Marquette King is a fantastic punter who is capable of making punts really fun to watch. The Raiders specialist has a strong leg, sure, but he’s also fantastic at placing the ball exactly where it needs to go and pinning opponents deep. He’s, easily, one of the best punters in the NFL.
But the thing that makes King so fun is that he’s just a joy to watch. Usually this is good — his horse riding celebration or that time he celebrated with a referee’s penalty flag were both tremendous — but his confidence and swagger can sometimes be to the detriment of his team.
Take for instance this fake punt against the Denver Broncos, which… well it doesn’t exactly seem like it was a great idea.
https://twitter.com/DuaneLively/status/914621894481137664
King took a snap on 4th-and-11 with the ball on Oakland’s 32-yard line. The Raiders had struggled to get much against Denver’s fantastic defense, so someone — whether it was a coach or King himself — tried to catch the Broncos off guard. Seeing as how King was tackled two yards behind the line of scrimmage, it wasn’t the best idea.
To add insult to injury, King grabbed the ball and threw it at a Broncos player, so an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave Denver 15 more yards. The Raiders got lucky, though, as Denver would go on to miss a field goal on the following drive, meaning that hopefully this won’t be a deterrent in the event someone wants to call King’s number on another fake punt going forward.
