I love punting stats. If you've talked to me at least a little bit, or you've seen my last media post about midseason punting statistics, you know there is no doubt that it is my favourite thing to look at. Why is that? I don't know man. It's just a bit of a laugh. When I put out that media just under a month ago, people seemed to enjoy a little break from the important things in life; they enjoyed the few minutes spent reading that distracted them from whatever was going on. They enjoyed understanding how little dots - little dots that aren't even seen on the screen during games might I add - actually did when it comes to putting the team on their back and helping their teammates in ways they could never achieve themselves. And I want to give that feeling once more. So now, we're going back in time.
The thought first came into my head after a conversation with the current Honolulu GM Raven. In case you're new and have little to know knowledge of the NSFL Hall of Fame, Raven is the user of a the first Hall of Fame kicker Turk Turkleton. Many will know of the greatness of Turk Turkleton, but again if you're not, check his wiki page here to see what I mean. He was the original top kicker, and paved the way for the Kicker Mafia to become a staple in the Hall of Fame. Anyway, I'm finished digressing from the story. Raven had read my original media, and he enjoyed it, which I was glad about. He then wondered something that became almost compartmentalised in my head; he wondered how good his players' Punter of the Year-winning seasons were when compared to other such winners of the award.
I wasn't really in a position at the time to do the necessary research to actually complete this quickly. So I added it to my To-Do list and went about with my normal business. Eventually, just under a month later, I have finally began to collect the data needed to actually rate these players and see who put together the best year of punting in the history of the NSFL. Let's begin by finding out our contestants:
Season 1 - Jimmy Darkapple - Yeti
Season 2 - Stephen Harris - Liberty
Season 3 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Outlaws
Season 4 (shared) - Turk Turkleton - Hawks
Season 4 (shared) - Iyah Blewitt - Sabercats
Season 5 - Turk Turkleton (2) - Hawks
Season 6 - Peg Leg - New Orleans
Season 7 - Iyah Blewitt (2) - Sabercats
Season 8 - Turk Turkleton (3) - Hawks
Season 9 (shared) - Dean Jackson - Outlaws
Season 9 (shared) - Micycle McCormick - Yeti
Season 10 - Micycle McCormick (2) - Yeti
Season 11 - Dean Jackson (2) - Outlaws
Season 12 - Kulture Fulture - Liberty
Season 13 - Dean Jackson (3) - Outlaws
Season 14 - Dean Jackson (4) - Outlaws
Season 15 - Kulture Fulture (2) - Liberty
Season 16 - Kulture Fulture (3) - Butchers
Season 17 - Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname - Otters
Season 18 - Kicky Bobby - Sabercats
Season 19 (shared) - Baxter Frost - Liberty
Season 19 (shared) - Neo Donaldson - Wraiths
Season 20 - Alfredo Crisco - Copperheads
Season 21 - Venus Powers - Liberty
Phew, that was a long list. Let's talk about some of the interesting parts of this list now: all current franchises that have played a full season in the NSFL have a player on this list, so congrats to you all as no one is left out! The standout team here is obviously the Outlaws; although it is easy when a Hall of Fame talent like Dean Jackson occupies the K/P position for you. Another team that has quite an impressive presence is my team, the Sabercats; a team with 3 Punting titles over 2 different eras and K/Ps, they evidently have a good past of giving punters a chance to do work. Hopefully I can continue this trend! (P.S. I know the Liberty had more, but whatever I'm just being a homer)
So, let's talk about how we are going to analyse the information from each of these player's seasons. If you read my article during the middle of last season on DSFL punting, you'll know I used a stat I called Average Distance from the Goal Line (ADFGL). This stat gave a total yardage on how much of the field players had available when they stepped up to punt the ball. The general theory is that, with less of the field, punters have to be more tactical about their kicking, and so are less likely to rack up the averages of other players in teams that cannot drive the ball as well. Now, I wasn't able to think of a number to compare people in terms of their field usage when compared to this stat. Why? Because I'm an idiot that's why. So now, I have an added context stat to add to ADFGL, one that uses ADFGL in its calculation, but is even easier. That stat... is Total Field Used! Total Field Used, or TFU for those of you who like abbreviations, is a stat that tells us how much of the field that punters were actually take advantage of when they punted from their average field position. The hope of this is to quantify the punting eras of players, and actually be able to compare people through different seasons. With how drastic the league has changed - from having more or less games, to have better or worse players around them - using simple numbers does not cut it at this point.
