A. J. Cole III

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.

Not to be confused with A. J. Cole.

A. J. Cole
refer to caption
Cole with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2019
No. 6 – Las Vegas Raiders
Position:Punter
Personal information
Born: (1995-11-27) November 27, 1995
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
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
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2023
Punts:256
Punting yards:12,209
Average punt:47.7
Inside 20:120
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early life and high school

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]

College career

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]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span
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]

2021 season

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 NFL 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]

2022 season

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]

References
  1. "Sheldon Named To Ray Guy List". GoHeels.com. October 31, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  2. "AJ Cole, Woodward Academy , Punter". 247Sports. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  3. Saye, Chris (December 28, 2013). "High school All-Metro teams". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  4. "A.J. Cole III College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  5. Smith, R. Cory (August 14, 2019). "A.J. Cole is the lone punter on Raiders training camp roster". 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  6. "Cole Named Semifinalist for 2018 Wuerffel Trophy". GoPack.com. November 1, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  7. "GPR Punt Rating". Gpr2017. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  8. "A.J. Cole III, North Carolina State, P, 2019 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  9. "A.J. Cole, Combine Results, P - North Carolina State". nflcombineresults.com. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  10. Bradham, Matthew (May 6, 2019). "NC State's P AJ Cole Signs Free Agent Deal with the Raiders". PackInsider.com. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  11. Williams, Doug (August 14, 2019). "Rookie A.J. Cole Wins Raiders Punting Job". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  12. Tucker, Tristan (September 10, 2019). "NC State quarterbacks shine in entertaining week one games". Technician. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  13. Aspuria, Ray Leonard (January 5, 2020). "Raiders In Review: AJ Cole taking control". RaiderRamble.com. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  14. Lamarre, Tom (July 8, 2021). "Raiders Get Their Kicks Out of Carlson and Cole". SI.com. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  15. "Daniel Carlson and AJ Cole sign multi-year extensions with the Raiders". Raiders.com. December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  16. "Maxx Crosby, AJ Cole, Denzel Perryman named 2021 Pro Bowlers". Raiders.com. December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  17. "AJ Cole 2021 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  18. "2021 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards". Pro-Football-Reference.com. January 9, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  19. "2021 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  20. "Raiders announce team captains for 2022 season". Raiders.com. September 9, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  21. "AJ Cole 2022 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  22. Damien, Levi (January 30, 2023). "Raiders P AJ Cole named to 2023 NFL Pro Bowl". Raiders Wire. USA Today. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
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