Special Teams blog

April 22, 2020

On 3/23/2006 at 6:05 PM, OCEaglefan said:

There is talk on Eagles live today about whether Westbrook or Lito should be allowed to return kicks.

Presumably to avoid fatigue and injury one might say no. But, it is hard to forget Westbrook in 2003. We have Ryan Moats to go in on first down if Westbrook is fatigued from the return

Or do we go with Bruce Perry or Reno Mahe?

Discuss...

This was the first post of the original Special Teams blog. I wanted to preserve it to begin the Special Teams blog on the new site. I also want to retain the last three years of game posts than I worked on.

April 22, 2020

On 9/13/2017 at 10:52 AM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

A look back at the Eagles-Redskins season opener...with lots of math!

Donnie Jones punted four times for the Eagles with an average distance -- as measured from the line of scrimmage to the spot where the ball touched the ground or was caught out of the air by the returner, unless it went out of bounds on the fly, in which case it is measured at the spot it went out of bounds -- of about 40.3 yards with 4.11 hangtime. Only one of the four had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of the four were hit "outside the numbers", in other words not "in the middle of the field." Tress Way punted four times for the Redskins, with an average of 42.3 yards and 4.41 hangtime. Two of his four punts had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and two of the four were hit outside the numbers. According to the formula I have been using for nearly thirty years, the win in the theoretical 1-on-1 battle between the two punters goes to Way. More distance. More height.

Caleb Sturgis kicked off six times for the Eagles. His last kick after the Cox "clinching" touchdown with a minute or so to go in the game, was an intentional short line drive, so it's foolish to use it in any measurement of true distance and hangtime. His five measurable kickoffs averaged about 67.8 yards (roughly three yards deep in the endzone) and 3.83 hangtime. Apparently Sturgis injured his leg on the opening kickoff, which explains why he was so off-form in the game. Sturgis has been excellent at kicking off for height but his height here was below average. And after the first kickoff, his approach to the ball was shortened. Instead of running up from about ten yards away, he simply took a few steps and kicked. So that clearly wasn't the usual Sturgis on kickoffs. Washington's Dustin Hopkins kicked off four times, but his final kickoff was a bit of a mis-hit, so that one is excluded from the calculating numbers. His three measurable kickoffs averaged about 76.3 yards (out of the back of the endzone) with 4.27 hangtime. Phenomenal job by him.

Sturgis was 3-of-3 on field goals (but missed an extra point) from distances where the standard expectancy would be to make 2.23 of them. Or stated otherwise, based on those distances, he would be expected to earn approximately 6.7 points for the Eagles on those three attempts. So basically he was .77 better than standard, earning the Eagles about 2.3 points over expectation. His current Elo rating (where the standard is 2200) is now at an Eagles high for him of 2237. (He was over 2240 for one brief moment early in his Dolphins career before he went to hell.) The current league average is about 2254. The rating of "Eagles Opponents" is at 2304, which would rank seventh in the league. (Eagles opponents have done really really abnormally well on kicks over the years, which is annoying as hell as a fan.) The current Top Five ranked kickers are Tucker (2404), Prater (2339), Bailey (2338), Gostkowski (2336), and Bryant (2334). Those are the guys who rarely miss. The current Bottom Five ranked kickers are Hopkins (2213), Parkey (2208), Gonzalez (2201), Rosas (2201), and Koo (2182). The latter three are rookies who kicked in their first game this past week and have yet to establish themselves. Two other rookies -- Fairbairn and Butker -- didn't kick yet and are technically unrated. Butker didn't even dress for the Panthers and probably won't until they trade or release Graham Gano, which is apparently their intention.

Other stuff:

* For what it's worth, the Redskins longsnapper looked pretty good. I timed his punt snaps in under .70 seconds, which is better than I ever got all of preseason with either Lovato or Dorenbos. Good for him, I guess.

* The snap from Lovato on the missed PAT was slightly low, which might have been a contributing factor to the miss. Jones got the ball down but the timing may have been off by a hair.

* Corey Clement made several tackles on kickoffs, including the opening kickoff. He played well.

* Najee Goode made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Jaylen Watkins downed a punt at the one-yard line. Big play by him and Donny Jones there

* The Eagles first punt of the season was fumbled/muffed by the Redskins return man, leading to an Eagles recovery. Huge play. Unfortunately the Eagles couldn't capitalize on the turnover.

After the game, it was revealed that Sturgis has an injury which will keep him out of action for at least a month, necessitating a roster move of some sort. Rather than keep him on the roster for the duration of his recovery, which would have cost another player a spot on the team, the Eagles put Sturgis on Injured Reserve and signed Jake Elliott, who was picked early in the fifth round in the past draft by the Bengals but was subsequently beat out by Randy Bullock. Because Elliott was on the Bengals practice squad, the Eagles were not in position to work him out before signing him. Their decision was based solely on the evaluations they had made of him prior to the draft. There is definite risk involved with a move like this. He should hold the job for however long Sturgis needs to recover, at which point they'll either decide to release him or keep Sturgis on IR all season and give the job to Elliott full-time. I'm not a huge fan of Sturgis -- other than on kickoffs -- but at this point I think I'd rather him than an untested rookie.

April 22, 2020

On 9/19/2017 at 3:45 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Chiefs game with math.

Donnie Jones punted four times for the Eagles, with an average of about 40.3 yards and 4.20 hangtime using the usual method of measurement. Only one of the four punts reached the 4.5 second mark. Two of the four were hit outside the numbers. Dustin Colquitt punted five times for the Chiefs, with an average of about 44.6 yards and 4.71 hangtime. Four of the five had at least 4.5 seconds of hangtime, and three of the five were hit outside the numbers. Clearly this was a better mathematical day for Colquitt, putting Jones's record at 0-2 on the season in his theoretical 1-1 battle with the other team's punter. Through two games, Jones is averaging about 40.3 yards and 4.15 hangtime, with only 25% hitting the 4.5 mark and 63% hit outside the numbers. Opposing teams are averaging about 43.6 yards and 4.58 hangtime, with 67% hitting the 4.5 mark and 56% hit outside the numbers. Other than a slight edge in directionality involving hitting a higher percentage of punts towards the sidelines, the Eagles are being massively outpunted across the board thus far.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off five times in his debut with the Eagles. Excluding the onside kick at the end of the game, his four kickoffs averaged about 71.8 yards with 4.17 hangtime. Cairo Santos kicked off six times for the Chiefs. Excluding the mis-hit on his opening kick, his average on "legitimate" kickoffs was about 73.6 yards and 4.17 hangtime. So...slight edge to the Chiefs. Through two games, Eagles kickers are averaging about 69.6 yards with 3.98 hangtime, while opponents are averaging about 74.6 yards with 4.21 hangtime. Massive edge to the other team on kickoffs. If Sturgis were healthy -- and he was not healthy in the opener -- the Eagles would not be behind in this area. Not to say that Elliott did poorly here, because he didn't. His numbers were actually pretty respectable. But going forward, he's still an unknown whereas I know Sturgis is a good kickoff man. But it is what it is. My gut feeling is that Elliott will be reasonably good on kickoffs this year. Not quite as good as Sturgis but probably better than Parkey and definitely better than Henery and Akers were.

It looked like Lovato's punt snaps were a lot better than the Kansas City snapper's were. He seemed to be around .77, which is roughly what I saw in the preseason. The Chiefs snapper was over .80, with several high punt snaps as well as a somewhat high snap on a PAT. That was surprising.

Field goal/PATs. It looked to me like Elliott is fairly quick in his approach, quicker than Sturgis and Parkey were. The time from the snap to when the ball was struck by the kicker was around 1.30 seconds, with some closer to 1.25. KC was closer to 1.35. So yeah, I can see why Elliott might have been impressive enough to be drafted. He gets to the ball quickly, which is something they look for. Unfortunately he only made two of three field goals from distances where the expectancy would be to make about 2.61 of them. So basically Elliott was a minus 1.83 points (-.61 x 3) for the Eagles on the day. His initial Elo rating comes in at a below standard 2185. The current league average is about 2254. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2308, which would rank eighth in the league. The Top Five are pretty much the same guys as always with some minor shuffling. Tucker (2393), Prater (2347), Bailey (2346), Bryant (2346), and Gostkowski (2338). The Bottom Five are mostly the newbies. Gonzalez (2205), Hopkins (2204), Rosas (2202), Elliott (2185), and Koo (2153).

Other stuff:

* I'm pretty sure if Donnel Pumphrey (or Reno Mahe for that matter) had fair caught a punt at the seven yard line, the fan base would have been in an uproar because they don't like those guys. But when Darren Sproles does it, there isn't a peep because, well, Sproles is a good player. That's not to say that I mean this as a critcism of the decision by Sproles to field that punt. I actually think it was the right call. Many fans like to argue that a return man should stand at the ten yard line and let anything that goes over his head go. That's rubbish, in my opinion. What are the odds that the precisely perfect spot where it's mathematically correct to let a punt go would be precisely the ten yard line? Although most fans consider the ten yard rule to be gospel, teams don't feel that way. So fielding a punt at the seven is fine, so long as you do it cleanly.

