What to know about Daniel Whelan, who appears to have won the Packers punting job
The Green Bay Packers kicked off their 2023 roster cuts with a shocker Monday, severing ties with veteran punter Pat O'Donnell after just one season with the team. That meant Daniel Whelan would land the punting job — at least, for now, in the ever-changing moments of NFL roster construction).
Here's what to know about Whelan.
Daniel Whelan is a big guy with a booming leg
This probably shouldn't shock you. After all, what's a punter if not someone who can kick the football far?
He's 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, so he certainly has the frame to send a few footballs into orbit. He was regularly recording hang time averages between 4.6 and 5.0 seconds in early August.
“He’s done a heck of a job since we’ve gotten him,” coach Matt LaFleur said earlier in the week. “He definitely has a big-time leg and it’s great.”
Whelan got his first chance to punt July 29 and consistently hit the ball cleanly, with elite measurables. In one six-punt span that included three with a strong wind and three against a strong wind, he averaged 52.8 yards and 4.91-second hang time with and 47.0 yards and 4.77-second hang time against.
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Daniel Whelan was born in Ireland and spent most of his youth there
Whelan arrived in the United States at age 13 to Palm Springs, California, with his mother, Anne Marie. He was born in Enniskerry, located in County Wicklow, roughly 30 miles south of Dublin.
According to Football Reference, the last NFL player born in Ireland appeared in a game in 1985 — kicker Neil O'Donoghue, who played 110 career games.
Linebacker Adrian Young played in 52 for the next-most NFL games from an Irish-born player (1968-73). Seven of the other eight players played in the 1920s and 30s except for tackle John Sinnott, who saw nine games in 1982.
Like Whelan, Young and Sinnott attended high school in the United States. O'Donoghue first came to the states when he attended Auburn University.
It isn't lost on his home country that he's having success. Two Irish newspapers published major stories on his draft prospects prior to 2022. The Irish Times and Irish Independent each had another one that posted in the aftermath of O'Donnell's cut.
He was a standout punter at UC-Davis and got an NFL shot with another team
In 2021, four different organizations regarded him as first-team All American at the University of California, Davis, and he was a finalist for the FCS Punter of the Year. He was named second-team All American by one publication in 2022.
Davis is located just west of Sacramento, California, so we're still talking 65-degree weather in November. In other words, he hasn't competed in Green Bay winters before.
The Packers liked Whelan out of college last year but had just signed O'Donnell, and the undrafted punter instead signed with the New Orleans Saints.
But the Saints cut him in July of last year.
“It was humbling,” Whelan said. “I thought I had the team made. I thought I was going to win the job. I learned a lot from that experience. It really humbled me and made me work a lot harder.”
Like many kicking specialists, he played soccer in high school for two years before switching to football. He also played tennis at Rancho Mirage High School and potentially had Division I college talent in that sport, as well.
He turned heads with his performance in the XFL, but before that, he was folding towels for work
Whelan led the XFL in punting as a member of the D.C. Defenders, a springboard that enabled him to get another shot in the NFL. The Packers signed him May 17.
But before the XFL opportunity, he worked at a spa and was folding towels. That was before he got in touch with former Chargers kicker Nick Novak, who mentors kickers and punters through a consulting business. He worked out around his spa scheudle and attended a workout in which Defenders staff saw him punt.
He reportedly hit field goals of 50, 55 and 60 yards in one workout. His pinned post on his X account (formerly Twitter) shows him hitting a 73-yarder off a tee in 2021.
OK, but the punter isn't just a guy who punts. Can he hold field goals?
Much has been made about the occasional struggles of rookie kicker Anders Carlson in preseason camp. Can Whelan perform the duties of holding serviceably?
Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Company put together a video showing several of his holds. The verdict: Seems fine? That's likely to be a factor that reveals itself over time.
Mosqueda also put together a string of Whelan's preseason punts.
All of Daniel Whelan's punts from this preseason pic.twitter.com/NrNLX9wcPM
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) August 28, 2023
Tom Silverstein contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Packers punter Daniel Whelan
