts argue that a player who plays Taylor’s position shouldn’t have a draft pick used on them at all, but the Chicago Bears took Taylor with the No. 122 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The selection of Taylor was the highest selection of a punter since 2019. Taylor explained in an article from NFL.com that he thought he’d be taken earlier.

“I kind of thought I may have gone a little bit earlier to a couple other teams,” Taylor said this week on The Sick Podcast with Adam Rank. “A few special teams coaches rung and texted me on the day saying, ‘Hey, really hope you’re a such and such once the day ends.’ And I kind of thought, oh, don’t just say it let’s make it happen. But a lot of the time, it’s really up to I guess the GM and things like that and whoever makes those sort of calls, but, at the end of the day if they wanted me they should’ve come and got me.”

Tory Taylor was elite during his time with the Iowa Hawkeyes

Former Iowa Hawkeyes punter Tory Taylor was nothing short of elite during his time in college. He won the Ray Guy Award, which is given to the best punter in the nation.

He is the single-season NCAA record holder for punting yards with 4,479 yards in 2023. He averaged a staggering 48.2 yards per punt.

Taylor’s expertise on special teams created an entire culture around punting and Iowa football. Hawkeyes fans, who were forced to watch one of the worst offenses in the entire country, began to embrace the importance of an elite punting game. The phrase “punting is winning” took Iowa football by storm.

Despite his surprise after going so late, Tory Taylor is happy to be with the Chicago Bears

Even though Taylor thought he might be selected earlier in the draft, he said that he is happy to be with the Chicago Bears to start his career in the NFL.

“But I’m glad they didn’t because I’m at the Bears now. It’s literally perfect.”

Bears general manager Ryan Poles may have had the same thinking as Taylor because when he made the pick, he “didn’t expect him to get much further.”

“Just playing at Soldier Field and being a Chicago Bear,” Taylor said of what he’s looking forward to most. “I’m obviously being pretty biased, but it’s the Chicago Bears, you know what I mean? There’s just something about it.”

“I saw the Illinois number on my phone, and I was just like, ‘No effing way. Is this really happening?'” he said. “And it’s literally like a dream come true. Because I really, really wanted to come to Chicago. But I was like, ah, man, are they going to draft a punter? They’ve only got four draft picks. It’s really one of those things that was probably a little bit of a stretch. But I really wanted to come to Chicago.”

Taylor will have a chance to be among the best punters drafted by Chicago. While punters Chris Gardocki and Todd Sauerbrun were drafted by the Bears in the 90s, they did not see their career success in Chicago. Taylor has the chance to pave his own path as a drafted punter in the windy city.