The Ray Guy Award winner who set the FBS career punting-average record now boots for the Chicago Bears.
Tory Taylor is an Australian punter who turned Iowa's punt unit into a weapon during his college career, then became the highest punter drafted in years when Chicago took him in the fourth round. Since arriving in the NFL, he has quickly established himself as one of the league's most reliable field-position specialists.
Path to the league
Taylor punted for Iowa from 2020 to 2023, finishing his career with the FBS record for average yards per punt at 46.3. In 2023 he won the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top punter and earned unanimous All-American honors after averaging 48.2 yards on 93 punts. The Bears drafted him 122nd overall in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL draft, the highest a punter had been taken since 2019.
Career highlights
Taylor set an NCAA single-season punting yardage record at Iowa with 4,479 yards in 2023 and was twice named Big Ten Punter of the Year. In his 2024 rookie season with Chicago he punted 82 times for 3,911 yards, ranked 15th in the NFL in yards per punt, and earned an NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award after pinning three of five punts inside the 10-yard line in a Week 4 win.
2025 season recap
Taylor played all 17 games for the Bears in 2025, punting 60 times for 2,870 yards with a 47.8-yard average and 21 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, continuing his run as one of the league's more productive punters.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Tory Taylor
- ESPN: Tory Taylor
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Punting
17 games played▶Punting · career
| Year | Team | GP | PUNTS | YDS | AVG | LNG | IN20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | bears | 17 | 60 | 2,870 | 47.8 | 69 | 21 |
| 2024 | bears | 17 | 82 | 3,911 | 47.7 | 68 | 34 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Punter
- Group
- specialTeam
- College
- Iowa
- Hometown
- Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Age
- 28
- Status
- active