* The Eagles did a very good job of punting away from Tyreek Hill.

* Mack Hollins made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Chris Maragos allowed a return man to slip through his grasp on one kickoff. I'm not going to assign blame to him specifically for that because he held the guy up long enough so that a teammate should have been able to get there to finish him off. But that didn't happen. Not sure who else to blame, although Najee Goode might be a candidate.

* One deficiency I've noticed about Sturgis was that he doesn't seem to be real good on onside kicks. When the Eagles signed Elliott, I watched some footage and thought to myself that he might be pretty good at it. Turns out that might be the case. Good onside kick play for the Eagles. Unfortunately there just wasn't enough time to pull off the miracle at the end. And I hope we never have to onside kick again anyway.

* A turning point in the game was the fumbled punt by Sproles. Just a terrible play, and it shows the importance of having reliability in the punt return game. Fans so often underrate reliability and overrate flashiness in a punt returner. Sproles is usually pretty reliable, so I'm not concerned at all that this will be a trend. But it was disappointing and it hurt a lot.

April 22, 2020

On 9/28/2017 at 12:23 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Giants game stuff...on a really hot day...with math.

Donnie Jones punted four times with an average distance, as measured from the line of scrimmage to where the ball was either caught or struck the ground in the field of play or the out of bounds spot as it flew out of bounds, of about 44.3 yards and 4.76 seconds hangtime. Three of the four had at least 4.50 seconds hangtime, and two (possibly three but I'm going with two) were hit outside the numbers. Brad Wing punted four times for the Giants, with an average distance of about 36.8 yards and 3.86 hangtime. Jones "wins" the theoretical battle with the opposing punter, putting his mark at 1-2 on the season.

Through three games, Jones is averaging about 41.6 yards and 4.36 hangtime, while hitting the 4.50 mark about 42% of the time and hitting about 58% outside the numbers. Opposing punters through three games are averaging about 43.6 yards with 4.58 hangtime, with 46% hitting the 4.50 mark and the same 46% being hit outside the numbers on the field. So it was a better day for Jones but he still is lagging behind the numbers of the opposition. Of course, field position can be a factor here, and not all punting opportunities are the same. Naturally if you're punting from midfield more often than the other team, you're likely to have less distance on your punts. Still the numbers over time can be telling.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off five times, but one was a mis-hit. Of his four timeable kickoffs, one of which was difficult to determine but I did the best I could, he averaged about 73.5 yards with 4.21 hangtime. Those numbers are excellent. But it was a really hot day, so that should be taken into consideration. The ball just travels further when it's hot like that. Aldrick Rosas kicked off five times for the Giants, with an average of about 71.4 yards and 3.93 hangtime.

On the season, Elliott is averaging about 72.6 yards (about seven and a half yards into the endzone) with 4.19 hangtime. Opposing kickers (in three games) are averaging about 73.4 yards with 4.10 hangtime.

Field Goals. Elliott made two of three attempts, from distances where the expectancy would be about 1.58. On the season, he's now four of six from distances where the expectancy would be to make 4.18 of them. So he's a slight negative, in effect costing the Eagles about .54 points. His Elo rating improved from 2185 to 2196, putting him almost within reach of the standard rating of 2200. The current average is about 2256. The rating of the theoretical kicker named "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2311 which would rank seventh in the league. The current top five kickers are Tucker (2393), Prater (2366), Bryant (2354), Bailey (2346), and Gostkowski (2338). Those are the guys who rarely miss and seem to always make long kicks. The current bottom five kickers are Rosas (2207), Gonzalez (2205), Elliott (2196), Hopkins (2192), and Koo (2155). With the exception of the Redskins kicker, these are the guys who are still new and haven't had enough time to establish their ratings.

The snap to foot times on Elliott's kicks were good. Consistently under 1.30 seconds, perhaps even as quick on some attempts as 1.23. But generally close to 1.25. His winning kick was closer to 1.34 -- approximately. That's to be expected on longer attempts. The Giants were similarly quick on Rosas's kicks. Roughly in the 1.25 range. Again, that's good. It's definitely quicker than Parkey and Sturgis were for the Eagles. Sturgis always seems to be in the 1.35 to 1.40 range, which is acceptable but not really ideal.

I didn't get to watch Elliott too much in warmups before the game, but I watched him some at halftime and noticed something that was slightly concerning. I noticed that a number of his field goal kicks didn't have a proper end-over-end rotation. Instead of the ball flying like this --> || <---, the rotation was more like \\. I definitely noticed it more than once and perhaps three or four times.

When Elliott was lining up for the 61-yard kick, I was pretty sure he had a legitimate chance. As I said earlier and have said many times over the years, the ball just flies in warm weather. And it wasn't just warm, it was hot. I was immediately reminded of the disgusting kick that Matt Bryant made on the last play of the game to beat the Eagles a number of years ago. It was really hot in Tampa that day and he was able to hit a 62-yarder. I also remember Alex Henery doinking a ball WAY up on the upright from close to 60 yards out in Tampa, also on a hot day. So yeah, I was way more optimistic than most fans seemed to be at the time.

Snapper stuff. It looked like Lovato was getting his punt snaps back in about .70 to .75 seconds. The Giants snapper was right around the same mark, around .75. Not as good as the Redskins snapper but better than the Chiefs snapper. (I was really impressed with the Washington snapper that day and also noticed him favorably against the Raiders the other night. He really gets velocity.) My concern all along with Lovato is that he seems better on punt snaps than field goal/PAT snaps. His precision on the shorter ones isn't quite there. His snap on the PAT which tied the game 21-21 was a bit low, and his snap on the 24-24 tying FG was a tad high. Not problematically off but not perfect either.

Other stuff:

* For what it's worth, I think Aldrick Rosas is a "low kicker". Steven Hauschka is pretty much the only "low kicker" that has been successful as far as I can remember. As an Eagles fan and Giants hater, I kinda like that. It gives me some hope that he'll end up being ordinary.

* Nice kickoff return on the opening play by Corey Clement.

* I think the Eagles got a bad call on the touchback on the first punt. It did not look like any Eagles player ever touched the ball while having a foot in the endzone. Joe Buck was clueless as he was watching that replay.

* Trae Elston made the tackle on the kickoff after the Eagles went up 14-0.

* Wendell Smallwood mishandled a kickoff after the Giants tied it 14-14. The momentum had already shifted at that point and his mishandling didn't help.

* Losing Darren Sproles is going to hurt on punt returns. Can't complain about Torrey Smith too much, but it's kind of telling that the Eagles elected to go with him ahead of Nelson Agholor. It indicates that they're not confident about Agholor's ball security. I have had those same concerns, so I'm not surprised. Kenjon Barner should be an adequate replacement.

April 22, 2020

On 10/5/2017 at 12:30 AM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Chargers game...again with math.

Donnie Jones only punted twice for the Eagles. The average distance of his punts, as measured from the line of scrimmage to where the ball was caught or struck the ground, was about 46.0 yards. His hangtime average was 4.47 seconds. Half of his punts had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds and half were hit outside the numbers. Drew Kaser punted four times for the Chargers, with an average distance (same method of measurement) of about 46.5 yards an 4.10 hangtime. Only one of the four had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Two of the four were hit outside the numbers. The statistical "win" goes to Jones, putting his record at 2-2 in the theoretical battle with opposing punters.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 42.2 yards and 4.47 hangtime, while hitting the 4.5 mark about 43% of the time and hitting about 57% of his punts outside the numbers. Eagles opponents are averaging about 42.7 yards and 4.30 hangtime, while hitting the 4.5 mark about 41% of the time and hitting about 47% of their punts outside the numbers. So at the quarter-pole of the season, the yardage is roughly similar with Jones getting better hangtime and hitting a higher percentage closer to the sideline than the opposition. There's not much to complain about here.

Kickoffs. It was a weird game. It was pretty warm so you'd think the ball would be kicked high and deep throughout the day. There were lots of touchbacks but the ball was generally kicked midway into the endzone with less hangtime than usual. Jake Elliott kicked off seven times, with an average distance of about 71.4 yards (about six yards deep) with only 3.81 hangtime. Younghoe Koo kicked off four times for the Chargers with an average distance of about 71.3 yards and 3.92 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 72.1 yards and 4.01 hangtime. Eagles opponents (four games) are averaging about 72.9 yards and 4.06 hangtime. The Eagles (four games) are averaging about 71.0 yards and 3.97 hangtime. Elliott opponents (three games) are averaging about 72.1 yards and 4.01 hangtime.

That's a lot of math. To quickly summarize it, Elliott's kickoff numbers are virtually identical (72.1 and 4.01) to the opponents in the same games, but the Eagles opponents have done better overall because Sturgis didn't kick off well (he was hurting) against the Redskins while their kicker had a monster game. For what it's worth, I still think Sturgis is a better kickoff man than Elliott.

