Alfred James Cole III[1] (born November 27, 1995) is an American football punter for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at N.C. State.
No. 6 – Las Vegas Raiders | |||||||||
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Position: | Punter | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | November 27, 1995||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | Woodward Academy (College Park, Georgia) | ||||||||
College: | NC State (2014–2018) | ||||||||
Undrafted: | 2019 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2023 | |||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Cole grew up in College Park, Georgia and attended Woodward Academy, where he played football, basketball, and soccer.[2] As a senior, Cole was named All-Metro Area by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[3]
Cole was a four year starter at punter for the NC State Wolfpack.[4] He finished his collegiate career with 9,288 punting yards (third-highest in school history) and averaged 42.2 yards per punt.[5] He was a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy as a junior and a semifinalist for the award as a senior.[6] In 2017, Cole was awarded Honorable Mention All-American honors by GPR Analytics.[7]
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
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6 ft 4+1⁄8 in (1.93 m) |
217 lb (98 kg) |
33+3⁄8 in (0.85 m) |
8+3⁄4 in (0.22 m) | |||||||||
All values from Pro Day[8][9] |
Cole was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Oakland Raiders on May 6, 2019, after participating in a rookie mini camp with the team.[10] He beat out incumbent punter Johnny Townsend during training camp to make the Raiders 53 man roster.[11]
Cole made his NFL debut on September 9, 2019, against the Denver Broncos, punting three times for 134 yards (44.7 average).[12] Cole finished his rookie season with 67 punts for 3,081 yards (46.0 yards per punt).[13]
In the 2020 season, Cole punted 44 times for an average of 44.1 yards.[14]
On December 9, 2021, Cole signed a four-year, $12.4 million contract extension with the Raiders.[15] On December 20, 2021, Cole was named to the 2022 Pro Bowl.[16] Cole led the league among qualified punters in yards per punt in 2021, averaging 50.03 yards per punt.[17][18] Cole received first-team All-Pro distinction in 2021.[19]
At the start of the season Cole was named, for the first time in his career, one of the team captains.[20] On the 2022 season, Cole had 59 punts for 2,884 net yards for a 48.88 average.[21] On January 30, 2023, Cole was named to his second Pro Bowl, replacing Tommy Townsend.[22]
On November 5, 2023, in the victory 30-6 against the New York Giants Cole punted five times and totaled 318 yards on those punts, setting the NFL record for gross punt average in a game, with 63.6 yards.[23]