You may also be thinking; "Well, what about my accurate kickers? This still doesn't show them the love they deserve!" And to that I say... yeah, fair. That's why we'll also be tracking other punt downing stats that are definitely more "accuracy friendly". So, we will be taking the percentage of punts inside the 20, along with the percentage of punts that qualify as "coffin corner" punts inside the 5. We would expect the best accuracy based Punters to get a high percentage of their punts inside the 20 at least, so these stats should provide a great way of signalling which of these accurate players could get the job done in their field. And of course, we cannot forget the punters version of a strikeout; the Touchback. Touchbacks are not fun, as they get rid of a large chunk of a punters hard work during their punting by taking the ball all the way back to the 20 yard line. A kicker who suffers from a high touchback percentage, no matter how tough they have it in terms of field position, will not get the most appreciation from his teammates. Therefore, the lower the touchback percentage, the higher a player will be ranked here.
And now we are nearly ready to start looking at players. Now, those of you who are somewhat vigilant will have noticed the description below the title; Part 1/5. Why is he doing a series of punting articles? Well, there are a few reasons: One, I like pain I guess. Two, this article is already at 1200 words, so writing this up all at once would be even more pain. Three, I haven't collected all of the data left and I want to get some of this data up right now. And four... it keeps the suspense up, you know? So this first part will focus on the first 5 seasons of our illustrious. 6 punters won the biggest title in the NSFL during this early period. This will give us the chance to begin our leaderboards that will be continued onto the next few parts, to help us decide which player truly had the best NSFL punting season of all time. Let's get right into it with our first player:
Season 1 - Jimmy Darkapple - Yeti
Punts: 111
Average Punt: 45.2
ADFGL: 64.355
TFU (%): 70.24 - 5th
Inside 20 (%): 14.4 - 5th
Inside 5 (%): 1.8 - 6th
Touchbacks (%): 29.1 - 2nd
The inaugural player in our analysis is Jimmy Darkapple. Darkapple finished Season 1 with a 75 rating on both kick power and kick accuracy - ratings that would customary at the DSFL level these days. But this was the true early days of the league; everyone was getting started, and no one was truly at the peak of their powers. Because of this, there is no doubts these counting stats are less than impressive. However, I think we can give the legacy pass on some of these inadequacies. One thing we can definitely say is that he was very able when it came to avoiding the dreaded touchback. 29.1% is definitely a low rate of touchbacks even comparing people in the early years. A point to consider here though: with an average field distance of 64.355, Darkapple managed a long of... 65 yards. Yikes. It was truly a different time in our league. Therefore, I don't think it will be any surprise to say that Darkapple will likely fall outside the conversation for the best punting season of all time.
Season 2 - Stephen Harris - Liberty
Punts: 120
Average Punt: 46.6
ADFGL: 68.758
TFU (%): 67.77 - 6th
Inside 20 (%): 20.8 - 1st
Inside 5 (%): 5 - 3rd
Touchbacks (%): 22.5 - 1st
Season 2 is upon us, and it's likely another case of too early to kill the stats that count. Stephen Harris had much more low-level NSFL stats at the end of this season - 85 kick power and 85 kick accuracy - but truthfully, he still struggled overall. While he came on the field a ton kicking the ball from his hands a massive 120 times (wow), and had a higher average than Darkapple, he was altogether unimpressive in these situations. His total field usage is the worst, even worse than his Season 1 compatriot, down to his extra 2+ yards to work with. Again, touchback rates are low, but again his longest punt is nothing to write about. In fact, Harris' longest punt is actually shorter than the average distance he had to the goal line with a 66 yarder. Double yikes. Let's just skip onto the next season's player.
