Daniel

Sepulveda

Sepulveda’s career has been scarred by knee injuries. We suppose the good news is Sepulveda does not have another torn ACL. In a joint announcement, the team re-signed Jeremy Kapinos who was released earlier this preseason. Sepulveda ranked ninth in the AFC with a 46.1-yard average and eighth with a net average of 39.1 yards.

The two-time Ray Guy Award winner averaged 46.5 yards-per-punt as a senior. He is also adept in punt coverage. Sepulveda has a monster leg and should be one of the NFL’s best punters in time, if not right away.

Sepulveda has torn the ACL in this knee twice. The latest surgery was to repair his right meniscus. Sepulveda is lucky that it’s only his plant leg. The southpaw punter shouldn’t have trouble beating out Dirk Johnson in camp.

Last year’s punter, Mitch Berger, did not receive a contract offer, so the Steelers appear confident that Sepulveda will be ready by the time the season starts.

A fourth-round pick last year after the Steelers moved up in the draft to take him, Sepulveda had a solid rookie season while averaging 42.4 yards per punt. Undrafted rookie kicker Julian Rauch handled punting duties Tuesday, but the team figures to bring in a veteran soon. Mike Barr is a likely candidate.

Sepulveda was originally a fourth-round pick, and he’s safe at that level for the Steelers. He finished fourteenth in Profootballfocus.com’s punter ratings for 2009.

Sepulveda, 26, won the Ray Guy Award twice in college, but struggled in his 2009 return from a torn ACL. He ranked just 22nd in the league in average yards per punt (42.7), and 21st in net average (37.1). Still, the big-legged Sepulveda’s starting job doesn’t figure to be in jeopardy yet.

His knee apparently checked out. Sepulveda is capable of being one of the league’s better punters, but he has as many ACL tears as seasons to his name (three). The Sepulveda signing thankfully brings the Jeremy Kapinos era to an end.

The Steelers moved up to draft Sepulveda in the 2007 fourth round and he put 28 punts inside opposing 20-yard lines as a rookie, the eighth most in the league. He tore his ACL last July, but is back to full strength.

It’s the third time he’s torn the ACL in his non-kicking knee. Sepulveda was able to stay in the game and hold, but he left the punting up to Shaun Suisham, who didn’t embarrass himself. Even though the injury is to his non-kicking leg, the Steelers will bring in another punter for the rest of the season.