I wasn't able to time Rick Lovato's punt snaps. It looked like the Chargers snapper was generally around .80, perhaps slightly quicker. Since Lovato has generally been around .75 and throughout four games only one team's punter (Redskins) was better than that, it seems fair to suggest that he's completely "fine there."

Jake Elliott made all four of his field goal attempts, each of them from at least forty yards out. The expectancy on those four kicks was roughly 2.75, so he was a huge "plus" on the day. In his three games, he's 8 of 10 from distances where the standard expectancy would be to make about 6.94. So he's +1.06, which means he's essentially earned the Eagles about 3.18 points above standard. (Most NFL kickers are above standard these days, however. Circa 2000, they were generally *at* standard, which is why their numbers became the measuring "standard".) Elliott's Elo rating jumped from 2196 to 2226, which ranks 21st in the league. (At 2237, Sturgis ranks 18th.) The rating of "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2312, which would rank ninth. The current league average dropped to 2255. Not a great kicking day across the league. The current Top Five are Tucker (2383), Bryant (2355), Prater (2354), Gostkowski (2352), and Bailey (2347). Those guys are really really good and really really consistent, and have been for some time. It takes a while to push a rating up to that level. Elliott would probably have to go the rest of the season without missing to get his rating up there, and that is exceptionally unlikely. The bottom five kickers are Hopkins (2197), Butker (2193), Rosas (2191), Gonzalez (2189), and Koo (2157.)

Other stuff:

* Dexter McDougle made a tackle on a punt. It wasn't exactly a form tackle but it did the job.

* The Chargers fumbled a punt but the Eagles weren't able to get to it in time.

* Kenjon Barner looked okay -- nothing special -- as a punt returner. That's probably all we can hope for at this point. He seems reliable enough fielding the ball but he doesn't show much ability to make defenders miss.

* The Eagles got lucky when a Chargers punt bounded into the endzone.

April 22, 2020

On 10/10/2017 at 2:18 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Cardinals game. Best game of the year so far for the Eagles. Lots of interesting details.

Punting. Donnie Jones punted three times for the Eagles, with an average of about 43.3 yards (not official NFL stat measurements but actual distance from the line of scrimmage to where the ball essentially landed) and 4.57 hangtime. Two of the three had at least 4.5 seconds hangtime, and one of the three was hit to the area of the field outside the numbers. Andy Lee faced some real challenges on the day (more on that in a bit). He only had seven official punts, but he actually punted eight times. One punt was negated because of a holding penalty. Since that play was actually "live", it was included in my calculations. His eight punts averaged about 47.0 yards and 4.39 hangtime. Three of them (and it was a close call on his last one which could have made it four) had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of them were hit outside the numbers. According to my formula, the better statistical game goes to Lee, putting Jones at 2-3 on the season in the theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Jones is now averaging about 42.4 yards and 4.41 hangtime, with 47% hitting the 4.5 mark and 53% hit outside the numbers. Opponents are averaging about 44.0 yards and 4.33 hangtime, with 40% hitting the 4.5 mark and 44% hit outside the numbers. So...a little more distance for "the other guy" but better hangtime for the Eagles.

When the Cardinals took the field about fifteen minutes before the game, the punters greeted each other, and so did the longsnappers. I remember noticing the Cardinals snapper's number. So when he was injured along the sideline on Barner's big return, I immediately realized the Cardinals were going to be a world of trouble for the rest of the game. They would have to rely on a backup for both punts and field goals/XPs. That's pretty tough to do if you don't have a "real" backup. Most teams don't. They just have "get by" guys. The Eagles have Celek, Burton, and Hollins who can do it, but it's not something you want to do. You just try to get through the game and if you need to make a long term addition after the game, you find the best available real snapper on the street. Or at a hoagie shop somewhere in New Jersey. Though not on the active roster, Gerry is reportedly another guy who can snap some. At that point, I predicted the Eagles would block a punt or kick at some point in the game. The Cardinals were just screwed.

The Cardinals regular snapper on punts was in the mid .7s on his two snaps. Good. Roughly where Lovato lives. But the replacement lineman was only able to get them back in about .90 seconds, with questionable accuracy. They tended to float high. It's not surprising that the Eagles immediately tried to block the first punt he snapped for. It's also not surprising that the elected to make the Cardinals try it again after they were flagged for holding. That strategy didn't work out so well when the second punt rolled for about ten or fifteen more yards, but it was still the right call.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off seven times, with an average distance of about 68.7 yards and 4.33 hangtime. Significantly better hangtime than against the Chargers the week before. His first several kicks were pretty much only to the goal line but three of his next four were near the back of the endzone. Phil Dawson only kicked off twice for the Cardinals with an average of about 66.0 yards and 3.60 hangtime. Much, much better for the Eagles on kickoffs.

On the season, the Eagles as a team (Sturgis once and Elliott four times) are averaging about 70.4 yards and 4.06 hangtime. Eagles opponents are averaging about 72.2 yards and 4.01 hangtime. There is a bit of a distortion there because Sturgis was hurt while kicking off against the Redskins. In Elliott-only games, the Eagles are averaging about 71.0 yards and 4.11 hangtime as opposed to 71.4 yards and 3.96 hangtime. Long story short, we're fine with Elliott. (Incidentally I read on these boards during the week that Sturgis has a "weak leg" and isn't good on kickoffs. I had to laugh at the absurdity because Sturgis has a strong leg and is very good on kickoffs.)

Field goals and extra points. The Eagles times from snap to foot were generally at 1.30 or lower, with a few of them quite possibly below 1.25. That's good. Elliott continues to be noticeably quicker than Sturgis. When you're at 1.40, you're probably still okay but it can be tricky. It's when you're closing in on 1.50 when you're going to have problems. That's the point where a really athletic outside speed rusher can get a hand on a kick. Well, the Cardinals were pushing the 1.50 mark on their two attempts. Incidentally they used a different snapper on those "short" kicks than they did for punts. So it wasn't a surprise that Patrick Robinson was able to get a hand in to block the Cardinals field goal attempt on the last play of the half. He probably doesn't get there if they have their real snapper. It sucks for them their guy got hurt, but it worked out well for the Eagles.

Jake Elliott made both of his field goal attempts from distances where the standard would be to make about 1.80 of them. He is now ten of twelve on the season (average attempt 42.7 yards) where the standard expectancy would be to make about 8.73. So he's plus 1.27, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 3.81 points above standard. His Elo rating nudged up from 2226 to 2230, which now ranks 24th in the league. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" dropped because of the missed/blocked field goal. It is now at 2294, which would rank tenth. The Top Five kickers are the usual bunch (minus Bailey who got nudged out). Tucker (2386), Gostkowski (2360), Bryant (2355), Prater (2355), and Vinatieri (2353). The Bottom Five kickers are Barth (2211), Hopkins (2197), Rosas (2191), Folk (2164), and Gonzalez (2156). Koo was released by the Chargers after the Eagles game and is no longer included. Folk was recently placed on Injured Reserve by the Bucs and won't count starting next week.

Other stuff:

* Great game by Kenjon Barner. Two long returns. Showed better elusiveness than I remembered or saw the previous week against the Chargers. He doesn't seem to have long speed but he has better than average strength on punt returns to break tackles. Power is generally more of a kick return trait than punt return trait. You have to be happy with what he's shown so far. He also looks reliable catching the ball, which is the most important factor of all.

* The kickoff coverage units were good. Grugier-Hill made the tackle on the first kickoff. It was Maragos and Robinson on the next. Clement and Jenkins on the next. And Maragos and McLeod on the one after that.

* Joe Walker made a nice openfield tackle after an Eagles punt.

* Patrick Robinson did a terrible job on one punt return. He whiffed against the Cardinals gunner and allowed him a free chase. Fortunately Barner eluded the guy. And Robinson made up for it later by blocking the field goal.

* Corey Graham had the key block along the sideline on Barner's big return. Without that, it would almost certainly have been a much shorter return.

April 22, 2020

On 10/17/2017 at 2:24 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Eagles Panthers game, with some math.

Donnie Jones only had six official punts, but he actually punted seven times. His first punt was negated because of a penalty on Trey Burton for getting downfield too early. His seven "live" punts averaged about 46.6 yards, as measured from the line of scrimmage to where it hit, with 4.22 hangtime. Three of the seven had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of the seven were hit to the area of the field at the numbers or wider. Panthers punter Michael Palardy punted three times with an average of about 45.3 yards and 4.79 hangtime, with all three reaching the 4.5 mark and all three hit outside the numbers. Despite the slightly better distance for Jones, Palardy gets the statistical edge, putting Jones's record in the theoretical battle with opposing punters at 2-4 on the season.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 43.6 yards and 4.35 hangtime, with 46% hitting the 4.5 mark and 50% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.2 yards and 4.38 hangtime, with the same 46% and 50% numbers. So...about a half yard more and .03 seconds more hangtime for the other team. Incidentally, Jones's numbers are down a bit from the past couple years and we haven't even gotten to the "cold months" yet.