Season 3 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Outlaws
Punts: 104
Average Punt: 48.6
ADFGL: 62.259
TFU (%): 78.061 - 2nd
Inside 20 (%): 19.2 - 3rd
Inside 5 (%): 7.69 - 1st
Touchbacks (%): 44.2 - 5th
Season 3 is next, and here we welcome a multi-sport star in Cristiano Ronaldo! Yes, in between Ballon D'or trophies and Champions League wins, Cristiano Ronaldo popped over to give us a masterclass in kicking an oblong ball a long way! Ronaldo was an outright power kicker, and sported a near maxed out 99 kick power, along with a 83 kick accuracy. What did this do for him in terms of his punting capabilities? Well, an extra 2 yards on his punt average against Harris was a start. And his field usage was the best of the first 3 years, only beaten by one man who we will get to later. What made this distance less palatable however, was the 44.2% touchback rate that Ronaldo put up in this season. Talk about a big percentage; this number basically doubled Harris' score here, and was the 2nd worst of the first 5 years - again we'll get to that player later. The question is: was the longer punt distance - the longest punt for Ronaldo this season was 81 yards - worth it in exchange for the elevated touchbacks? And can someone find the sweet balance between good punts and good touchback rate? Lets find out as we move into the first of our shared titles; Season 4...
Season 4 (shared) - Turk Turkleton (1) -
Punts: 95
Average Punt: 48.7
ADFGL: 64.245
TFU (%): 75.804 - 3rd
Inside 20 (%): 13.68 - 6th
Inside 5 (%): 3.16 - 4th
Touchbacks (%): 36.8 - 4th
Hey, I know this guy! We talked about him earlier!
This won't be the first time we talk about Turk here today. But, let's talk about the hard numbers here: how good was Turk compared to those around him in the early years. For Season 4... eh. 3rd in the first 5 seasons in total field usage, with only a slightly higher average than a man in Ronaldo that a year before had 2 less yards to work with. That isn't a great look. Neither is the touchback rate. If 38.6% of your punts are touchbacks - which is still less than Ronaldo but not great - then your team are not thanking you. His accuracy stats too, are less than impressive even compared to the very early Darkapple and Harris. To be honest, this likely was not his best year. But how did he compared to his shared awardee this year? Well, isn't that an interesting question...
Season 4 (shared) - Iyah Blewitt - Sabercats
Punts: 100
Average Punt: 47.3
ADFGL: 65.204
TFU (%): 72.541 - 4th
Inside 20 (%): 20 - 2nd
Inside 5 (%): 3 - 5th
Touchbacks (%): 30 - 3rd
...A very interesting question indeed. Not many newer players may have heard of Blewitt, but he shows up a decent amount in the early punting years. As such, we'll see more of him in a later part. But for now, let's discuss Season 4. A power punter Blewitt was not this season, with 90 on both kick power and kick accuracy, and this shows. With 3+% less total field usage than Turkleton, he would never beat him in the power stats - probably why this season ended in a tie. On the accuracy stats however, Blewitt shows out. He challenges the heights of Harris in these categories. And his touchbacks rank in the middle of the field. Overall, you could say Blewitt is a jack of all trades in this race; and he is definitely a master of none. Now, to answer the question you may be asking here... was Blewitt's season better than Turkleton's? Listen, I'm in no position to question people's votes 17 seasons later. Blewitt won on his better accuracy (although his inside 5 percentage was lower than Turkleton... read into that what you will) while Turkleton tied it up with his superior power. What would I rather? A mix of both. So, I support the decision of a tie. However, if you put a gun to my head, I would probably side with the power - and it's not because I am a power kicker, I swear.
