Punt question

[CoastalCat]

Sorry in advance. This can be moved to general afterward, but wanted a quick answer. 

Punt yards are usually tallied as net of a return. If a punter kicks from the opponent's 40, and kicks into the end zone, is it a 40-yard or a 20-yard punt?

 

Just curious. Go Panthers. 

[MHS831]

First, it is not where the punter kicks the ball, it is the line of scrimmage--that is different with kickers and field goals, where they measure from where the ball is placed. 

So if a punt goes into the endzone, they add the yardage from the line of scrimmage to the goal line. 

NET yardage would subtract 20 yards. 

[CoastalCat]

9 hours ago, MHS831 said:

First, it is not where the punter kicks the ball, it is the line of scrimmage--that is different with kickers and field goals, where they measure from where the ball is placed. 

So if a punt goes into the endzone, they add the yardage from the line of scrimmage to the goal line. 

NET yardage would subtract 20 yards. 

Gotcha. Just wasn't sure if they subtracted the 20 yards for moving the ball to the 20 for the touchback. 

Thanks

[RoaringRiot]

What happens if a punt is returned for a TD?

 

[CoastalCat]

11 minutes ago, RoaringRiot said:

What happens if a punt is returned for a TD?

 

Joe Webb gets a flag. 

[MHS831]

31 minutes ago, CoastalCat said:

Gotcha. Just wasn't sure if they subtracted the 20 yards for moving the ball to the 20 for the touchback. 

Thanks

I am not fond of the idea because a punter who kicks the ball to the 9 yard line, for example, loses 9 yards off his average than when he kicks it into the endzone, but he saves his team 11 yards in field position. The punter's main focus in field position--so he saves 11 yards of field position but doesn't make the pro bowl  because some lesser punter drills it into the end zone to pad his stats---not sure that happens, but it could.  I wish they could devise a formula for punter effectiveness as they have qbs and give them a rating.

[chknwing]

"a punt is a good play" John Fox

[MHS831]

25 minutes ago, RoaringRiot said:

What happens if a punt is returned for a TD?

 

Good question---I would assume the net yardage would be negative.   I coached on a high school team where the head coach was promoting his son to make all-state by padding his stats as a punter. 

We played a game where he had 2 punts blocked.  A blocked punt should kill your average, and he had 2.  The next morning in the paper, he was shown to have a 43.2 per punt average.  I was at the school that Saturday, working with the kids who were banged up the night before, and the coach was there.  I asked him how they blocked punts managed to stay out of the punter's stats--he replied, "We were running fake punts." 

" From our own end zone?"  I asked.  "On fourth and 22?" 

"Yes"

His son, who never had a punt of more that 40 yards in reality, made the Shrine Bowl. All-State, etc.

That is how I got to know about punting stats.  If the NFL is different, I don't know how.

 

 

 

[CoastalCat]

26 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

I am not fond of the idea because a punter who kicks the ball to the 9 yard line, for example, loses 9 yards off his average than when he kicks it into the endzone, but he saves his team 11 yards in field position. The punter's main focus in field position--so he saves 11 yards of field position but doesn't make the pro bowl  because some lesser punter drills it into the end zone to pad his stats---not sure that happens, but it could.  I wish they could devise a formula for punter effectiveness as they have qbs and give them a rating.

I actually like that idea because the punt to the 9 is better than a punt to the end zone. 

[MHS831]

1 minute ago, CoastalCat said:

I actually like that idea because the punt to the 9 is better than a punt to the end zone. 

By the way, my son is a UNCW Seahawk.  Loves it there.  We do to-thinking of moving there when I retire.

[CoastalCat]

Here's an interesting article on PFF about punting. Turns out, they track both stats (gross and net), and both touchback yards and touchdown yards subtract from the net yards stat. 

PUNT GAME: SPORTSBALLING REALLY HARD WITH YOUR FOOT

[PoundCat]

57 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

I am not fond of the idea because a punter who kicks the ball to the 9 yard line, for example, loses 9 yards off his average than when he kicks it into the endzone, but he saves his team 11 yards in field position. The punter's main focus in field position--so he saves 11 yards of field position but doesn't make the pro bowl  because some lesser punter drills it into the end zone to pad his stats---not sure that happens, but it could.  I wish they could devise a formula for punter effectiveness as they have qbs and give them a rating.

That's why they track the "inside 20" metric, which credits the punter for landing the ball inside the 20 vs punting into the end zone.

[Jangler]

44 minutes ago, CoastalCat said:

I actually like that idea because the punt to the 9 is better than a punt to the end zone. 

It's a beautiful thing when a punter bounces it out inside the 5, doesn't seem to be many anymore.

[Chaos]

2 hours ago, Jangler said:

It's a beautiful thing when a punter bounces it out inside the 5, doesn't seem to be many anymore.

Ahh, the dreaded coffin corner kick, seemingly a list art in the NFL.