02-01-2022, 01:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-06-2022, 06:25 PM by Crunk. Edited 1 time in total.)
This is essentially a public service announcement for Awards and All-Pro voters, as well as all you punter fanbois (There are dozens of us! Probably!). This will be brief, but I made it a media piece because hey, money! I also apologize if I'm wasting everyone's time with something that was common knowledge already, but I found it instructive.
I found myself wondering how the sim calculates punt yardage and whether or not a punt is "Inside 20." Basically I can summarize this in three questions:
I found the answer to the first two questions in Dallas Dole's statline from Orange County's 16-20 Week 3 loss to New York . Dole punted twice in this game: one was downed at the 16, and the other was caught at the 18 and returned 19 yards by Tugg Speedman to the 37. The box score showed 2 punts, 115 punt yards, and 2 punts Inside 20.
From this I learned 2 things:
This box score answers our touchback question:
When I have more time it'll be an interesting exercise to compare the league's other punters to see if Dole's year really is as exceptional as it seems or if I'm just easily impressed by a dude who can kick really dang far.
And now you know way, way more than you ever wanted to know about punters!
TL;DR
I found myself wondering how the sim calculates punt yardage and whether or not a punt is "Inside 20." Basically I can summarize this in three questions:
- Does the sim report absolute punt distance or net punt distance? Example: if a punt goes 50 yards in the air before a 10-yard return, is that recorded in the box score and Index as a 50-yard punt or a 40-yard punt?
- Does Inside 20 refer to where the punt is caught, or where the ball is eventually spotted? Example: if a punt is caught at the 15 and returned 10 yards to the 25, is that recorded as an Inside 20 or not?
- How are touchbacks recorded? A ball that lands at the 1-yard line and bounces out the back of the endzone will be spotted at the 25, so does the sim record it as an Inside 20 or not? Similarly, if a punt goes 60 yards in the air and lands in the endzone for a touchback, does the sim record it as a 60-yard punt or a 35-yard punt?
I found the answer to the first two questions in Dallas Dole's statline from Orange County's 16-20 Week 3 loss to New York . Dole punted twice in this game: one was downed at the 16, and the other was caught at the 18 and returned 19 yards by Tugg Speedman to the 37. The box score showed 2 punts, 115 punt yards, and 2 punts Inside 20.
From this I learned 2 things:
- Return yardage is not subtracted from the recorded punt distance.
- "Inside 20" is determined at the point where the punt is caught, not at the end of the return. A punt caught at the 19 is "Inside 20" regardless of any return; conversely a punt caught at the 21 and returned -3 yards to the 18 is not counted as "Inside 20."
This box score answers our touchback question:
- Punt distance on touchbacks is recorded as the distance from the line of scrimmage to the goal line.
- Touchbacks do not count as punts Inside 20!
When I have more time it'll be an interesting exercise to compare the league's other punters to see if Dole's year really is as exceptional as it seems or if I'm just easily impressed by a dude who can kick really dang far.
And now you know way, way more than you ever wanted to know about punters!
TL;DR
- Return yardage is not subtracted from punt distance.
- "Inside 20" refers to the point where the punt was caught, not the final spot of the ball.
- Touchbacks do not count as "Inside 20."
- I still don't know how punts caught exactly at the 20 are counted because I couldn't find an example, but this happens rarely enough that statistically it doesn't matter.
- Dallas Dole can kick a football into the goddamn sun.