carolinatony

Dallas News Special teams rankings: Browns find bright spot after tough year | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News

May need to upgrade this position.

PUNTING
Best: Oakland, 51.1 yards
Worst: New England, 39.0 yards


NET PUNTING
Best: Oakland, 43.9 yards
Worst: New England, 34.0 yards

ctpatsfan77

Of course, that ignores the fact that if OAK is averaging 51 gross yards per punt, their average punting position must be no less than 51 yards from the EZ. . . .

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Box_O_Rocks

Well, yes, but this topic is being argued all over the forum and these numbers never tell the entire story.

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DaBruinz

Looking at JUST Net Punting Yards doesn't tell the whole story even remotely.

Like, for instance, how many punts inside the 20 the team had. Or how many punts were actually returned. There are so many flaws with the through process here that I'm not even sure where to begin. And it's kind of surprising coming from a veteran poster like yourself, Tony.

NePatriots

While those numbers don't tell the WHOLE story, you can't just throw them out altogether.

Lechler - 97 punts (51.1avg): 13% fair caught, 30 inside the 20, 8 inside the 10
Field Positon Stats here

Hanson - 56 punts (39.7avg): 28% fair caught, 18 inside the 20, 5 inside the 10
Field Position Stats here

Lechler has the advantage in having more field to punt to, but he is clearly a better punter.

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carolinatony

I would swap punters

PatsChamp88

We have more important things to worry about, some competition won't hurt but lets focus on having to punt less by getting some more receivers.

Metaphors

I agree but if your average punt only goes 40 yards, it should almost never be returnable. And when it is returned, the return guy shouldn't able to get very far. Unfortunately, that isn't the reality with Hanson. He has about one-third of his punts returned (which is good) for about a 10-yard average (which is not).

When asked to significantly change field position, Hanson generally can't pull it off. If he does go for distance (anything over 40 yards for him), it is flat with poor hangtime. When you punt from your 40 and the other team ends up near their 30, it puts pressure on the offense to get to midfield on almost every possession. When you punt from your 20 and the opposition starts on your side of the field, it is a gut punch to the defense.

All 3 phases need to work together. If the kicking game isn't pulling their weight, the other phases have to pick up the slack. This means trying to do more than they are able to do or the coaching staff not being able to run the gameplan they want.

With a boatload of late round picks (including comp picks that can't be traded), there really isn't an excuse not to bring in someone to replace Hanson.

NePatriots

I would love to see the Patriots bring in Mike Brandtner (Iowa State) with one of their 7th round comp picks. He has all the tools that the Patriots look for (or seem to look for) in a Punter. Good hang time, accuracy, and is a very good holder. He only allowed like 35 yards of Punt returns all year.

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spacecrime

??? How do you get that? From those stats Hanson is the better punter. He has a higher percentage fair caught (28% vs 13%), higher percentage inside the 20 (32% vs 31%), and a higher percentage inside the 10 (9% vs 8%).

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