Iowa punter Rhys Dakin was named to the Freshman All-American Team by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) on Tuesday afternoon.
The first-year Australian punter averaged 44.1 yards on 64 punts, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 24th in the country. Of those 64 boots, 33 were fair caught, 29 were downed inside the 20 and 16 traveled 50+ yards. Only five of his punts were touchbacks.
In addition to earning the All-American honors, Dakin was also named second team all-conference by the media and third team by the Big Ten head coaches.
He gave credit to ProKick Australia part way through the season. ProKick is the organization he and his predecessor, Tory Taylor were a part of before moving to the states and punting for the Hawkeyes.
"I think it's just how ProKick trains you -- they train you to go and start straight away," he said in late October. "They give you enough information and training to do that. It's natural to us to kick the ball. I'm a little older as a freshman, I'm 19, but I really don't feel like a freshman. I don't think too much of it when I'm out there. I feel mature enough to go and make the right plays and perform at the level of a sophomore or junior."
He didn't punt like a freshman, either, despite taking home the national honor for his class. Exhibit A below:
Dakin is the fourth Hawkeye to earn FWAA Freshman All-America distinction over the last four years, joining offensive lineman Connor Colby and defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness in 2021 and punter Taylor in 2020.