Rick Lovato's punt snaps were the usual mid .7s. It looked like the Panthers snapper was a bit better. Closer to .70. Kudos to him.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott seemed to intentionally hit some balls short to induce the Panthers to return the ball. One of his kicks into the endzone was also uncommonly low. At any rate, his six kickoffs averaged about 67.2 yards with 4.14 hangtime. Graham Gano is one of the best kickoff men in the league. He'd probably be the first guy I'd pick (and don't give me any Brandon McManus arguments because his numbers are wildly inflated because of the thin air in Denver) in a kickoff contest. Gano's six kickoffs averaged about 74.8 yards and 4.13 hangtime. One of his kicks would have even gone much further but it struck the upright at the back of the endzone. So yeah, the other team had about seven and a half more yards on their kicks than the Eagles did.

On the season, the Eagles as a team are averaging about 69.8 yards and 4.08 hangtime while opponents are averaging about 72.8 yards and 4.04 hangtime. When you toss out the opener and look at Elliott-only games, the Eagles are averaging about 70.2 yards and 4.12 hangtime against 72.3 yards and 4.01 for the opposition. Basically the other team is kicking it about two yards more but the Eagles are getting about .10 more hangtime. It's a tradeoff but probably in favor of the other team.

The Eagles snap to foot times on field goals and PATs was right around 1.25 seconds. Carolina's times were around 1.35 or so.

Field goals. Jake Elliott made both of his attempts from distances where the standard would be 1.28. On the season, he is now at 12 of 14 from distances where the expectancy would be to make 10.01 of them. So he's plus 1.99, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 5.97 points above standard in his five games. The average distance of his attempts is 43.6 yards. The average expectancy of a kick that distance is about 75%, and he's at 86%. Yep, he's been good. He's also made ten in a row. His Elo rating improved from 2230 to 2245, which now ranks 17th in the league. The standard is 2200. The league average is at 2258. The rating of the theoretical person named Eagles Opponent is now at 2302, which would rank tenth in the league. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2391), Vinatieri (2361), Bailey (2350), Bryant (2345), and Prater (2341). The Bottom Five are Barth (2216), Hopkins (2206), McManus (2192), Rosas (2192), and Gonzalez (2162).

Other stuff:

* It was disappointing that Jones's punts late in the fourth quarter weren't good. It's moments like that -- when you have a full field to work with -- with the game hanging in the balance -- that you expect your punter to bomb one. And it didn't happen. Instead, they were ordinary pedestrian punts. Sigh.

* Carolina was flagged for lining up incorrectly on an Eagles PAT. The official determined that one of their players was lined up over the center. Well, when I look at it, it's hard to see the problem. If he was off, it might have been by an inch. Curiously, on the previous PAT, it looked like they were probably warned. I say that because prior to the snap, the "linebacker" in the position quickly ran up to his teammates and moved them just prior to the kick and then looked back at the official for what seemed to be an assurance.

* Kenjon Barner muffed a punt but Patrick Robinson saved his bacon by jumping on the ball quickly. It looked like Barner could have been distracted by players passing him as he was readying himself to field the punt. It's an explanation but it doesn't really excuse the miss. He seemed to lunge at the ball slightly. In general though, he's been impressive thus far fielding punts. He seems to have his legs under himself properly balanced when he fields the ball. He's not like the guys in preseason who stagger around back there creating misadventures. I suspect he'll be "okay" catching punts the rest of the season, although I will worry about when it gets cold and windy later in the year. Those can be tricky.

* A couple of Lovato's snaps on FG/PATs were a bit iffy. He seems to have a tendency to get the ball into Jones's body a little, and also a little high at times.

* Chris Maragos made a punt tackle. Michael Kendricks made a kickoff tackle. Clement and Burton shared a kickoff tackle. Lovato made a punt tackle. And Maragos got injured on a punt late in the game. He might be out for a significant time, which would be a blow because he's so valuable.

* I am still thankful that Ron Rivera chose to not try a 58-yard field goal at the end of the half. I have little doubt that Gano would have made it. He has a strong leg. It wasn't cold. And other teams don't miss long field goals against the Eagles.

* There are Youtube kicking camp videos that I watch from time to time. They just posted a brand new one this week with several pro kickers, Jake Elliott included. A kickoff competition. Elliott did not win. The winner was actually the guy the Chiefs signed a couple weeks ago off the Pathers practice squad. One thing I found interesting was the way they graded kickoffs. A 75 yard kickoff with 4.0 hangtime would count as a 115 (the 75 plus 40). An 80 yard kickoff with 4.20 hangtime would be 122. I might start using that scoring method.

April 22, 2020

On 10/26/2017 at 12:37 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Redskins MNF game. With math.

Donnie Jones punted three times for the Eagles with an average distance (usual measurement) of about 50.7 yards and 4.48 hangtime. One of the three (same one actually) had at least 4.5 seconds hangtime and was hit to the numbers or wider. Tress Way had five official punts, but actually punted six times. One was replayed because of a penalty. His punts averaged about 44.7 yards and 4.40 hangtime. Four of the six had at least 4.5 seconds, and two of them were hit to the numbers. The better statistical game goes to Jones, putting his mark at 3-4 on the season in the theoretical battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 44.4 yards and 4.37 hangtime, with 44% hitting the 4.5 mark and 48% hit to the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.3 yards and 4.38 hangtime, with 50% hitting the 4.5 mark and 47% hit to the numbers. Virtually identical.

It's very difficult to time/measure special teams plays on MNF games because ESPN doesn't do a good job of showing special teams plays in their entirety. They love showing random crowd shots or whatever and then quickly cutting back to the action on the field, moments after a ball was snapped. And they love overhead shots on kickoffs, which can create issues. So it was really hard to get Lovato's snap times on punts. The only one I got a clean look at was at about .75 seconds and was a bit low. The Redskins snapper is fantastic. He's like the Nolan Ryan of longsnappers. I noted this in the season opener, and it was on full display on Monday night. He was rocketing the balls back to Way with sub 4.65 times. I am envious. Oh well, Lovato isn't bad. His times are at least average and probably better. I'd like to see more consistent accuracy, however, especially on field goals and PATs. The mildly low snap on the punt on Monday was somewhat of an anomaly for him. But he also had a low snap on the PAT at the end of the first half after the Ertz touchdown. This is starting to become mildly concerning. It seems like every tenth snap or so requires Jones to make an extra effort on the hold.

Jake Elliott kicked off seven times, but one of them was a mis-hit line drive which needs to be excluded from the data set. His six true kickoffs averaged about 73.0 yards and 4.12 hangtime. (One of the hangtimes was very difficult to judge. I did what I could.) Nick Rose was signed during the week to play for the Redskins and was making his NFL debut. His reputation is for being a strong-legged kicker who is erratic on field goals. I can see that. He kicked off five times, but one was an onsides attempt late in the game. His four other kickoffs averaged about 73.8 yards and 4.26 hangtime. His first two kickoffs were awesome. Through the back of the endzone with more than 4.5 hangtime. You might see numbers like that in a dome from time to time, but outdoors in late October, not so much. On the season (all seven games), the Eagles are averaging about 70.3 yards with 4.08 hangtime as compared to 72.9 yards and 4.07 hangtime for the opponents. In the six Elliott games, the Eagles are averaging about 70.7 yards and 4.12 hangtime, with opponents at 72.5 yards and 4.05 hangtime. Overall, kickoffs have been good across the board this year. Elliott's numbers have been more than "solid", and opposing kickers have been killing it, especially with distance. Nothing you can do about it. The numbers will definitely decline as the weather gets colder. No question about it.

The snap to foot times on field goals was normal. Elliott was right around the 1.25 mark. The Redskins were a bit slower, at about 1.30, except for the mishandled hold on the one PAT. That one was over 1.50 seconds and probably could have been blocked if the Eagles had been in an all-out rush, which you don't do on PATs except in emergency situations.

Elliott was 2 of 3 on field goals on distances where the standard would be to make about 2.11 of them. So he was minus .11 on the day. On the season, he's now 14 of 17 from distances where he would be expected to make about 12.12. So he's plus 1.88, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 5.64 points beyond standard. Good. His miss late in the game (I was on record at the time saying I would have gone for it on fourth down) ended his streak at twelve consecutive kicks. It's not an Eagles rookie record. Cody Parkey made seventeen in a row in 2014. Alex Henery also had twelve in a row as a rookie. Elliott's Elo rating dropped from 2245 to 2239, which is tied for 21st in the league. The league average dropped to 2255. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2303, which would rank ninth in the league. The average distance of Elliott's attempts is 43.9, which is unusually high. The expectancy on kicks of that distance is about 74%. His 82% puts him at plus 8%. The Top Five active kickers through week Seven are Tucker (2405, all time record), Vinatieri (2361), Bailey (2350), Gostkowski (2343), and Prater (2341). Those guys are really really good. The Bottom Five are Barth (2202), Rose (2201), McManus (2192), Gonzalez (2186), and Rosas (2176). Three of those are rookies who are still finding their way.

