It can be hard to quantify the performance of a special teams unit over an 18-game season in the NFL. Sure, special teams can be judged by the amount of return yards on kicks and punts that are allowed, as well as field goals made or missed, and average yards per punt, but that doesn’t always tell the whole story and doesn’t exactly help compare one special teams unit to another in the NFL.
Fortunately, Rick Gosselin, a longtime beat writer and columnist covering the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News, has found a way to quantify special teams play compared to others around the NFL.