How did the prodigal punter do in his return to Denver?
As I do after every season I look at every punt in the NFL and grade them based on how many yards the punter “gained” relative to how many he could have gained. Punting is about field position and the job of the punter is to maximize field position – to make the opposing team start their drive with the worst possible field position.
To do this I break up punts into to groups – long field and short field punts. Long field punts are punts where the team is punting from inside their own 35. On long field punts the optimal result is 65 net yard punt. So if the team is punting from the 20, that means the opponent starts their ensuing drive from the 15 yard line. In other words, elite punters can flip the field on long field punts.
All punts are graded on net yards divided by potential yards. Long field punts are set at a potential of 65 yards and short field punts are set with the optimal result being a punt downed at the 1. Neither optimal result happens all that often, but they are what all punters hope to do when they punt.
Riley Dixon had nine punts downed inside the ten and three punts downed inside the five despite having a relatively large number of punts. His inside the 20, 10 and 5% numbers were not very good. He was 21st, 28th and 19th in those three numbers. There were some rate stats where he was good though.
He was 6th in NET/GROSS mainly because he had a decent touchback rate (18th) and the coverage team was elite (second best in the league). He also was quite good at forcing fair catches (10th). You have to think that he had good hangtime if the coverage was that good and the fair catch rate was that high. So it would appear that he focused on minimizing returns by using hangtime even if he sacrificed distance to do so.
| Team | Net Avg | Net Yds | LF PUNT% | SF Punt% | NET/GROSS | PP% | Punts | Avg | Lng | Yds | IN 20 | IN 20% | IN 10 | IN 10% | IN 5 | IN 5% | OOB | OOB% | Dn | TB | TB% | FC | FC% | Ret | RET% | RetY | Not RET% | AVG RET | TD | P Blk |
| Raiders | 45.1 | 3380 | 83.8% | 78.8% | 89.3% | 13.3% | 75 | 50.4 | 83 | 3783 | 34 | 45% | 16 | 21% | 2 | 3% | 15 | 20% | 3 | 6 | 8% | 20 | 27% | 31 | 41% | 283 | 59% | 9.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Buccaneers | 41.8 | 3219 | 83.2% | 74.7% | 83.5% | 3.9% | 77 | 50.0 | 74 | 3854 | 26 | 34% | 12 | 16% | 4 | 5% | 11 | 14% | 9 | 9 | 12% | 9 | 12% | 38 | 49% | 455 | 51% | 12.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cowboys | 44.9 | 1975 | 83.0% | 84.7% | 87.3% | 11.4% | 44 | 51.4 | 63 | 2262 | 17 | 39% | 7 | 16% | 2 | 5% | 2 | 5% | 3 | 2 | 5% | 13 | 30% | 24 | 55% | 247 | 45% | 10.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Browns | 42.4 | 3819 | 83.0% | 75.4% | 85.8% | 2.2% | 90 | 49.4 | 73 | 4449 | 31 | 34% | 11 | 12% | 7 | 8% | 13 | 14% | 7 | 9 | 10% | 16 | 18% | 45 | 50% | 450 | 50% | 10.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravens | 39.8 | 2625 | 81.8% | 78.2% | 83.1% | 13.6% | 66 | 47.8 | 67 | 3158 | 28 | 42% | 14 | 21% | 3 | 5% | 8 | 12% | 4 | 5 | 8% | 17 | 26% | 32 | 48% | 433 | 52% | 13.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 49ers | 42.7 | 2220 | 81.8% | 83.8% | 89.5% | 26.9% | 52 | 47.7 | 67 | 2480 | 26 | 50% | 16 | 31% | 9 | 17% | 4 | 8% | 11 | 2 | 4% | 13 | 25% | 22 | 42% | 220 | 58% | 10.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seahawks | 44.1 | 2911 | 81.7% | 76.9% | 88.1% | -1.5% | 66 | 50.0 | 73 | 3303 | 25 | 38% | 7 | 11% | 4 | 6% | 3 | 5% | 9 | 8 | 12% | 12 | 18% | 34 | 52% | 232 | 48% | 6.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Titans | 43.5 | 3440 | 81.7% | 78.1% | 85.8% | 5.1% | 79 | 50.7 | 74 | 4008 | 36 | 46% | 16 | 20% | 3 | 4% | 10 | 13% | 9 | 12 | 15% | 19 | 24% | 29 | 37% | 328 | 63% | 11.3 | 0 | 1 |