Other stuff:

* Very nice return by Kenjon Barner on a first quarter punt. He's showing more elusiveness than I had expected. You have to be pleased with what he's done this year, save for the muffed punt against the Panthers which the Eagles recovered anyway. On his big return, there was one critical block thrown by Marcus Johnson and another one by either Corey Clement or Rasul Douglas. Perhaps someone with a clearer look can clarify this. My guess was that it was Clement. Definitely someone whose jersey number started with a 3, and it wasn't McDougle or Mills or Barner.

* Corey Graham is now the "personal protector" on punts, replacing Chris Maragos. I suspect this means he's the most trustworthy guy in Fipp's eyes.

* Kamu Grugier-Hill is really catching my eye on special teams. He forced a fumble on a Redskins punt return and also combined with Joe Walker to tackle the returner on a kickoff.

* It was an adventure for the Eagles trying to get the PAT off in time after the long Hollins touchdown catch. The officials started the 25-second clock pretty quickly, perhaps being annoyed at the Eagles for their celebration. Plus, it happened on the Redskins side of the field. The celebrators really had to hustle off the field in time. In fact, I seem to remember one of them having to hustle over to line up correctly somewhere. (I'm not certain of this.) At any rate, the Eagles only snapped the ball with about one second left on the clock, otherwise it would have forced them to kick from five yards back. Kind of silly.

* It was also kind of silly for Barner to return the second half kickoff. He only got to the nineteen yard line, costing the Eagles six yards in field position.

* Najee Good made a punt tackle.

* Zach Ertz recovered a relatively poor onsides kick by the Redskins.

April 22, 2020

On 10/31/2017 at 3:26 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

49ers game. Again with math.

Donnie Jones punted six times for the Eagles with an average of 43.8 yards and 4.32 hangtime. Three of his punts -- the last three actually - had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and two of them were hit outside the middle of the field. Bradley Pinion punted eight times for the 49ers, with an average of about 38.3 yards and 4.34 hangtime. Four of the eight had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and three of the eight were hit outside the middle of the field. The statistical win goes to Jones, putting his theoretical record at 4-4 on the season.

At the midpoint of the season, Jones is now averaging about 44.3 yards and 4.36 hangtime, with 46% hitting the 4.5 mark and 46% hit to the numbers or wider. Opposing punters are averaging about 43.1 yards and 4.37 hangtime, with 50% hitting the 4.5 mark and 45% to the numbers. So all things considered, Jones is doing slightly better than the opposition thus far.

It looked like Lovato's punt snaps were a fraction slower than usual, which isn't surprising given the wet conditions. More high .7s rather than mid .7s on the ones I was able to time. The Niners snapper was a little better than that. Not as good as Washington's but probably better than most of the other teams the Eagles have played.

Jake Elliott kicked off seven times, with an average of about 72.4 yards and 4.22 hangtime. Pinion handled the kickoff duties for the 49ers and averaged about 72.7 yards and only 3.90 hangtime on his three kicks. On the season, the Eagles are averaging about 70.6 yards and 4.10 hangtime vs. 72.9 yards and 4.05 hangtime for the opposition. Jake Elliott is averaging 71.0 yards and 4.14 hangtime in his games as compared to 72.6 yards and 4.03 for his opponents.

The snap to foot times on Elliott's kicks were normal (for him) with the exception of the two missed PATs. He was slower on those. The first is understandable because of the mishandled snap. Not sure why the second was slower. Unless I simply didn't time it well. The 49ers were slower than average on their attempts. Upper 1.3/lower 1.4.

Elliott made 2-of-2 field goals from distances where the standard would be to make about 1.40 of them. On the season, he is now 16 of 19 from distances where he would be expected to make about 13.5. So he's "plus 2.5" on the season, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 7.5 points over standard. The average distance of his attempts is about 44.1 yards, where the expectancy would be to make about 73%. His 84% (16 of 19) puts him plus 11%. His Elo rating improved from 2239 to 2251, which ranks 17th overall. The rating of Eagles Opponent dropped to 2286, which would rank 12th overall. The league average is at 2251, the same as Elliott. The Top Five (active) kickers are Tucker (2397), Vinatieri (2363), Prater (2354), Bailey (2330), and Succop (2323). It's the first time Succop has made that elite list. He was ordinary for the Chiefs but has been lights out since the Titans picked him up. The Bottom Five kickers are Barth (2194), Nugent (2194), Rose (2190), Rosas (2176), and Gonzalez (2166). It's curious that the Cowboys, Redskins, and Giants all have kickers in the Bottom Five.

Other stuff:

* Disappointing that Jones was drilled one of his punts into the endzone for a touchback. Not good.

* Disappointing that Jones punted twice from deep in Eagles territory, with lots of room to bomb a kick to flip field position, and only managed two mediocre punts which only averaged about 39.3 yards and 3.70 hangtime. Not good.

* On one punt which rolled twenty yards, Kenjon Barner inexplicably hovered around a live ball, surrounded by 49ers players. Why? There's way too much risk in doing that. It should also be noted that he made a mistake on the play by not coming up to field the ball in the air. He cost the team a lot of "hidden yardage" on that play.

* Very good punt coverage tackle by Najee Goode.

* Jones clearly mishandled the snap by Lovato on the first missed extra point. He eventually got the ball in a presentable position, but the timing was off. Still, I think Elliott could have managed a better kick.

* Great punt coverage play by Mack Hollins. He flew down from the outside as a gunner and grabbed the return man by his ankle and hauled him down and celebrated. This was the play we were envisioning the day he was drafted and they showed his special teams highlights during the coverage.

* McDougle downed a punt at the 3-yard line.

* Derek Barnett charged through the inside (terrible blocking by the 49ers) to block a 49ers chip shot field goal. That should never happen. Good play by the rookie though.

April 22, 2020

On 11/7/2017 at 3:42 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Broncos game. With math. And I actually think the Broncos had the better of it.

Donnie Jones punted two times for the Eagles with an average of about 46.0 yards and 4.19 hangtime. Same standard of measurement...a true measurement ignoring bounces and rolls and whatever. One of the two had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds and one (the other one) was hit outside the numbers. Riley Dixon punted six times for Denver with an average of about 50.7 yards and 4.31 hangtime. Only one of the six had 4.5 hangtime. Four of the six were hit outside the numbers. So "the other guy" had nearly six more yards and about a tenth of a second more height. Definitely a win for the other team, putting Jones's mark at 4-5 on the season in the theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the other team's punter.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 44.4 yards and 4.35 hangtime, with 46% hitting the 4.5 mark and 46% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.1 yards and 4.36 hangtime with 46% hitting the 4.5 mark and 48% hit outside the numbers. Very similar numbers overall.

Lovato's punt snaps looked about the same as usual, perhaps slightly better. It's really difficult to time those but they appeared to be in the low .7s. Denver's longsnapper wasn't as good. He looked like he was in the low .8s, which might well have been the worst of the opponents this year. I believe the Chiefs and Giants guys weren't that great either.

Jake Elliott kicked off nine times, but one was a line drive mis-hit. His eight legitimate measurable kickoffs averaged about 68.3 yards with 4.20 hangtime. Denver's Brandon McManus kicked off six times but only four were worth including into a database of legitimate kickoffs. One was an onsides kick. Another was an intentionally short kickoff from onsides kick formation. Those four kickoffs averaged about 68.5 yards with 4.02 hangtime.

On the season, the Eagles as a team are averaging about 70.3 yards and 4.12 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 72.4 yards and 4.05 hangtime. The other teams are definitely kicking it deeper.

In Elliott-only games, the Eagles are averaging about 70.5 yards with 4.15 hangtime. Opponents in those games are averaging about 72.1 yards and 4.03 hangtime. Elliott's hangtimes are good...almost at a Sturgis level.

The snap-to-foot times on placekicks for the Eagles were the usual. Around 1.25 to 1.30. This includes the missed PAT. Denver was definitely slower on their kicks. Generally around 1.35. McManus looks to be a tad deliberate, similar to Sturgis.

Field goals. Elliott was 1 of 1 from a distance (45) where the expectancy is about .72. On the season, he's now 17 of 20 from distances where he would be expected to make about 14.2 of them. So he's plus 2.8, which means he's "earned" the Eagles about 8.4 points above expectancy. The average distance of his attempts is 44.2 yards. From that distance, the expectancy would be about 73%. His 85% (17 of 20) is 12% better than expected. Elliott's Elo rating improved from 2251 to 2256, which ranks 17th in the league. He's right in that "middle of the pack" area, which is pretty good for a rookie. The current league average is about 2249. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2302, which would rank 11th in the league. Oh...and did anyone ever doubt that McManus would make both of those fifty-something yard kicks? Opposing kickers might get a kick blocked from time to time, but they are rarely off target, especially on long attempts. It's so annoying. Enough already. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2401), Vinatieri (2369), Bailey (2350), Prater (2341), and Succop (2328). The Bottom Five (six actually) are Barth (2194), Nugent (2194), Rose (2192), Walsh (2192), Rosas (2169), and Gonzalez (2166). Walsh's rating has really plummeted. It wouldn't be surprising if he gets axed soon.

