Be sure not to miss the 2008 Miami Dolphins Draft Party, Presented by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. The draft party will be held on Saturday, April 26, from 2:00 - 6:00 pm at Dolphin Stadium. The party features full coverage of the NFL Draft, 2008 Season Ticket Select-A-Seat, player, alumni and cheerleader autographs as well as free parking and admission.
By Andy Kent
Special for MiamiDolphins.com
April 25, 2008
In order to make this final draft preview easier to follow, I only listed kickers and punters because there weren't enough true kick return specialists only utilized on kickoffs and punts; the majority were wide receivers, running backs and defensive backs.
Durant Brooks of Georgia Tech and North Dakota State's Mike Dragosavich are the consensus top two punters available this weekend, with LSU's Patrick Fisher and Notre Dame's Geoffrey Price not too far behind. As far as the kickers, there is more debate surrounding them as Louisville's Art Carmody is the only one listed either first or second on multiple mock draft boards. Georgia's Brandon Coutu and Oregon State's Alexis Serna should also get a lot of attention, along with Wisconsin's Taylor Mehlhaff and Chris Koepplin of UMass.
BREAKING DOWN TOP KICKER PROSPECTS
Art Carmody - The one major knock on Carmody is his leg strength on kickoffs, making him one dimensional. But his calmness under pressure is something that can't be taught as he made clutch kick after clutch kick for the Cardinals, earning him the nickname, "Art-o-matic." He won the Lou Groza Award as the nation's best kicker in 2006.
Taylor Mehlhaff - Kicking for the Badgers in the Big Ten, Mehlhaff excelled in bad weather conditions and never had a field goal or PAT blocked in his four-year career. His leg is strong enough to make field goals from beyond 50 yards on a consistent basis, but he needs to work on speeding up his approach, as NFL players are a quite a bit quicker on the rush, especially being that Mehlhaff is left-footed.
Brandon Coutu - Coming back from a torn hamstring that cost him about half of his junior season, Coutu returned to form in 2007 and made a handful of clutch kicks that helped the Bulldogs finish strong down the stretch. His career long is 58 yards and he made a number of field goals from beyond the 50-yard mark, with his physical and mental tools being touted as NFL caliber.
Alexis Serna - Winner of the Lou Groza Award as a sophomore in 2005, Serna was solid in inclement weather and considering he is so small (5-6, 170), showed off a very strong leg in making a number of field goals from 50 yards and beyond. His longest kick came from 58 yards as a junior and he had a 52-yarder last season and did not miss an extra point over the last three years.
BREAKING DOWN TOP PUNTER PROSPECTS
Durant Brooks - Winner of the Ray Guy Award presented to the nation's best punter, Brooks has the highest career punting average in ACC history and also held on kicks. Only 19 of his 61 punts were returned last season and 30 of them were downed inside the 20-yardline, with the highlight of his season being a 77-yard boot against North Carolina, so he is almost guaranteed to be the first punter taken this weekend.
Patrick Fisher - Being on a national championship team at LSU certainly helped in gaining exposure for Fisher, and his 44.53 average on 59 punts is solid, especially considering this was the first year he served as LSU's full-time punter. His size (6-foot-4, 242 pounds) should draw comparisons to the punter the Dolphins selected in last year's draft, Michigan State's Brandon Fields (6-5, 236).
Mike Dragosavich - His athleticism is what's going to catch the attention of scouts and GMs as they discuss him this weekend, having run a 4.85 in the 40-yard dash. At 6-5 and 214 pounds, he is tall but not too heavy and he has a very strong and accurate leg, making him appealing as a late round pick on Sunday.
Geoffrey Price - Sharing duties with Eric Maust, Price only appeared in seven of the Fighting Irish's 12 games, but based mostly on his junior season when he kicked well enough to earn pre-season All-American honors in 2007, Price has appeared on a few different mock draft boards. He has a strong leg, as he showed with his 57-yard punt at Penn State and the fact that he had six punts of 50 yards or more, so he could be a surprise late pick on Sunday.
By Andy Kent
Taylor Mehlhaff - Kicking for the Badgers in the Big Ten, Mehlhaff excelled in bad weather conditions and never had a field goal or PAT blocked in his four-year career. His leg is strong enough to make field goals from beyond 50 yards on a consistent basis, but he needs to work on speeding up his approach, as NFL players are a quite a bit quicker on the rush, especially being that Mehlhaff is left-footed. 
Patrick Fisher - Being on a national championship team at LSU certainly helped in gaining exposure for Fisher, and his 44.53 average on 59 punts is solid, especially considering this was the first year he served as LSU's full-time punter. His size (6-foot-4, 242 pounds) should draw comparisons to the punter the Dolphins selected in last year's draft, Michigan State's Brandon Fields (6-5, 236). 
