All of Lou Hedley’s Punts w/ Field Position Stats: Hedley is a great punter for his coverage unit more than yards average shows (1 Viewer)

[SonOfNOLA]

This is the Hedley’s actually a great team fit thread. Each week some say Hedley’s not good solely based on yards averages in box scores and league rankings. They aren’t paying attention to results of the punts: the LOS he’s punting from, the LOS his punts finishes, and having consistently good ball placement for his coverage to be in the returners face on every punt.

Hedley’s punting from his own 36.5 yard line on average. A punter won’t have a big yards average with frequent short fields to work with. He has 6 50+ yard punts, a long of 55, so distance isn’t lacking.

As a directionally skilled punter, Hedley’s not punting just for distance. He’s punting for his coverage unit and giving them punts that can be downed, minimal-no return, and try to force a muffed/fumble on each attempt.

Field position is a big part of measuring how good a punter is too. A 47-50+ yard average doesn’t mean good punter for the Team when their punts allows 15-25 yard returns a lot.

I compiled all of Hedley’s punts and their field positions. All of the NO 29-NO1 yard line range punts are after all of his game punts. He hasn’t punted from deep into his own territory behind the 20 often to have a bigger sample size to go off in that range after 5 games.


ALL LOU HEDLEY’S PUNTS WITH FIELD POSITION AVERAGES STATS

Week 1 vs Tennessee
NO26 51 yards @TEN23, out of bds
NO36 52 yards @TEN12, ret 11 yards to TEN23
NO33 49 yards @TEN18, ret 12 yards to TEN30
NO44 45 yards @TEN11, ret no gain
NO43 44 yards @TEN13, ret 14 yards to TEN27
Avg punt LOS: NO36.4
Avg opp LOS after punts: TEN23
Avg landing yard-line: TEN15
Avg Yards: 48.2
Avg return yds allowed: 9.2 yards on 4 returns
IN20: 1 of 5 att
IN20 LOS: TEN11
50+ yd: 2 of 5 att

Week 2 at Carolina
NO36 29 yards @CAR35, out of bds
MID50 40 yards @CAR10, fair catch
NO39 45 yards @CAR16, ret 3 yards to CAR19
NO6 47 yards @CAR47, ret 12 yards to NO41
CAR49 49 yards @endzone, touchback
Avg punt LOS: NO36.4
Avg opp LOS after punts: CAR28
Avg landing yard-line: CAR21
Avg Yards: 42
Fair catch: 1 of 5 att
Touchback: 1 of 5 att
Avg return yds allowed: 7.5 yards on 2 returns
IN20: 2 of 5 att
Avg IN20 LOS: CAR14

Week 3 at Green Bay [slippery field]
NO16 38 yards @GB46, ret 2 yards to GB48
NO17 49 yards @GB34, ret 4 yards to GB38, hldg/GB to GB26
NO43 47 yards @GB10, out of bds
GB42 37 yards @GB5, downed by JT Gray
NO21 35 yards @GB44, out of bds, hldg/GB to GB34
NO39 41 yards @GB20, downed by JT Gray
NO24 46 yards @GB30, ret no gain, hldg/GB to GB20
Avg punt LOS: NO31
Avg opp LOS after punts: GB23
Avg landing yard-line: GB27
Avg Yards: 41.8
Downed: 2 of 7 att
Out of bounds: 2 of 7 att
Avg return yds allowed: 2 yards on 3 returns
IN20: 2 of 7 att
Avg IN20 LOS: GB7

Week 4 vs Tampa Bay
NO17 36 yards @TB47, fair catch, hldg/TB to TB37
TB49 36 yards @TB13, fair catch
NO40 52 yards @TB8, ret 7 yards to TB15
MID50 38 yards @TB12, fair catch
Avg punt LOS: NO39
Avg opp LOS after punts: TB19
Avg landing yard-line: TB20
Avg Yards: 40.5
Fair catch: 3 of 4 att
Avg return yds allowed: 7 yards on 1 return
IN20: 3 of 4 att
Avg IN20 LOS: TB11
50+ yd: 1 of 4 att

Week 5 at New England
NO41 53 yards @NE6, fair catch
NE39 39 yards @endzone, touchback
NE41 22 yards @NE19, muffed, out of bds
NO21 44 yards @NE35, fair catch
NO47 43 yards @NE10, fair catch
NO21 55 yards @NE24, downed by Summers
NO29 50 yards @NE21, ret 6 yards to NE27, hldg/NE to NE 12
Avg punt LOS: NO40
Avg opp LOS after punts: NE18
Avg landing yard-line: NE16
Avg Yards: 43.7
Fair catch: 3 of 7 att
Downed: 1 of 7 att
Touchback: 1 of 7 att
Avg return yds allowed: no official returns
IN20: 3 of 7 att
Avg IN20 LOS: NE11
50+ yd: 3 of 7 att


LOU HEDLEY’S PUNTS FROM NO29-NO1 YARD LINES WITH FIELD POSITION STATS
NO26 51 yards @TEN23, out of bds
NO6 47 yards @CAR47, ret 12 yards to NO41
NO16 38 yards @GB46, ret 2 yards to GB48
NO17 49 yards @GB34, ret 4 yards to GB38, hldg/GB to GB26
NO21 35 yards @GB44, out of bds, hldg/GB to GB34
NO24 46 yards @GB30, ret no gain, hldg/GB to GB20
NO17 36 yards @TB47, fair catch, hldg/TB to TB37
NO21 44 yards @NE35, fair catch
NO21 55 yards @NE24, downed by Summers
NO29 50 yards @NE21, ret 6 yards to NE27, hldg/NE to NE 12
Avg punt LOS: NO20
Avg opp LOS after punts: OPP’s 31
Avg landing yard-line: OPP’s 35
Avg Yards: 45.1
Attempts: 10 punts
IN25-21: 3
Avg return yds allowed: 4.5 yards on 4 returns
50+ yd punts: 3
45-49 yd punts: 3
40-44 yd punts: 1
35-39 yd punts: 3

 

[saintmike23]

Hedley plus JT Gray is a great combo!