Season 5 - Turk Turkleton (2) - Hawks
Punts: 73
Average Punt: 50.9
ADFGL: 63.753
TFU (%): 79.839 - 1st
Inside 20 (%): 17.8 - 4th
Inside 5 (%): 6.85 - 2nd
Touchbacks (%): 45.2 - 6th
And now we go onto Season 5 where we have... Oh. We've seen this guy before. His 2nd punting award in consecutive seasons, Turkleton finally won the big one outright in what was a season of long punts. With an average punt length of 50.9 yards, Turkleton put up the highest total field usage of all the first 6 contestants, including himself the year prior. He really proved himself as a great power punter during this season. What was much less exciting for Hawks fans however, was the touchback rate. 45.2%. If he were to punt 20 times, you would expect 9 of them to be touchbacks, from an average distance of 63.7 yards out. Scary, but also super impressive. Combine that with his decent enough accuracy stats elsewhere and you've got a decent prospect for a high level punting season. The touchbacks are definitely high here, but he was transcendent this year, and there was no doubt he deserved the solo title this time around.
Part 1 Conclusion and Leaderboards
I won't talk much about the results down here, as that is what the 5th part will be for. What I will say as a disclaimer is that all these players were fantastic in their own right during their own timeframe. They all deserve their titles and by no means am I trying to say they didn't deserve it. This is simply a fun hypothetical, and a chance for everyone to learn more about the history of a league we're all a big part of now. I will now leave you to enjoy the rest of the NFL Draft (it ain't no NSFL Draft stream tbh), or whatever you are doing while reading this, and I hope to see you next time when we cover Seasons 6-10!
Here are the current top 5 leaderboards in each tracked stat:
Total Field Usage
1st - Turkleton (2) - 79.839%
2nd - Ronaldo - 78.061%
3rd - Turkleton (1) - 75.804%
4th - Blewitt - 72.541%
5th - Darkapple - 70.24%
Inside 20 (%)
1st - Harris - 20.8%
2nd - Blewitt - 20%
3rd - Ronaldo - 19.2%
4th - Turkleton (2) - 17.8%
5th - Darkapple - 14.4%
Inside 5 (%)
1st - Ronaldo - 7.69%
2nd - Turkleton (2) - 6.85%
3rd - Harris - 5%
4th - Turkleton - 3.16%
5th - Blewitt - 3%
Touchbacks (%)
1st - Harris - 22.5%
2nd - Darkapple - 29.1%
3rd - Blewitt - 30%
4th - Turkleton (1) - 36.8%
5th - Ronaldo - 44.2%
The thought first came into my head after a conversation with the current Honolulu GM Raven. In case you're new and have little to know knowledge of the NSFL Hall of Fame, Raven is the user of a the first Hall of Fame kicker Turk Turkleton. Many will know of the greatness of Turk Turkleton, but again if you're not, check his wiki page here to see what I mean. He was the original top kicker, and paved the way for the Kicker Mafia to become a staple in the Hall of Fame. Anyway, I'm finished digressing from the story. Raven had read my original media, and he enjoyed it, which I was glad about. He then wondered something that became almost compartmentalised in my head; he wondered how good his players' Punter of the Year-winning seasons were when compared to other such winners of the award.
