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Ranking the top 10 NFL kickers and top 10 punters heading into the 2020 regular season
Wondering who the best kickers and punters in the NFL are? You've come to the right place to find out
www.cbssports.com
10. Kevin Huber, Bengals
Although Huber won't blow you away with any of his numbers, he's lasted 11 years in the NFL, because he's consistently ranked in the top half of the league in most punting statistics. In 2019, Huber's net punting average was 42.1 yards, which ranked 10th overall in the NFL. The Bengals punter was even better at pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line. Huber did that a total of 30 times last season, making him one of just eight punters in the league who were able to pin their opponent inside the 20 at least 30 times. One thing Huber does better than almost any one is draw a fair catch, which is important, because it cuts down on return yards, and makes life easier for your punt coverage team. In 2019, Huber led the NFL by drawing 30 fair catches in a year where no one else even had 27. Thanks in large part to his booming kicks, opponents only averaged 5.7 yards per return against the Bengals, which was the fifth-lowest return rate against any full-time punter.
9. Michael Dickson, Seahawks
After booming his way to the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2018, Dickson fell back to earth last season with a year that wasn't quite as impressive as first one in the NFL. After ranking second in the NFL in yards per punt in 2018 at 48.2 yards per kick, Dickson fell all the way to 20th in 2019 with a 45.1 average. Although Dickson lost some distance, he made up for that with his pinpoint accuracy. The Australian punter placed 34 of his kicks inside the 20-yard line, which ranked tied for third in the NFL. Dickson's ability to aim the ball also kept returns to a minimum with opponents only averaging 6.3 yards per return against the Seahawks. Only 10 full-time punters in the NFL surrendered 6.3 yards or less per return in 2019 and Dickson was one of them.
Dickson will be a fascinating player to watch in 2020, if only to see if he gets closer to his 2018 numbers or if the 2019 season was more indicative of the punter he's going to be going forward.
8. Cameron Johnston, Eagles
Last year, Michael Dickson was the top ranked Australian punter on our top 10 list, but this year, that honor belongs to Johnston, who's going into his third season with the Eagles. During the 2019 season, Johnston ranked in the top 10 in both yards per punt (46.4) and net yards per punt (42.3), and if you look at the past two years combined, Johnston looks even better. Since the start of the 2018 season, the 28-year-old is third in the NFL in yard per punt (47.2) and fifth in the NFL in net yards per punt (42.5).
Johnston is also good at drop-kicking the ball, which didn't really help his rank on this list, but it is fun to watch him do it.
View: https://twitter.com/brandongowton/status/1167235206723584000?s=21
Although Johnston will be playing the 2020 season on a one-year deal, he'll like be in Philly for at least two more seasons since he'll be a restricted free agent in March 2021, and it won't be surprising at all if the Eagles end up giving him a long-term deal.
7. Logan Cooke, Jaguars
Logan Cooke wasn't voted the Jaguars' team MVP in 2019, but he probably should have been, and that's because he spent his entire season digging Jacksonville out of trouble. Whenever the Jaguars offense sputtered, which was often, Cooke would come out and flip the field, which caused opposing offenses to usually start their drives with bad field position. Although Cooke ranked just sixth in the league in yards per punt (46.5), he was tied for first in the all-important net yards per punt with an average of 44.5. One reason Cooke's net average so high was because he forced a lot of fair catches. Opposing returners called for 26 fair catches on Cooke's punts last season, which was tied for the second-highest total in the NFL. Opposing returners also only averaged 5.3 yards per return against the Jaguars, which was tied for the fourth-best coverage in the NFL, which means Jacksonville was actually good at something last season, even though it kind of seemed like they were bad at everything.
6. Bryan Anger, Texans
If you feel like you've heard Anger's name before, that's probably because you know him better as "the punter who got drafted ahead of Russell Wilson in 2012." Although Anger's career hasn't been quite as successful as Wilson's, he has played well enough to crack our top 10 list here, and at this point, that's all you can ask for. Anger was so good last season that the Texans literally made a highlight reel of all his punts, which is something that doesn't usually happen for punters.
View: https://twitter.com/houstontexans/status/1247268727705534467?s=21
If you're wondering why Anger got a highlight reel, it's because he one of the NFL's best punters in 2019. For one, he had a net average of 44.5 yards per punt, which was tied with Logan Cooke for the best in the NFL. Also, thanks to Anger, the Texans only gave up 53 PUNT RETURN YARDS ALL YEAR, which led the NFL (that's an average of 3.1 yards per game, if you're scoring at home). A big reason that number was so low is because only 17 of his 45 punts were returnable. Of the other 28, 16 ended on a fair catch, two went for a touchback while the other 10 were either downed or went out of bounds.
After signing Anger to a one-year deal in 2019, the Texans were so impressed with him last season that they ended up giving him a three-year, $7.5 million extension in December.
