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Believe it or not, NFL punters can impact games more than most fans realize. With less scoring compared to college games, field position becomes far more important when you bet on NFL games.
That’s where punters play a key role. A good punt can flip field position in one team’s favor, making it harder for the other team to score points and easier for a team to score on their next possession. While punts don’t typically jump off the page when looking at the stats of a game, the top punters in the NFL can give their team an important advantage.
So who are the NFL’s best punters?
Best NFL Punters of the Last Season
Determining the best punters in the NFL is a subjective process. The goal of a punt can change depending on the situation: a long punt isn’t always best. So it’s not just stats like net yards per punt but also punts that end up putting the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line that help determine the top punters.
A.J. Cole of the Raiders and Bryan Anger of the Cowboys were the two punters selected to the Pro Bowl this past season, making them arguably the best NFL punters in 2023. Both averaged over 50 yards per punt and were the two best punters in net average.
Cole had the fourth-most punts land inside the 20-yard line and also led the NFL in punts that went out of bounds, preventing a return. In addition to making the Pro Bowl for the third straight season, he earned First-Team All-Pro honors for the second time in the last three seasons. He really is one of the NFL’s elite punters.
Similarly, Anger was selected to his second Pro Bowl in 2023 and was named to the Second-Team All-Pro for the second time in three years.
Best NFL Punters in History
It’s a widely held belief that Ray Guy leads the list of the best punters in NFL history. He was the first pure punter to ever be selected in the NFL Draft and to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During his career, Guy was an eight-time All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowler. He helped the Raiders win three Super Bowls. Also, the yearly award for the best collegiate punter is named after him.
However, Guy is only one of the best NFL punters of all time. Jeff Feagles owns the all-time records for most punts and most punts inside the 20-yard line. Meanwhile, Shane Lechler holds the record for most touchbacks by a punter. Both deserve to be in the conversation when it comes to the best punters of all time. Punters like Yale Lary, Sean Landeta, Reggie Roby, and Dustin Colquitt also deserve to be mentioned close behind Guy as some of the best NFL punters of all time.
Punter vs. Kicker – Understanding the Difference
While they are often grouped together, punters and kickers have drastically different jobs. For starters, kickers come onto the field following a successful offensive possession to either kick a PAT or kick a field goal. They also perform the kickoff at the start of each half or following a touchdown.
Punters are used when the offense fails to advance the ball or score points. It’s their job to kick the ball back to the opposing team. The aim here is to pin them back as deep as possible and give them a long way to travel to get into scoring position.
Naturally, kickers are more closely associated with their team’s success than punters. This is because kickers score points for their team and are sometimes given a chance to win or lose a game with a last-minute field goal.
Punters don’t score points and are often associated with the failure of their team. If a punter isn’t used a lot in a game, it’s usually a good sign for a team – the worst NFL teams tend to use their punter more often than the best teams!
Betting on NFL Player Kicking Points
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Top Punters in the NFL FAQs
In 1969, Steve O’Neal of the Jets recorded a 98-yard punt in a game against the Broncos. It remains the longest punt in NFL history.
In cases of injuries, punters can sometimes fill in for kickers and vice versa. It’s also common for kickers to transition to punters. It’s less common for an established punter to switch roles and become a kicker.
NFL teams spend a lot of time evaluating potential punters just like any other position. They look at skill set and how well a player’s abilities will translate to the NFL. A punter who is slow in getting the ball away may be vulnerable to getting punts blocked in the NFL.
Most punters are capable of serving as a kicker on field goals and extra points, although the skill sets of the two positions are quite different.
Punter strategy varies with the situation. In some instances, they’ll want to kick the ball as far as possible. In others, they’ll need to kick the ball as quickly as possible regardless of the quality of the kick. There are times when the hang time of a punt is the most important factor.
In recent years, it’s become more common for punters to use a rugby style of kicking – they run and kick the ball as opposed to taking one step forward and punting the ball away.
Windy conditions can have a profound impact on a punter kicking the ball as far as possible or getting the ball to land inside the 20-yard line without a touchback.
Punters often have to change strategies based on the effectiveness of the punt coverage unit and how worried a team is about the opposing punt returner having a big return.
