Penn State Sports Magazine
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N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3 3 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A former center fielder at Westerville South High in Columbus, Ohio, Kaden Saunders understands how to connect the dots between that role and his current job as punt returner for the Penn State football team. "Turn and run, get square," he explained. There is, of course, a little bit more to it than that. Saunders, a redshirt freshman wide receiver for the Nittany Lions, has shown no hesitation when it comes to catching punts in traffic, displaying a fear- less attitude and a set of sure hands. His only hiccup through five games was a bobble in the rain against Iowa, but even on that muffed attempt, he was able to alertly fall on the ball to prevent a giveaway deep in Penn State territory in the second quarter. Saunders has helped alleviate one of the bigger question marks in Penn State's kicking game this year. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound wideout hadn't bro- ken off any eye-opening returns through five games — a 19-yarder against Illinois was his longest to that point in the season. But the first objective of any punt returner is to field the ball cleanly and let the offense take over. Saunders has done that. Coach James Franklin said that above all else, he wants every Penn State punt returner to be "a great catcher of the football, but also a great decision- maker. When do you catch it? When do you run up in traffic? How do you communicate the short kick so other people on the field are aware as well? "[Saunders] has done a nice job of that so far. I think that's an underappreciated thing that's going on in our team right now." Through five games, Saunders had returned 12 punts for 43 yards, an aver- age of 3.6 yards per attempt. Those numbers don't take into account the yards he saved by fielding balls that might otherwise have landed on the turf and rolled toward Penn State's end zone or, worse, grazed a teammate, resulting in a turnover. The Iowa game offered a vivid illustration of what can happen when some- thing goes awry on special teams. With Hawkeyes return man Cooper DeJean trying to field a second-quarter punt, the ball glanced off the back of an Iowa player who was turned the wrong way. Junior linebacker Curtis Jacobs pounced on it at the Hawkeyes' 39-yard line, setting up a PSU touchdown and a 10-0 lead. While Saunders has been the only Penn State player to field punts so far this season, his ascendance has hardly been a solitary effort. As a true freshman in 2022, he paid close attention to the Lions' punt re- turner at the time, Parker Washington. A fellow receiver, Washington returned only 18 punts for 99 yards during an injury-shortened season, but he was a mainstay on special teams because of his sure hands. Washington announced for the NFL after the season, creating an opening that Saunders and several others sought to fill. A former four-star prospect at Westerville South, Saunders worked extensively over the summer with punt- ers Riley Thompson and Alex Bacchetta. Thompson's rugby-style punts added variety to those preparations and helped Saunders develop confidence in his ability to handle anything that came at him. He also has been getting help from his offensive position coach, Marques Hagans. Saunders said he doesn't feel alone when he's back deep because of the communication he hears from the sideline. While opposing punt coverage players are racing toward him, Saunders tracks the ball visually while listening for information from Hagans about how much running room he has in front of him. "I don't really hear the crowd as much when I'm back there. Everything is just kind of tuned out to me," Saunders said. "I can hear Coach Hagans, though. "It's just a feel thing. I don't know how to explain it. I can just feel when people are getting close to me. And I have Coach Hagans on the sideline, help- ing me out, yelling 'You're good, you're good' if I have time. But it's mostly just a feel thing. And you just have got to have some [guts] to be back there." Saunders' confidence has grown since the initial days of frustration during his first winter workouts. He insists he's "in a way better spot mentally and physically" than last year at this time, and the coaching staff is eager to maxi- mize his contributions. During Penn State's visit to Illinois in Week 3, Saunders caught his first 2 passes of the season, finishing the game with 19 yards. Moving forward, he's determined to build on that experience, and he's hoping that his dual respon- sibilities on offense and in the kicking game will complement each other and speed his development. Franklin, too, sees that as a possibility. "I think he's starting to build the confidence and acquire the strength," the coach said. "The big thing for him as a true freshman is that he was an under- sized guy. He needed the time in the weight room to develop and get stronger. "He's still an undersized guy, which is fine, but he's got the strength and the confidence to go out and play the way we need him to play. I think that will just continue to grow throughout his career. "On offense, he's shown signs as well in games and practice that his role will continue to grow. We're very pleased with Kaden. He's taken a very important role and he's growing in it." — Nate Bauer Kaden Saunders' Fearless Approach Elevates PSU's Return Game Saunders played in three games as a true freshman last season before earning a role as Penn State's starting punt returner this year. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE