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Joey Slye is Ready to Have an Impressive 2015 Season

By Tim Thomas

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Oct 16, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies place kicker Joey Slye (46) kicks a forty-two yard field goal from the hold of Hokies punter A.J. Hughes (27) against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Entering the 2014 season, the Virginia Tech Hokies had a three-player for the starting kicker job between three freshmen: Michael Santamaria, Carson Wise, and Joey Slye. Santamaria seemed like the favorite due to the fact that he was the heavily recruited kicker that actually was on scholarship for the Hokies.

However, Slye proved to be a big surprise in fall practice and beat out Santamaria for the job. Now, it seems like Santamaria will have to wait a few years after being redshirted this past season with Slye having the job locked down after a strong freshman season.

Slye proved week after week this season that he was ready to give the Hokies consistency at kicker after a tumultous 2013 season with Cody Journell getting kicked off the team, and Virginia Tech lacking a quality replacement on the roster.

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Joey Slye was 20 for 28 on field goals this season which is very good for a true freshman kicker while Slye also made 33 of 34 extra points with the only miss being a blocked extra point. Slye was dominant from inside 40 yards with his only misses from that range being blocked field goals.

Slye has shown all season that he has the range to make a lot of longer field goals, but he showed some huge progress with his long range accuracy against Cincinnati. In the Military Bowl, Slye was 4 of 4 on field goal attempts including made field goals from 45 and 49 yards.

Slye’s 49-yard field goal actually handed the freshman kicker a Virginia Tech bowl game record.

Slye was dominant against the Bearcats and clearly has a very high level of confidence entering the offseason which is very important for a kicker. Slye has made plenty of progress over the course of the 2014 season, and all signs point to that continuing especially with Slye likely to be pushed by Michael Santamaria and Carson Wise who both still hope they can find a way to move ahead of Slye on the depth chart.

Joey Slye has the range and now that his accuracy from long range is improving, he seems ready to really take off in the 2015 season. No one should be surprised if Slye has a good enough season to be on one of the three All-ACC teams after the 2015 season. Slye has brought stability to the kicking game after the Cody Journell mess last season.

Next: Could Deon Clarke be a star in 2015?

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