I wasn't really in a position at the time to do the necessary research to actually complete this quickly. So I added it to my To-Do list and went about with my normal business. Eventually, just under a month later, I have finally began to collect the data needed to actually rate these players and see who put together the best year of punting in the history of the NSFL. Let's begin by finding out our contestants:
Season 1 - Jimmy Darkapple - Yeti
Season 2 - Stephen Harris - Liberty
Season 3 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Outlaws
Season 4 (shared) - Turk Turkleton - Hawks
Season 4 (shared) - Iyah Blewitt - Sabercats
Season 5 - Turk Turkleton (2) - Hawks
Season 6 - Peg Leg - New Orleans
Season 7 - Iyah Blewitt (2) - Sabercats
Season 8 - Turk Turkleton (3) - Hawks
Season 9 (shared) - Dean Jackson - Outlaws
Season 9 (shared) - Micycle McCormick - Yeti
Season 10 - Micycle McCormick (2) - Yeti
Season 11 - Dean Jackson (2) - Outlaws
Season 12 - Kulture Fulture - Liberty
Season 13 - Dean Jackson (3) - Outlaws
Season 14 - Dean Jackson (4) - Outlaws
Season 15 - Kulture Fulture (2) - Liberty
Season 16 - Kulture Fulture (3) - Butchers
Season 17 - Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname - Otters
Season 18 - Kicky Bobby - Sabercats
Season 19 (shared) - Baxter Frost - Liberty
Season 19 (shared) - Neo Donaldson - Wraiths
Season 20 - Alfredo Crisco - Copperheads
Season 21 - Venus Powers - Liberty
Phew, that was a long list. Let's talk about some of the interesting parts of this list now: all current franchises that have played a full season in the NSFL have a player on this list, so congrats to you all as no one is left out! The standout team here is obviously the Outlaws; although it is easy when a Hall of Fame talent like Dean Jackson occupies the K/P position for you. Another team that has quite an impressive presence is my team, the Sabercats; a team with 3 Punting titles over 2 different eras and K/Ps, they evidently have a good past of giving punters a chance to do work. Hopefully I can continue this trend! (P.S. I know the Liberty had more, but whatever I'm just being a homer)
So, let's talk about how we are going to analyse the information from each of these player's seasons. If you read my article during the middle of last season on DSFL punting, you'll know I used a stat I called Average Distance from the Goal Line (ADFGL). This stat gave a total yardage on how much of the field players had available when they stepped up to punt the ball. The general theory is that, with less of the field, punters have to be more tactical about their kicking, and so are less likely to rack up the averages of other players in teams that cannot drive the ball as well. Now, I wasn't able to think of a number to compare people in terms of their field usage when compared to this stat. Why? Because I'm an idiot that's why. So now, I have an added context stat to add to ADFGL, one that uses ADFGL in its calculation, but is even easier. That stat... is Total Field Used! Total Field Used, or TFU for those of you who like abbreviations, is a stat that tells us how much of the field that punters were actually take advantage of when they punted from their average field position. The hope of this is to quantify the punting eras of players, and actually be able to compare people through different seasons. With how drastic the league has changed - from having more or less games, to have better or worse players around them - using simple numbers does not cut it at this point.
You may also be thinking; "Well, what about my accurate kickers? This still doesn't show them the love they deserve!" And to that I say... yeah, fair. That's why we'll also be tracking other punt downing stats that are definitely more "accuracy friendly". So, we will be taking the percentage of punts inside the 20, along with the percentage of punts that qualify as "coffin corner" punts inside the 5. We would expect the best accuracy based Punters to get a high percentage of their punts inside the 20 at least, so these stats should provide a great way of signalling which of these accurate players could get the job done in their field. And of course, we cannot forget the punters version of a strikeout; the Touchback. Touchbacks are not fun, as they get rid of a large chunk of a punters hard work during their punting by taking the ball all the way back to the 20 yard line. A kicker who suffers from a high touchback percentage, no matter how tough they have it in terms of field position, will not get the most appreciation from his teammates. Therefore, the lower the touchback percentage, the higher a player will be ranked here.
And now we are nearly ready to start looking at players. Now, those of you who are somewhat vigilant will have noticed the description below the title; Part 1/5. Why is he doing a series of punting articles? Well, there are a few reasons: One, I like pain I guess. Two, this article is already at 1200 words, so writing this up all at once would be even more pain. Three, I haven't collected all of the data left and I want to get some of this data up right now. And four... it keeps the suspense up, you know? So this first part will focus on the first 5 seasons of our illustrious. 6 punters won the biggest title in the NSFL during this early period. This will give us the chance to begin our leaderboards that will be continued onto the next few parts, to help us decide which player truly had the best NSFL punting season of all time. Let's get right into it with our first player:
Season 1 - Jimmy Darkapple - Yeti
Punts: 111
Average Punt: 45.2
ADFGL: 64.355
TFU (%): 70.24 - 5th
Inside 20 (%): 14.4 - 5th
Inside 5 (%): 1.8 - 6th
Touchbacks (%): 29.1 - 2nd
The inaugural player in our analysis is Jimmy Darkapple. Darkapple finished Season 1 with a 75 rating on both kick power and kick accuracy - ratings that would customary at the DSFL level these days. But this was the true early days of the league; everyone was getting started, and no one was truly at the peak of their powers. Because of this, there is no doubts these counting stats are less than impressive. However, I think we can give the legacy pass on some of these inadequacies. One thing we can definitely say is that he was very able when it came to avoiding the dreaded touchback. 29.1% is definitely a low rate of touchbacks even comparing people in the early years. A point to consider here though: with an average field distance of 64.355, Darkapple managed a long of... 65 yards. Yikes. It was truly a different time in our league. Therefore, I don't think it will be any surprise to say that Darkapple will likely fall outside the conversation for the best punting season of all time.
