Report: Falcons plan to sign punter Sam Irwin-Hill to their practice squad

Matt Bosher’s time in Atlanta may have come to an end. The Falcons placed him on injured reserve last weekend and re-signed Matt Wile to fill in during his absence. This is Bosher’s contract year, and because cap space won’t be plentiful for the next couple of years, his price tag may exceed what the Falcons want to spend during the off-season. So, in short, now begins the search for Bosher’s long-term replacement.

According to ESPN’s Vaughn McClure, the Falcons are signing former University of Arkansas punter Sam Irwin-Hill to their practice squad.

Irwin-Hill has had off-season stints with the Cowboys (2017) and Redskins (2018). Last season he signed a deal with the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football before landing on their version of injured reserve.

Irwin-Hill has an interesting backstory. He’s from Australia and started out playing Australian rules football. He eventually got into the an American football academy, which launched his collegiate career. He’d play his freshman and sophomore seasons at the City College of San Francisco before transferring to Arkansas. He has a versatile skill set in that he’s an ambidextrous punter and has done some placekicking. To Irwin-Hill’s credit, he was one of the better punters in the SEC during his junior and senior seasons.

Why are the Falcons wasting a practice squad spot on a punter? Well, to be frank, Wile’s performance against the Texans was ... shaky. He put multiple kickoffs out of bounds and the Falcons clearly aren’t comfortable with a long-term commitment. Irwin-Hill is 28 years old and hasn’t played in an NFL game since he graduated almost 3 years ago, but it doesn’t appear he’s reached his ceiling, either.

Your thoughts, Falcoholics?