The often overlooked but incredibly important player Justin Yoon is next to be highlighted. The senior kicker has quietly had a great career kicking for the Irish. As most football fans know, the only majority of the time that kickers are talked about are when they are missing kicks. In that sense, Justin Yoon has done a good job of flying under the radar.
Yoon is a career 42 for 52 on field goal attempts. This equals out to be over an 80% success rate. That is pretty darn good for a college football kicker. Just watch other teams struggle to find a kicker to make a 30 yarder from the right hash and you’ll appreciate Justin Yoon. He has also improved on extra point attempts over the years. He missed two of these kicks each of his freshman and sophomore seasons. In 2017 he improved to 55 for 55 on point afters.
3 Things To Know About Justin Yoon:
- He was born in Ohio, grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, but went to prep school in Massachusetts at Milton Academy.
- Justin Yoon’s father, Jiseop, is a former Olympian figure skater. He competed for his native country of South Korea.
- The longest field goal Yoon has made in an Irish uniform came during his freshman season. It came against Navy at the end of the first half. The kick was from 52 yards and stands as his long after three full seasons.
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Country, Condiment, Or Canon
Identifying the player as either a country, condiment, or member of the Star Wars Canon.
Ireland. To me, Ireland is a very reliable country. You know exactly what you are going to get when you go there (I’ve never been there). People who love to dance and drink beer. It is also sometimes overlooked when talking about traveling to Europe. Everyone wants to go to France, Italy, Greece, etc. The great country of Ireland sometimes gets forgotten about.
Does this not describe Justin Yoon?
2018 Outlook
Look, if you could give me Justin Yoon kicking extra points at over 95% success rate and field goals at 80% for another season I would certainly take it right now. He has been very consistent in his three years. Yoon also improved on kickoffs this past season. Continuing to kick more touch-backs is a way to improve for 2018.
Pushing his range to the 50+ is always attainable as well. But if I’m being honest, I would rather have Yoon be automatic from 35 than be able to occasionally make a 53 yard kick.
All in all, Notre Dame is in a good spot with a reliable senior kicker.