Excellent analysis, thanks!

 

[DeuceMcAllisterFan]

Top 10 in punt percentage downed inside the 20 for punters with 10 or more punts at 39.3% which is outstanding considering he's near the top of the league in number of punts to date.

 

[El Caliente]

Someone needs to tell Rev Deuce to get off Lou’s junk.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

it seems clear he's an asset for the defense - puts the D in good positions

 

[St.Dan]

Hedley seems to be a solid find at punter. Punts with a strategy in mind to help the defense, which is what we want.

Makes me think of how punting has evolved over time. I watch a lot of old games on YT, and it seems the old-time punters would kick strictly for either hang time or power (distance). Directional punting became a skill only in the last two decades or so.

 

[Plow]

Great analysis, SonofNOLA. New metrics are needed to account for Australian style punting.

 

[26ISTHEMAN]

OP, love your enthusiasm for the guy, but I just don't see it.

Those are average numbers at best for today's punters. He's far from great.

I don't see how punting from his own 36.5 yard line on average is punting on a short field. He's got plenty of field to work with (63.5 yards), but he only averages 43.3.

And if he's trying to force muffs/fumbles on each attempt, he's not doing a very good job. Only 1 muff so far, and for all we know it had as much to do with the wind as with his kicking method.

He's bottom third in the league in net yards, which is usually a better measure that takes into account distance, hang time, field position, etc.

He's had at least 1 terrible punt in each of the last 4 games. The 22 yarder from the Pats 41 was pitiful.

I'm not saying Gilliken is any better, but there's plenty of room for improvement, and I hope we bring in competition for the position next year.

 

[DeuceMcAllisterFan]

You do realize how hard of a punt it is on the opposing team's side of the 50 yard line? Most teams will take a penalty to get more room for their punter in that scenario. We just straight up told Hedley to do his thing. Not only did he punted it inside the 20 which is good control but he also caused a fumble that would have been a turnover if Peppers didn't swipe the ball out of bounds. The coverage team was there for it.

 

[SonOfNOLA]

OP, love your enthusiasm for the guy, but I just don't see it.

Those are average numbers at best for today's punters. He's far from great.

I don't see how punting from his own 36.5 yard line on average is punting on a short field. He's got plenty of field to work with (63.5 yards), but he only averages 43.3.

And if he's trying to force muffs/fumbles on each attempt, he's not doing a very good job. Only 1 muff so far, and for all we know it had as much to do with the wind as with his kicking method.

He's bottom third in the league in net yards, which is usually a better measure that takes into account distance, hang time, field position, etc.

He's had at least 1 terrible punt in each of the last 4 games. The 22 yarder from the Pats 41 was pitiful.

I'm not saying Gilliken is any better, but there's plenty of room for improvement, and I hope we bring in competition for the position next year.

Hedley’s not punting just for personal yard stats and individual rankings. He’s directing the ball at exact field positions and not allowing significant or any returns after it lands.

On average, his punts lands at opponents’ 20 (19.8) yard line. Opponents’ LOS begins at their 22 yard line.

Punting is not primarily about just the punter by himself. How well he fits with his coverage unit is really important.

You’re looking at individual yard stats and not his impact on the team in field position. Yard averages doesn’t show field position and overall results of the punts. He’s a really good fit for the team’s coverage unit based on his ball placement.

 

[Mr. Coach Klein]

There's definitely room for improvement. We're 22nd in net punt y/a.

 

[Madmarsha]

Hedley’s not punting just for personal yard stats and individual rankings. He’s directing the ball at exact field positions and not allowing advances after it lands.

 

[SonOfNOLA]

There's definitely room for improvement. We're 22nd in net punt y/a.

We’re actually top 5 in net yards per game. 221.8 is a 33 yard increase from where we finished last season. The per attempts will fluctuate based on the LOS that we’re punting from.

Theres no categories for team LOS pre punt and opp LOS post punt on yard rankings. Team field position matters more than individual yard ranks. A consistent OPP 20 yard line average is solid.

 

[ItFan]

Idk. He’s made 4 stinkers on 28 punts, that’s 14% of his attempts, plus a couple of questionable ones, which would bring his mistake rate at a whopping 21%. That’s not quite an acceptable level.
I have to concede that GB was a brutal game, and without it the outlook would be better.

 

[ItFan]

We’re actually top 5 in net yards per game. 221.8 is a 33 yard increase from where we finished last season.

Theres no categories for team LOS pre punt and opp LOS post punt on yard rankings. Team field position matters more than individual yard rankings. A consistent OPP 20 yard line average is solid.

This just means we punt a lot