Season 2 - Stephen Harris - Liberty
Punts: 120
Average Punt: 46.6
ADFGL: 68.758
TFU (%): 67.77 - 6th
Inside 20 (%): 20.8 - 1st
Inside 5 (%): 5 - 3rd
Touchbacks (%): 22.5 - 1st
Season 2 is upon us, and it's likely another case of too early to kill the stats that count. Stephen Harris had much more low-level NSFL stats at the end of this season - 85 kick power and 85 kick accuracy - but truthfully, he still struggled overall. While he came on the field a ton kicking the ball from his hands a massive 120 times (wow), and had a higher average than Darkapple, he was altogether unimpressive in these situations. His total field usage is the worst, even worse than his Season 1 compatriot, down to his extra 2+ yards to work with. Again, touchback rates are low, but again his longest punt is nothing to write about. In fact, Harris' longest punt is actually shorter than the average distance he had to the goal line with a 66 yarder. Double yikes. Let's just skip onto the next season's player.
Season 3 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Outlaws
Punts: 104
Average Punt: 48.6
ADFGL: 62.259
TFU (%): 78.061 - 2nd
Inside 20 (%): 19.2 - 3rd
Inside 5 (%): 7.69 - 1st
Touchbacks (%): 44.2 - 5th
Season 3 is next, and here we welcome a multi-sport star in Cristiano Ronaldo! Yes, in between Ballon D'or trophies and Champions League wins, Cristiano Ronaldo popped over to give us a masterclass in kicking an oblong ball a long way! Ronaldo was an outright power kicker, and sported a near maxed out 99 kick power, along with a 83 kick accuracy. What did this do for him in terms of his punting capabilities? Well, an extra 2 yards on his punt average against Harris was a start. And his field usage was the best of the first 3 years, only beaten by one man who we will get to later. What made this distance less palatable however, was the 44.2% touchback rate that Ronaldo put up in this season. Talk about a big percentage; this number basically doubled Harris' score here, and was the 2nd worst of the first 5 years - again we'll get to that player later. The question is: was the longer punt distance - the longest punt for Ronaldo this season was 81 yards - worth it in exchange for the elevated touchbacks? And can someone find the sweet balance between good punts and good touchback rate? Lets find out as we move into the first of our shared titles; Season 4...
Season 4 (shared) - Turk Turkleton (1) -
Punts: 95
Average Punt: 48.7
ADFGL: 64.245
TFU (%): 75.804 - 3rd
Inside 20 (%): 13.68 - 6th
Inside 5 (%): 3.16 - 4th
Touchbacks (%): 36.8 - 4th
Hey, I know this guy! We talked about him earlier!
This won't be the first time we talk about Turk here today. But, let's talk about the hard numbers here: how good was Turk compared to those around him in the early years. For Season 4... eh. 3rd in the first 5 seasons in total field usage, with only a slightly higher average than a man in Ronaldo that a year before had 2 less yards to work with. That isn't a great look. Neither is the touchback rate. If 38.6% of your punts are touchbacks - which is still less than Ronaldo but not great - then your team are not thanking you. His accuracy stats too, are less than impressive even compared to the very early Darkapple and Harris. To be honest, this likely was not his best year. But how did he compared to his shared awardee this year? Well, isn't that an interesting question...