5. Brett Kern, Titans
A big reason the Titans defense was so good last year is because Brett Kern was always putting them in a position to succeed. During the 2019 season, Kern placed 37 punts inside the 20-yard line of his opponent, which led the NFL, and is more impressive when you consider that only two punters even hit the 35 mark (Kern and Jake Bailey). Being able to pin your opponent deep means a punter has a lot of control over his ball, but make no mistake, Kern could also boom that call whenever the Titans needed it. Not only did he rank fourth in the NFL in yards per punt (47.1), but he also ranked fourth in net yards per punt with an average of 43.1.
If Kern and the Titans have one weakness, it's that the Tennessee punt coverage team surrendered 9.0 yards per return. The Titans were one of just nine teams in the NFL that gave up nine or more yards per return in 2019.
On a completely unrelated note, if you are a fan of quality punting -- and who's not? -- you should probably watch as much AFC South football as possible next season. Out of our top 7 punters on this list, three of them came from the AFC South (Kern, Cooke, Anger).
4. Andy Lee, Cardinals
Lee has been in the NFL since 2004, and somehow, he doesn't seem to be slowing down with age. In 2018, Lee led the NFL with 48.6 yards per punt, and although that's a tough performance to follow up, he was nearly as good in 2019. Last season, the 37-year-old averaged 47.8 yards per punt, which ranked second in the NFL. Lee is the only active punter who has booted multiple punts of 80 or more yards over the course of his career. One issue for Lee, and this seems to be an issue for a few punters on this list, is that he often outkicks his coverage, which leads to big returns from opposing players. In 2019, the Cardinals surrendered an average of 9.0 yards per return. Like the Titans, the Cardinals were one of just nine teams in the NFL that gave up nine or more yards per return in 2019.
3. Tress Way, Redskins
When you're the punter for the team that has the worst offense in the NFC, you're going to get a lot work, and the good news for the Redskins is that Tress Way definitely took advantage of that last season while playing for a Washington team that averaged and NFC-worst 274.3 yards per game. During the 2019 season, Way averaged a booming 49.6 yards per punt, which not only led the NFL, but it was the ninth-highest single-season total in NFL history. Way also averaged 44.1 net yards per punt, which ranked third in the NFL.
Since entering the NFL in 2014, Way has slowly turned into one of the best punters in the league, especially over the past two years. In 2018, not only did the lead the league in punts inside the 20, but he was also the only full-time punter in the NFL who didn't kick a touchback.
If Way does have one weakness, it's that returners seem to always seem to find the open field with his punts. Last season, opponents averaged 9.1 yards per return, which marked the second straight year that the return number was over nine yards. Of course, a lot of that blame could be pinned on the Redskins' punt coverage team. On the other hand, Way does have a tendency to outkick his coverage every so often, like that time he hit a 79-yard punt 2019, which was longest punt by any player last year.
2. Johnny Hekker, Rams
Whenever there's a conversation about the best punters in the NFL, Johnny Hekker's name almost always comes up, which makes sense, because he's one of the best punters in the NFL. Since his rookie year in 2012, Hekker has been an absolute weapon for the Rams, and during the early part of his career with the team, he was arguably the only weapon. Hekker has been so good for so long that it's easy to forget how good he really is, so I'll do my best to remind you.
Over the course of his career, he's averaged 47.0 yards per punt, which is the second-highest number in NFL history. That total includes an average of 47.4 yards last season, which ranked third in the league. Hekker also had a net punting average of 42.4 yards in 2019, which ranked seventh in the league.
The one thing about Hekker is that he's not just a punter, he's a secret weapon. The man is a human Swiss Army knife for the Rams who does everything. Besides punting the ball, Hekker has also mastered the art of the throwing the the football. The Rams have ran so many fake punts with Hekker that he's actually completed more passes in his career than Taysom Hill.
View: https://twitter.com/theramsreportig/status/1228096515433996289?s=21
Maybe Asshole Face should forget about Hill and think about letting Hekker be the next quarterback for the Saints.
1. Thomas Morstead, Saints
For the second straight year, Thomas Morstead is at the top of our best punters list, and that's because no one is better at punting the football right now than the guy in New Orleans. Sure, it might seem like the Saints don't ever punt, but the fact of the matter is that they actually do once in awhile, and when that happens, Morstead almost always comes through with a clutch punt.
In 2019, Morstead punted the ball 60 times and nearly half of those (29) landed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Morstead also made things easy for the Saints punt coverage team with his sky-high kicks that led to 21 fair catches. Morstead averaged 46.2 yards per punt last season, and although that only ranked 11th in the NFL, his net average of 43.1 ranked fifth overall. Morstead has ranked in the top-10 for net punting average in each of the past nine seasons and has ranked in the top-5 in seven of those seasons.
Oh, and let's not forget that he's also averaged 46.9 yards per punt over the course of his career, which ranks third in NFL history. Morstead has been in New Orleans since 2009, and if he keeps punting that way he's punting, the Saints probably aren't ever going to let him go.
JUST MISSED: Sam Koch, Riley Dixon