Elliott missed another PAT. The snap and hold looked good. He didn't rush his kick, which is something that Alex Henery would occasionally do. He just missed it. The really really good kickers almost never miss PATs. The fact that Elliott has missed a few already is kinda troubling. It hasn't cost the team yet, but it makes me wonder if Elliott is going to take that next step to the elite level. I'm not convinced yet.

Other stuff:

* Rodney McLeod made a strong tackle on a kickoff.

* Lovato's snap on the PAT which put the Eagles up 17-3 was a tad low. Not bad low but a tad low. He's not as precise as Dorenbos was.

* Clement, Gerry, and McLeod teamed for a tackle on a kickoff, but the return ended up being further than you'd like to see.

* Kenjon Barner didn't get much on his punt returns. The Broncos coverage units did a real nice job of neutralizing him and tackling securely.

* The Eagles allowed a long punt return. Mack Hollins flew down from the outside and got to the returner almost as he fielded the ball but was unable to make the tackle. (After the play was over, you could see Hollins's frustration with himself. He was visibly upset at the miss.) Joe Walker dove at the returner's feet but was a fraction of a second off. The bigger culprit was Kamu Grugier-Hill, who lost containment. Corey Graham eventually dove at the return man to trip him up from behind. Bad play, and one of the reasons I suggested that the Broncos actually had the better of it throughout the game. Well, that, plus the fact that they punted the ball further, made longer field goals, and had better kickoff returns.

* Didn't like Barner returning the second half kickoff and only getting back to the 23. He lost two yards from the touchback spot (25) but wiped out five seconds of game clock.

* Trey Burton recovered (but slightly juggled) an onsides kick.

* I question why Barner returned a punt with about fifteen seconds left in the game. Why run the risk of an injury to yourself, one of your teammates, or even an opposing player? Just let that thing bounce and go home.

April 22, 2020

On 11/22/2017 at 1:53 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Cowboys game.

Donnie Jones punted six times with an average distance (LOS to where the ball landed, rolls excluded) of about 42.3 yards with 4.50 hangtime. Three of the six had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and three of the six were hit towards the sidelines, i.e. at the numbers or outside. Chris Jones punted five times for the Cowboys with an an average of about 43.2 yards and 4.73 hangtime. Four of the five had at least 4.5 hangtime, and three of the five were hit to the numbers. The better statistical game goes to the "other" Jones, putting "our" Jones's record at 4-6 on the season in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

Through ten games, Jones is averaging about 44.1 yards and 4.37 hangtime with 46% hitting the 4.5 mark and 46% hit to the numbers. Opponents are averaging about 44.1 yards and 4.36 hangtime with 49% hitting the 4.5 mark and 49% hit to the numbers. Nearly identical.

Rick Lovato's punt snaps continue to be in the mid/high .7s. The Dallas snapper was perhaps a shade slower. High .7/low .8.

The snap-to-foot times on placekicks for the Eagles was around 1.27 (only two kicks) while Dallas was around 1.35 on their three field goals. This seems to be the trend. Elliott is pretty quick mechanically. Sturgis is not.

Kickoffs. It looked like Elliott intentionally kicked it short to try to pin the Cowboys deep. His two kickoffs averaged about 63.5 yards with approximately 4.22 hangtime. (His second kickoff was difficult to time.) Kamu Grugier-Hill kicked off four times after Elliott was injured and averaged about 62.8 yards with about 3.55 hangtime. For a non-kicker, that's pretty darn impressive. The hangtime is obviously poor by "real kicker" standards but the distance was almost acceptable. Kudos to him. Of course there's no way he should be expected to ever have to do this again, but it's comforting to know that he could manage it in a pinch. Who knows how he would have performed had he attempted a field goal or PAT? Those balls are hit off the ground rather than a tee. His trajectory would probably be poor. And his mechanics would probably be very slow. Probably a recipe for disaster. As a team, the Eagles averaged about 63.0 yards and 3.77 hangtime. Mike Nugent kicked off four times for the Cowboys with an average of about 67.5 yards and 3.80 hangtime.

On the season, Eagles kickers (all three) are averaging about 69.6 yards and 4.08 hangtime compared to 71.9 yards and 4.02 for their opponents.

In games where Elliott kicked off, the Eagles have averaged about 70.3 yards with 4.15 hangtime compared to 71.6 yards and 4.01 hangtime.

Elliott missed his only field goal attempt from a distance where the standard expectancy would be about 88%. (NFL kickers are generally above standard these days. At the turn of the century, they were AT standard.) On the season, he's now made 17 of 21 from distances where he would be expected to make about 15.12. So he's plus 1.88, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 5.6 points above standard. The average distance of his attempts is 43.7 yards, a distance where he would be expected to make about 74%. He's at 81%. So he's plus 7%.

With the miss, Elliott's Elo rating dropped from 2256 to 2234, which ranks 21st in the league. It's lower than Sturgis (2237), who ranks 19th. The league average is at 2251. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" improved to 2313, which would rank eighth in the league. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2403), Vinatieri (2373), Prater (2351), Bailey (2350), and Gostkowski (2333). Those guys always rank at the top. They're the elite of of the league. The Bottom Five kickers are Fairbairn (2204), Walsh (2200), Nugent (2193), Gonzalez (2167), and Rosas (2155).

Other stuff:

* The new Cowboys stadium is known for fantastic hangtime and distances for kicks. The ball just flies there. Apparently that's with the roof closed. With the roof open, it handles differently. The roof was open for this game, which probably explains why the kickoffs weren't as spectacular as they usually are. And it helped that Dan Bailey was inactive too. He's fantastic.

* I would suggest the primary culprit on the opening kickoff was Joe Walker, who got tied to his blocker and got pinned inside, creating a huge lane to the outside. And Malcolm Jenkins got caught up inside a bit too. Overall, just a bad, bad play. And Elliott got hurt making the tackle. Ugh!

* Mike Nugent is a mediocre kicker but OF COURSE he drilled long kicks against the Eagles. Was there ever a doubt that those would be good? Unless the Eagles block a kick, other teams just don't miss. It's a joke.

* Great job by the Cowboys on the Donnie Jones punt which went into the endzone for a touchback. (His hangtime could/should have been better, by the way). Jaylen Watkins was down there in time, but the Cowboys player drove him into the endzone and out of the play. And Mack Hollins was a hair late to save the day. Credit where credit is due.

* Kenjon Barner looked a bit uncomfortable fielding punts. I worry about him a bit in cold, windy conditions.

* Very good openfield tackle by Kamu Grugier-Hill on a punt. He's a really good ST player.

* Corey Clement made a tackle on a punt.

* Isaac Seumalo made the tackle on the two point conversion return after the Ertz fumble.

* Mack Hollins made a KO tackle.

* Corey Graham made a fantastic play on a punt late in the game. He grabbed Switzer's shirt and dragged him down.

April 22, 2020

On 11/29/2017 at 1:51 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Bears game. Not as much activity as usual.

Donnie Jones only punted twice for the Eagles, with an average of about 39.5 yards (LOS to where the ball went in the air) and 4.67 seconds. Both had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and both were hit outside the numbers. Chicago's Pat O'Donnell punted six times with an average of about 38.8 yards and 3.92 hangtime. Two (one was borderline; possibly 4.49, possibly 4.51) had at least 4.5 seconds, and three were hit outside the numbers. I generally don't include blocked punts but I did include the one deflected punt. Perhaps I shouldn't, but I did because the ball wasn't impacted all that much. The better statistical game goes to Jones, putting his mark at 5-6 on the season in his theoretical battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 43.9 yards and 4.38 hangtime with 49% of his punts reaching the 4.5 mark and 49% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 43.5 yards and 4.35 hangtime, with 48% reaching the 4.5 mark and 49% hit outside the numbers. It's been pretty close all season, but Jones is starting to pull ahead...ever so slightly. I'd still call him "average".

Rick Lovato's punt snaps were normal. Mid/high .7s. The Bears snapper was better than that. Low .7s. Excluding the Redskins snapper, who is great in both games, he might have been the best opposing snapper all season. Kind of a high snapper. To the upper chest rather than waist. But good.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott had a rough day. His first two kickoffs were terrible mis-hits, the first of which went out of bounds for a penalty. I always exclude mis-hits because they distort the data. He also had a squib kick at the end of the first half. So he only had three legitimate kickoffs, which averaged about 64.3 yards and 4.10 hangtime, which are numbers below his average. Yeah, not a good day for him. Cairo Santos kicked off twice for the Bears with an average of about 70.5 yards and 4.06 hangtime.