Season 4 (shared) - Iyah Blewitt - Sabercats
Punts: 100
Average Punt: 47.3
ADFGL: 65.204
TFU (%): 72.541 - 4th
Inside 20 (%): 20 - 2nd
Inside 5 (%): 3 - 5th
Touchbacks (%): 30 - 3rd
...A very interesting question indeed. Not many newer players may have heard of Blewitt, but he shows up a decent amount in the early punting years. As such, we'll see more of him in a later part. But for now, let's discuss Season 4. A power punter Blewitt was not this season, with 90 on both kick power and kick accuracy, and this shows. With 3+% less total field usage than Turkleton, he would never beat him in the power stats - probably why this season ended in a tie. On the accuracy stats however, Blewitt shows out. He challenges the heights of Harris in these categories. And his touchbacks rank in the middle of the field. Overall, you could say Blewitt is a jack of all trades in this race; and he is definitely a master of none. Now, to answer the question you may be asking here... was Blewitt's season better than Turkleton's? Listen, I'm in no position to question people's votes 17 seasons later. Blewitt won on his better accuracy (although his inside 5 percentage was lower than Turkleton... read into that what you will) while Turkleton tied it up with his superior power. What would I rather? A mix of both. So, I support the decision of a tie. However, if you put a gun to my head, I would probably side with the power - and it's not because I am a power kicker, I swear.
Season 5 - Turk Turkleton (2) - Hawks
Punts: 73
Average Punt: 50.9
ADFGL: 63.753
TFU (%): 79.839 - 1st
Inside 20 (%): 17.8 - 4th
Inside 5 (%): 6.85 - 2nd
Touchbacks (%): 45.2 - 6th
And now we go onto Season 5 where we have... Oh. We've seen this guy before. His 2nd punting award in consecutive seasons, Turkleton finally won the big one outright in what was a season of long punts. With an average punt length of 50.9 yards, Turkleton put up the highest total field usage of all the first 6 contestants, including himself the year prior. He really proved himself as a great power punter during this season. What was much less exciting for Hawks fans however, was the touchback rate. 45.2%. If he were to punt 20 times, you would expect 9 of them to be touchbacks, from an average distance of 63.7 yards out. Scary, but also super impressive. Combine that with his decent enough accuracy stats elsewhere and you've got a decent prospect for a high level punting season. The touchbacks are definitely high here, but he was transcendent this year, and there was no doubt he deserved the solo title this time around.
Part 1 Conclusion and Leaderboards
I won't talk much about the results down here, as that is what the 5th part will be for. What I will say as a disclaimer is that all these players were fantastic in their own right during their own timeframe. They all deserve their titles and by no means am I trying to say they didn't deserve it. This is simply a fun hypothetical, and a chance for everyone to learn more about the history of a league we're all a big part of now. I will now leave you to enjoy the rest of the NFL Draft (it ain't no NSFL Draft stream tbh), or whatever you are doing while reading this, and I hope to see you next time when we cover Seasons 6-10!
Here are the current top 5 leaderboards in each tracked stat:
Total Field Usage
1st - Turkleton (2) - 79.839%
2nd - Ronaldo - 78.061%
3rd - Turkleton (1) - 75.804%
4th - Blewitt - 72.541%
5th - Darkapple - 70.24%
Inside 20 (%)
1st - Harris - 20.8%
2nd - Blewitt - 20%
3rd - Ronaldo - 19.2%
4th - Turkleton (2) - 17.8%
5th - Darkapple - 14.4%
Inside 5 (%)
1st - Ronaldo - 7.69%
2nd - Turkleton (2) - 6.85%
3rd - Harris - 5%
4th - Turkleton - 3.16%
5th - Blewitt - 3%
Touchbacks (%)
1st - Harris - 22.5%
2nd - Darkapple - 29.1%
3rd - Blewitt - 30%
4th - Turkleton (1) - 36.8%
5th - Ronaldo - 44.2%
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