alt=Jay DrewAlthough fewer punters are selected in the NFL draft than almost any other position, BYU’s Ryan Rehkow is allowing himself to dream as the league’s Annual Player Selection Meeting is held Thursday through Saturday in Detroit.
Not only does the linebacker-sized Rehkow desperately want to get drafted, he wants to earn some money from his efforts that first began nearly a dozen years ago when kicking and punting started to become the family business, of sorts.
“There are definitely a couple of teams that have made it known that they really like (me) and that I am going to be a draft pick or an undrafted free agent. That’s what all the fun on Saturday is for. Yeah, there has definitely been a few teams that have expressed a lot of interest.”
— Former BYU punter Ryan Rehkow
“I don’t know if on a punter’s contract you can make a huge purchase, but I will definitely be replacing the car that I currently have,” Rehkow told the Deseret News Tuesday. “I don’t know if that is going to be a brand new car, but it is definitely going to be better than what I drive currently.”
That would be a 2006 Nissan Maxima, a car that is now “just pushing 200,000 miles” that Rehkow acquired used when he returned in 2019 from his two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to London.
“It has served me well,” Rehkow said, “but it is definitely showing its age.”
For the past four seasons, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Rehkow has displayed one of the best kicking legs to ever come through BYU. The native of Veradale, Washington, is arguably the greatest punter the program has ever produced, although Lee Johnson — who spent 18 seasons in the NFL punting for six different teams — might beg to differ.
Rehkow’s outstanding college career is the reason why he’s being given a chance to be drafted in Round 6 or Round 7 on Saturday. ESPN, The Athletic and NFL.com all have Rehkow ranked as the second-best punting prospect in the draft, behind only Iowa’s Tory Taylor.
As the Deseret News reported Wednesday, “if more than one punter goes in the 2024 draft, he’s likely to be drafted.”
NFL.com believes Rehkow will go in the sixth round. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has him going in the seventh round to the Cincinnati Bengals, the franchise that Johnson toiled for most of his lengthy career.
“There are definitely a couple of teams that have made it known that they really like (me) and that I am going to be a draft pick or an undrafted free agent,” Rehkow said. “That’s what all the fun on Saturday is for. Yeah, there has definitely been a few teams that have expressed a lot of interest.”
Rehkow averaged 47.4 yards per punt over the course of his career, and experienced an increased workload in 2023 because BYU’s offense faltered far more than in his first three seasons. He averaged 48.4 yards per punt last year, on 68 punts.
He said his emotions are going “through the roof” this week in anticipation of the draft.
“My excitement level is 10 out of 10,” he said. “It has been a fun couple of months, but it has been long. It has been pretty mentally taxing, for sure. We are ready to put this process to a close. … There is a lot of hopefulness. You are excited for the next chapter in your career and in life and just starting something new and hopefully something better.”
Shortly after declaring, Rehkow chose Chris Turnage of United Athlete Sports to represent him, partly because of Turnage’s track record with punters in the past. He also leaned on his older brother, Austin, a punter who went undrafted in 2017 after an All-American career at Idaho and kicked and punted for the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts from 2017-2020.
“Austin has given me a ton of insight. He was not drafted. His year not a single punter was drafted, so that was kind of unfortunate,” Ryan Rehkow said. “He has given me a ton of insights as far as the combine, stuff like trying to figure out an agent. Yeah, he’s been huge in helping me out every step.”
Speaking of the NFL scouting combine, Rehkow was one of three Cougars invited to Indianapolis, along with quarterback Kedon Slovis and left tackle Kingsley Suamataia. Rehkow also participated in the inaugural Big 12 Pro Day in Frisco, Texas. He said he did a lot of Zoom calls and telephone interviews, but wasn’t invited to make any visits to any particular NFL cities for workouts.
“The (NFL) combine, I feel like I showed really well, just in terms of my personality. We were able to meet with all coaches from all 32 teams. So just them being able to see me, how I process things, and approach the game was cool,” he said.
“My on-field workout was solid. It wasn’t my best performance by any means but I still feel I showed a lot of the things I wanted to do. And then with the Pro Day down in (Texas), that was where I feel like I was able to showcase an average day for me in terms of what I am really capable of. So performance-wise I would say the Big 12 was a lot better than the NFL combine, but still really pleased with how I performed in both.”
Rehkow had another year of eligibility remaining, due to COVID-19 altering his freshman season in 2020, but he graduated a year ago, has been married for nearly two years (to Hadlee Bland Rehkow), and noted on X last December that he is ready to move on.
And hopefully get a different car.