On the season, the Eagles (Sturgis, Elliott, Grugier-Hill) are averaging about 69.3 yards and 4.08 hangtime on legitimate kickoffs. Opposing kickers are averaging about 71.9 yards and 4.03 hangtime. It's fair to say that in general, "The Eagles kick it higher and the other team kicks it longer." In games where Elliott has played, he averages about 69.9 yards and 4.15 hangtime, as opposed to 71.5 yards and 4.01 hangtime for the opposing team.

The snap to foot times on place kicks were normal. Generally sub 1.3 for Elliott and high 1.3 for the Bears guys. Elliott is definitely better than average in terms of quickness.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance where the standard expectancy is about .72. On the season he's made 18 of 22 from distances where he would be expected to make about 15.84 of them. So he's earned the Eagles approximately 6.5 points above standard on the season. His average attempt distance is 43.7 yards, from which the standard would be about 74%. So his 82% is plus 8. Elliott's Elo rating jumped from 2234 to 2240, which ranks tied for 18th in the league. (At 2237, Sturgis is ranked 21st). The current league average is 2254. Because of the Cairo miss, the rating of "Eagles Opponent" dropped to 2299, which ranks 12th overall. That rating is about .77 standard deviations above average. The NFL's Top Five rated kickers are Tucker (2409, an all-time best rating), Vinatieri (2376), Prater (2358), Bailey (2350), and Bryant and Gostkowski (both 2333). The Bottom Five rated kickers are Tavecchio (2200), the recently released Nugent (2193), Walsh (2187), Gonzalez (2157), and Rosas (2157). Let me predict in advance that although Walsh is pretty poor and is having a terrible season, he won't miss against the Eagles on Sunday night. That actually seems like a safe bet.

Other stuff (and there wasn't much):

* Nice job by Kenjon Barner to pull Jaylen Watkins away from a live ball on a punt.

* Najee Goode made a kickoff tackle on the play where Joe Walker was injured.

* Bad coverage on the opening kickoff of the second half. I would designate Corey Graham and Steven Means as the primary culprits, with a splash of Gerry and Jenkins. I could be wrong. The kick was a bit short too, which didn't help.

April 22, 2020

On 12/6/2017 at 12:32 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Seahawks game. Not a lot of special teams in this one.

Donnie Jones punted three times for the Eagles, with an average of about 39.7 yards and 4.08 hangtime. None hit the 4.5 mark and two were hit outside the numbers. Jon Ryan punted five times for Seattle, with an average of about 39.8 yards and 4.37 hangtime. Three of the five hit the 4.5 mark and four were hit outside the numbers. Jones's numbers were impacted somewhat by the fact that he was punting from right around midfield all three times, so he wasn't in a position to hit for distance. He was going primarily for position on his efforts. Still the better statistical game goes to Ryan, putting Jones at 5-7 on the season in the theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 43.6 yards and 4.36 hangtime with 46% hitting the 4.5 mark and 50% hit outside the middle of the field. Opposing punters are averaging about 43.2 yards and 4.35 hangtime with 48% hitting the 4.5 mark and 52% hit outside the numbers. Fairly similar.

Rick Lovato looked to be in the high .7s on his punt snaps. The Seattle punter might have been a hair quicker. Mid to high .7s. They were both well within the range you'd want. But two of the Eagles punt snaps were a bit low. Not problematically low but something to keep an eye on in the future. In general he's been better on punts than kicks, so it's a little strange to see him a little off in the phase he generally does best.

Jake Elliott kicked off three times, but one was a mis-hit. (He's been having a lot of those lately, which is kind of troubling.) His two deep kickoffs averaged about 66.0 yards and 3.79 hangtime. Blair Walsh kicked off five times for Seattle, but his last was a mis-hit. His four deep kickoffs averaged about 64.8 yars and 3.80 hangtime. The hangtimes were low for both teams. Perhaps weather or stadium conditions were at play here. I noticed Steven Hauschka had poor hangtimes last year too, so maybe there's something to that. (On the other hand, Caleb Sturgis had good height last year, so who knows?)

On the season, the Eagles as a team (Sturgis, Elliott, Grugier-Hill) are averaging about 69.2 yards and 4.07 hangtime on kickoffs that were properly hit. Opposing kickers are averaging about 71.2 yards and 4.01 hangtime. In Elliott's games, it's 69.8 and 4.13 for the Eagles compared to 70.9 and 3.99 for the other team. Higher for the Eagles and longer for the other team.

The Eagles snap to foot times on place kicks were as usual, mid to upper 1.2s. The Seahawks were surprisingly quick on their attemps. Low to mid 1.2s. I didn't realize that Walsh was that quick mechanically. Good for them, I guess.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance where the standard is about 95%. On the season, he's made 19 of 23 from distances where the standard would be about 16.8 made. So he's plus 2.2, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 6.6 points above standard this season. His Elo rating nudged from 2240 to 2241, which ranks him (tied for) 19th in the league. Sturgis's 2237 rating puts him 22nd. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2304, which would rank 11th if he were a single person. That rating is about .89 standard deviations above average. The current league average is at 2253. The average distance of Elliott's attempts is 42.96 yards, which is roughly a 75% kick. So his approximate 83% success rate is 8 points on the good side. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2414, an all time high), Vinatieri (2376), Bailey (2350), Gostkowski (2342), and Prater (2337). The Bottom Five are Coons (2200), Walsh (2195), Fairbairn (2179), Rosas (2169), and Gonzalez (2161).

Other stuff:

* OF COURSE Walsh made the 48-yard field goal against the Eagles. Virtually right down the middle too. He's been stinking it up all season, shanking kicks all over the place. But against the Eagles, of course he's on the money.

* Trey Burton made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Kenjon Barner had a very nice kickoff return which was negated by a penalty. But he did well on the play.

* Corey Clement made a secure tackle on a punt.

* Brent Celek returned a low line drive kickoff.

* With about a minute to go in the game, Barner returned a punt that would ordinarily be fair caught. Under normal conditions, I would criticize that decision, but he was completely correct doing what he did. At that point, you just have to try to make a play. Unfortunately he was tackled immediately. Oh well.

April 22, 2020

On 12/15/2017 at 7:57 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Rams game...a little later than usual...busy week at home. Not a good game for the Eagles units.

Donnie Jones punted four times but one was blocked. His three legit punts averaged about 40.7 yards and 3.84 hangtime. One of the three reached the 4.5 mark, and two of the three were hit outside the numbers. Johnny Hekker punted five times for the Rams, with an average of about 51.8 yards and 4.09 hangtime. Two (possibly three but I called it two) hit the 4.5 mark, while all five were hit outside the numbers. Obviously the better statistical game goes to Hekker, putting Jones at 5-8 on the season in his theoretical battle with the opposing punter. (For the record, on the last Eagles punt there was no desire to hit the ball for distance. The only priority was simply getting the ball off without being blocked.)

On the season, Jones is averaging about 43.4 yards (LOS to basically where the ball went in the air) and 4.33 hangtime with 45% hitting the 4.5 mark and 51% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 43.8 yards and 4.33 hangtime with 48% hitting the 4.5 mark and 55% hit outside the numbers. I would call this as slightly favoring the other team.

Rick Lovato had his worst game as an Eagles snapper. His third PAT snap was low. He also had a low snap on the 54-yard field goal by Elliott which ultimately didn't count because the Rams were penalized for leverage. His subsequent snap on the field goal which put the Eagles ahead for good was high enough but was about a foot too close to Jones's shoulder. And his snap on the final punt was high. He has yet to cost the Eagles thus far, but his inconsistency is definitely noticeable.

Lovato's punt snap times were pretty good. Low/mid .7s. The Rams snapper was very good. Sub .7s. Possibly the best of all Eagles opponents this year, although Washington's guy was impressive in both games. The times on the Eagles kicks (snap to foot) were upper 1.2s (a bit slower on the low snaps). The Rams times were a bit slower. Low 1.3s.

Jake Elliott squibbed a kickoff at the end of the half and had yet another mis-hit on another kickoff. His six measurable kickoffs averaged about 70.7 yards and 4.07 hangtime. Greg Zuerlein averaged about 72.8 yards and 3.93 hangtime on his six kickoffs.

On the season, the Eagles are averaging about 69.3 yards and 4.07 hangtime on their measurable kickoffs. Opponents are averaging about 71.4 yards and 4.00 hangtime. In Elliott's games, it's 69.9 and 4.13 for the Eagles compared to 71.1 yards and 3.98 for the other team. The other guys are kicking it farther and the Eagles are kicking it higher.