| Rams | 39.1 | 2466 | 79.5% | 76.4% | 79.5% | 6.3% | 63 | 49.2 | 72 | 3101 | 20 | 32% | 11 | 17% | 2 | 3% | 7 | 11% | 5 | 7 | 11% | 12 | 19% | 32 | 51% | 495 | 49% | 15.5 | 2 | 1 |
| Jets | 41.8 | 4136 | 79.5% | 78.2% | 85.6% | 12.1% | 99 | 48.8 | 62 | 4831 | 36 | 36% | 20 | 20% | 9 | 9% | 8 | 8% | 7 | 8 | 8% | 28 | 28% | 48 | 48% | 535 | 52% | 11.1 | 1 | 0 |
| Vikings | 41.2 | 2470 | 79.2% | 72.3% | 85.6% | -1.7% | 60 | 48.1 | 68 | 2887 | 16 | 27% | 6 | 10% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 12% | 2 | 7 | 12% | 16 | 27% | 28 | 47% | 277 | 53% | 9.9 | 0 | 0 |
| Cardinals | 42.9 | 2746 | 79.1% | 77.2% | 86.6% | 7.8% | 64 | 49.6 | 77 | 3172 | 13 | 20% | 8 | 13% | 3 | 5% | 3 | 5% | 10 | 3 | 5% | 12 | 19% | 36 | 56% | 366 | 44% | 10.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Eagles | 43.1 | 2240 | 79.0% | 79.1% | 88.3% | 13.5% | 52 | 48.8 | 63 | 2537 | 17 | 33% | 8 | 15% | 2 | 4% | 2 | 4% | 10 | 1 | 2% | 7 | 13% | 32 | 62% | 277 | 38% | 8.7 | 0 | 0 |
| Lions | 41.7 | 2378 | 78.3% | 74.0% | 89.9% | 17.5% | 57 | 46.4 | 70 | 2646 | 26 | 46% | 15 | 26% | 2 | 4% | 3 | 5% | 8 | 5 | 9% | 20 | 35% | 21 | 37% | 168 | 63% | 8.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaguars | 43.8 | 2670 | 78.1% | 80.3% | 92.3% | 21.3% | 61 | 47.4 | 65 | 2893 | 29 | 48% | 17 | 28% | 2 | 3% | 8 | 13% | 5 | 4 | 7% | 22 | 36% | 22 | 36% | 143 | 64% | 6.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Colts | 43.0 | 2921 | 78.0% | 80.4% | 89.0% | 14.7% | 68 | 48.2 | 69 | 3281 | 21 | 31% | 10 | 15% | 2 | 3% | 7 | 10% | 10 | 0 | 0% | 13 | 19% | 38 | 56% | 360 | 44% | 9.5 | 0 | 1 |
| Chargers | 42.3 | 3174 | 77.7% | 73.7% | 91.3% | 8.0% | 75 | 46.3 | 83 | 3475 | 30 | 40% | 10 | 13% | 3 | 4% | 4 | 5% | 8 | 4 | 5% | 31 | 41% | 28 | 37% | 221 | 63% | 7.9 | 0 | 0 |
| Packers | 39.7 | 2264 | 77.7% | 76.1% | 86.0% | 10.5% | 57 | 46.2 | 68 | 2634 | 18 | 32% | 11 | 19% | 2 | 4% | 2 | 4% | 5 | 5 | 9% | 22 | 39% | 23 | 40% | 270 | 60% | 11.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Bills | 39.9 | 2037 | 76.9% | 79.0% | 87.3% | 19.6% | 51 | 45.8 | 70 | 2334 | 24 | 47% | 13 | 25% | 5 | 10% | 5 | 10% | 7 | 3 | 6% | 17 | 33% | 19 | 37% | 237 | 63% | 12.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Patriots | 40.8 | 3999 | 76.1% | 76.0% | 87.0% | 3.1% | 98 | 46.9 | 79 | 4598 | 38 | 39% | 11 | 11% | 4 | 4% | 14 | 14% | 8 | 8 | 8% | 24 | 24% | 44 | 45% | 439 | 55% | 10.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Falcons | 41.5 | 3110 | 75.8% | 80.2% | 88.3% | 13.3% | 75 | 47.0 | 66 | 3523 | 27 | 36% | 13 | 17% | 3 | 4% | 12 | 16% | 5 | 3 | 4% | 24 | 32% | 31 | 41% | 353 | 59% | 11.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Giants | 42.3 | 4022 | 75.7% | 74.2% | 92.0% | 10.5% | 95 | 46.0 | 74 | 4372 | 35 | 37% | 14 | 15% | 1 | 1% | 7 | 7% | 9 | 4 | 4% | 36 | 38% | 39 | 41% | 270 | 59% | 6.9 | 0 | 0 |
| Texans | 43.0 | 3443 | 75.2% | 77.0% | 92.2% | 7.5% | 80 | 46.7 | 74 | 3735 | 32 | 40% | 11 | 14% | 1 | 1% | 6 | 8% | 10 | 5 | 6% | 30 | 38% | 29 | 36% | 192 | 64% | 6.6 | 0 | 0 |
