Perkins accepts camp invite with Jaguars

NORWALK — Tyler Perkins will put on an NFL helmet next week. After a decorated punting career at St. Paul and NCAA Division I Iowa State University, the 2022 SPH graduate was invited to the rookie minicamp for the Jacksonville Jaguars late Monday night. Perkins will head to Florida on May 6. Jacksonville's rookie minicamp is scheduled for May 8-11. The three-day post-draft program held by all 32 teams is the initial opportunity for drafted and undrafted rookies to join the team for on-field walkthroughs, receive playbooks, and begin adapting to the NFL. Just three punters have been selected in the NFL Draft over the past two years. Perkins finished his final season for the Cyclones (8-4) with 42 punts for a 42.4-yard average. He had a season-best of 65 yards. Seven of those punts were downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line, and only four were returned. Opponents accumulated just 13 return yards against Perkins, which was the ninth-fewest nationally. Those numbers earned Perkins a selection as one of 10 semifinalists out of 92 nominated punters for the prestigious Ray Guy Award as well as Big 12 honorable mention. The Cyclones opted out of a bowl game last season after head coach Matt Campbell and a majority of the staff headed to Penn State University in early December 2025. Perkins graduated with a degree in accounting on Dec. 20, 2025. The son of Pete and Jennifer Perkins finished as the all-time punting average leader in program history (43.3 yards per kick). As a freshman, Perkins punted 50 times with a 42.2-yard average. As a sophomore, he kicked 61 times for a 44.3-yard average, then 37 times for 44.4 yards as a junior in 2024. In four years, Perkins played in the Cy-Hawk rivalry game with Iowa; played at Texas against the Longhorns; at Oklahoma against the Sooners; faced Arizona State in a Big 12 conference title game; and was part of a thrilling 42-41 win over Miami in the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Fla. He and his teammates also faced Kansas State this last season in Dublin, Ireland, and Perkins got to punt three times in his home state: twice in Cincinnati and once against Ohio in Athens. ISU went 30-21 in his career at the school. As a senior at St. Paul in 2021, Perkins punted 24 times for 976 yards (40.7 average), including a season-best of 56 yards, in 12 games. He was also 39-of-43 on extra point attempts and made three field goals as a kicker. In nine games in 2020, Perkins punted 20 times for a 44-yard average, including a long of 67 yards against Crestview in Week 2 (Sept. 5, 2020). He was also 33-of-36 on extra points and 5-of-7 on field goals. Those numbers earned him All-Firelands Conference and OPSWA Northwest District and All-Ohio first team honors at punter in Division VII in both 2020 and 2021. He was also the first team selection at kicker in FC voting.