2021 NFL full league punting analysis

As I do every off-season, I look at every punt and determine how the punter did (and the punt coverage team) on each of them. The job of the punter is to maximize field position, but how do we determine how well each punter does that. Just looking at gross or net punt yardage misses most of the context. Using punt percentage (PP) score keeps that context.

This analysis is based on two premises

For long-field punts (inside your own 35), the optimal result is a 65 net yard punt. So if the LOS is your own 20, then the other team takes over at their own 15. This would be scored at 100 percent (65 net yards/65 potential yards).

For short-field punts (your own 35 or beyond), the optimal result is…