| Chiefs | 41.8 | 2469 | 75.1% | 78.8% | 88.9% | 10.2% | 59 | 47.0 | 68 | 2776 | 20 | 34% | 11 | 19% | 4 | 7% | 4 | 7% | 10 | 5 | 8% | 20 | 34% | 20 | 34% | 207 | 66% | 10.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Broncos | 42.3 | 3344 | 75.0% | 76.3% | 91.4% | 3.8% | 79 | 46.3 | 68 | 3659 | 27 | 34% | 9 | 11% | 3 | 4% | 7 | 9% | 8 | 6 | 8% | 27 | 34% | 31 | 39% | 195 | 61% | 6.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Commanders | 41.8 | 3050 | 74.4% | 76.5% | 90.7% | 8.2% | 73 | 46.0 | 66 | 3361 | 30 | 41% | 8 | 11% | 1 | 1% | 1 | 1% | 11 | 2 | 3% | 25 | 34% | 34 | 47% | 271 | 53% | 8.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bears | 38.0 | 2547 | 74.1% | 75.2% | 82.5% | 4.5% | 67 | 46.1 | 76 | 3088 | 18 | 27% | 11 | 16% | 1 | 1% | 6 | 9% | 10 | 8 | 12% | 13 | 19% | 30 | 45% | 381 | 55% | 12.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Panthers | 43.0 | 3528 | 73.1% | 77.0% | 91.9% | 7.3% | 82 | 46.8 | 69 | 3838 | 25 | 30% | 11 | 13% | 5 | 6% | 6 | 7% | 14 | 5 | 6% | 26 | 32% | 31 | 38% | 210 | 62% | 6.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Dolphins | 40.7 | 2157 | 71.8% | 79.4% | 89.0% | 11.3% | 53 | 45.7 | 66 | 2424 | 20 | 38% | 9 | 17% | 3 | 6% | 6 | 11% | 8 | 3 | 6% | 19 | 36% | 17 | 32% | 207 | 68% | 12.2 | 1 | 0 |
| Steelers | 39.2 | 3485 | 71.4% | 72.9% | 89.0% | 3.4% | 89 | 44.0 | 63 | 3914 | 33 | 37% | 11 | 12% | 2 | 2% | 11 | 12% | 11 | 8 | 9% | 30 | 34% | 29 | 33% | 269 | 67% | 9.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Bengals | 40.3 | 3066 | 70.4% | 73.5% | 91.0% | 5.3% | 76 | 44.3 | 62 | 3369 | 20 | 26% | 9 | 12% | 1 | 1% | 8 | 11% | 8 | 5 | 7% | 26 | 34% | 29 | 38% | 203 | 62% | 7.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saints | 39.8 | 2981 | 69.7% | 75.9% | 92.5% | 12.0% | 75 | 43.0 | 62 | 3224 | 31 | 41% | 13 | 17% | 4 | 5% | 10 | 13% | 8 | 4 | 5% | 24 | 32% | 29 | 39% | 163 | 61% | 5.6 | 0 | 0 |
Use the slider at the bottom to scroll to the right and see the whole table
Dixon was 25th in punt% on long field punts and 20th on short field punts, but again this might have been done on purpose to minimize returns.
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Dixon was also poorly graded for his precision punt percentage (PP%) which is percentage of punts downed inside the ten minus touchback percentage. He was 28th in PP with a value of 3.8% partly because his percentage inside the ten was quote low. His 11.4% inside the 10 was one of the lower values in the league. He was 28th in that as well.
All in all Dixon did not have a great year punting for the Denver Broncos. I thought he was better in 2022 when he was punting for the Rams, but he was not very good in 2022 either.
Sam Martin, who was the Bronco punter in 2020 and 2021, had a decent year punting for the Bills. He was one of the better punters in the league on short field punts. The Bronco punter from 2022, Corliss Waitman, was so bad that he did not play in 2023. He spent the season on the Patriots practice squad and then was signed to reserve/futures contract with the Bears last month. Waitman was one of the few punters who was worse than Dixon in 2022, but it’s been ages since the Broncos had an elite punter on the team.
If you go back and look at my end of the season punting review, the Broncos have rarely had a punter since 2015 (when I started writing these) who has finished in the top 10 in the league in any punting statistic. The Broncos haven’t had a Pro Bowl punter since the 80s (Mike Horan in 1988 made All-Pro and Pro Bowl).
It may seem trivial, but having a great punter can do a lot to help your defense.
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