Excluding the clutch 54-yarder which didn't count, Elliott was 3 of 3 on the game from distances where the standard would be about 2.65. On the season, he's now 22 of 26 from distances where he would be expected to make about 19.45. So he's "plus" 2.55, which means he's earned the Eagles about 7.7 points above standard. His Elo rating improved from 2241 to 2248, which now ranks 17th. (Sturgis is ranked 23rd). The league average is at 2251. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2304, which is .97 standard deviations above average. Elliott's average attempt is at 41.7 yards, from which the expectancy would be about .775. His .846 puts him approximately .07 higher. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2416, an all-time high), Gostkowski (2347), Prater (2341), Gould (2333), and Hauschka/Vinatieri (2332). The Bottom Five are Nugent, who was just signed by the Bears (2197), Fairbairn (2179), Walsh (2177...and OF COURSE he missed a short kick this week after making two relatively long ones last week against the Eagles), Rosas (2174), and Gonzalez (2161). Rosas's rating will no doubt go up next week since he'll be kicking against the Eagles.

Other stuff:

* The Rams nearly blocked one punt in the first half. Looked like a Goode/Lovato issue regarding who to block.

* The Eagles allowed a blocked punt for a touchdown in the second half. The snap was good, and the touch-to-toe time by Jones was also good (1.22). The problem was on the left side of the protection. Looks like a miscommunication between Corey Clement and Kamu Grugier-Hill. Clement blocked the outside rusher and G-H helped Goode to the inside.

* Corey Graham mae a tackle (actually forced the return man out of bounds) on a kickoff.

* Shelton Gibson was the first gunner downfield on a punt which rolled dead. He was clearly in good position to make the tackle.

* Nathan Gerry made the tackle on the short kickoff at the end of the first half.

* The Eagles were offsides on a kickoff.

* Graham made another tackle on a kickoff.

* On the final punt of the game, Jones did a fantastic job of getting the ball off quickly. Approximately 1.1 seconds on the touch to toe.

* The leverage call against the Rams was probably legit. Donald used his hands on Brooks's back to leap upward. That's illegal.

April 22, 2020

On 12/20/2017 at 6:47 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Giants game. Special teams were directly involved in the positive outcome, although there were some issues along the way.

Donnie Jones had his worst game of the season. He punted four times, with an average distance, as measured from the line of scrimmage to where the ball landed, of about 38.0 yards with 3.55 hangtime. None of the four reached the 4.5 second mark and none of the four were hit outside the numbers. So he basically hit the ball low and to the middle of the field the entire game. On his third punt, he nearly dropped the ball and had to do a double take. On his fourth punt, the top priority was simply getting the ball off, similar to the final punt against the Rams the week before. Brad Wing punted three times for the Giants but one was blocked. His two legit punts averaged about 36.5 yards and 4.25 hangtime. One hit the 4.5 mark and both were hit outside the numbers. Despite the block, the Giants were credited with the theoretical "win" in the Eagles battle with opposing punters, putting Jones's mark at 5-9 on the season.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 43.0 yards and 4.27 hangtime, with 42% hitting the 4.5 mark and 47% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 43.6 yards and 4.33 hangtime, with 48% hitting the 4.5 mark and 56% hit outside the numbers. All of those numbers favor the other team.

Rick Lovato's punt snaps were the usual. Mid-to-high .7s, although one of them might have been over .8. It looked like the Giants were slower than that. Mid .8s except for the blocked punt, which seemed to be mid .7.

I considered making a prediction prior to the game that the Eagles would get a blocked punt somewhere along the line but never got around to doing so. They not only seemed "due" for it, but the Giants in the past have looked kinda slow in their processes. And I remember the Eagles blocking punts against them a few times during the Chip Kelly era. It didn't surprise me in the least that they came through.

The times on the place kicks were the usual for the Eagles. Around 1.25 from the snap to the kicker's foot. The Giants were slower. Around 1.3 except for the blocked kicks which were even slower than that. There was also a slightly off-target snap on the blocked PAT.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott had yet another mis-hit. His six "deep" kickoffs averaged about 63.7 yards with 4.10 hangtime. Aldrick Rosas kicked off six times but one was very short and was therefore excluded from the records. His five deep kickoffs averaged about 63.8 yards with 4.02 hangtime. On the season, Eagles kickers (all three) have averaged about 68.9 yards with 4.08 hangtime vs. 70.8 yards and 4.00 from the opponents. Elliott is averaging about 69.3 yards and 4.12 hangtime compared with 70.4 yards and 3.98 seconds from his opponents. The trend is pretty clear. More height from the Eagles. More distance from the other team.

Elliott made two very short field goal attempts from distances where the standard would be about 1.92. On the season, he is now 24 of 28 from distances where the standard expectancy would be 21.4. So he's plus 2.6, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 7.8 points above expectancy this year. The average distance of his attempts is 40.4 yards. The expectancy there would be about 79%, so his 86% is plus 7%. Elliott's Elo Rating nudged up slightly from 2248 to 2249, which ranks 17th in the league. (Sturgis's 2237 ranks 22nd.) The league average is at 2253. The rating of Eagles Opponents dropped from 2304 to 2286, which would rank 11th. That ranking is about .57 standard deviations above average. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2414, an all-time NFL high), Gould (2354), Gostkowski (2352), Prater (2346), and Vinatieri (2338). The Bottom Five kickers are Tavecchio (2189), Fairbairn (2179), Walsh (2177), Gonzalez (2169), and Rosas (2161).

Other stuff:

* Derek Barnett blocked the first Giants PAT of the day, which impacted the course of the game. The snap was a little off target, which no doubt had an impact on the play. Also pretty bad blocking on their part. (Stuck in traffic outside the stadium on the way home from the game, I heard Giants announcer Carl Banks talking about "giveadamn" from special teams...that linemen can't take special teams plays off as a respite...they need to "give a damn" on those plays. He was pretty critical of the Giants players there.)

* On the first Giants punt of the day, their snap was slow and off target. This might have been a signal to the Eagles to "go after" the next punt.

* On the next punt, Kamu Grugier-Hill was able to come through cleanly for the block. The total time from snap to foot was about 2.09 seconds, which is generally okay. I wouldn't fault the snapper or punter.

* Bryan Braman was added to the roster this week after last week's fiasco against the Rams. They needed to shore up the protection from the stretch run and the postseason.

* Grugier-Hill made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Gerry made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Grugier-Hill made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Jenkins and Burton combined for a tackle on a kickoff.

* Jenkins made the tackle on the final kickoff.

* Donnie Jones took about 1.9 seconds from touch to toe on his third punt, which is about a half second worse than "slow". The ball slipped out of his hands and he was fortunate that the Giants weren't putting on a serious rush. Very lucky play.

* On the final punt where get-off was significantly more important than distance, Jones got the ball off in about 1.12 seconds, which is pretty darn quick, although not quite as fast as on the "winning" punt against the Rams last week.

* Malcolm Jenkins blocked the Giants 48-yard field goal which would have put them ahead early in the fourth quarter. The Giants blocking was poor and their timing was only average. Big play. More "giveadamn" issues for the Giants.

* Terrible play by the Eagles in the third quarter. After turning a 23-21 halftime deficit into a 31-23 lead, and forcing the Giants into consecutive 3-and-outs, Najee Goode flinched on the snap, causing a false start and giving the Giants a first down. (This happened literally after I said, "Just don't do anything dumb here!") Okay, so a close inspection of the replay reveals a subtle elbow twitch by the Giants snapper. Even so, you still can't jump offsides there. At that moment, the Giants seemed ready to be blown out. Resigned to it even. That penalty gave them a new life and set in motion a series of events which made the game ever so problematic.

April 22, 2020

On 12/28/2017 at 1:55 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Raiders game in cold conditions. As I pointed out repeatedly after the Saints playoff game loss four years ago, the ball just won't fly as far as it normally would when it's cold.

Donnie Jones punted eight times for the Eagles with an average of about 40.9 yards (as measured from the line of scrimmage to where the ball actually traveled in the air) and 4.02 hangtime. Only one of the eight had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds and that was just barely so. Only two of the eight were hit outside the numbers. So basically Jones was hitting them kinda low and short and down the middle the entire night. Marquette King punted five times for the Raiders with an average of about 38.2 yards and 3.93 hangtime. None of the five had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and only two were hit outside the numbers. So he too was hitting them kinda low and short and down the middle. Based off of usual standards, they both did well below average. The mathematical edge goes to Jones, putting his mark at 6-9 on the season in the theoretical 1-on-1 matchup with the opposing punter.

On the season, Jones is now averaging about 42.7 yards and 4.24 hangtime with 38% hitting the 4.5 mark and 44% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are now averaging about 43.2 yards and 4.30 hangtime with 45% hitting the 4.5 mark and 55% hit outside the numbers. Clear edge to the other team. Incidentally, the distance and hangtime averages for Jones this season are both the worst of his five seasons with the team. He's still "okay" but it's hard to see him being on the team next year. The decline is slow but it's there.

Lovato's punt snaps were the normal. Around .75 seconds back to the punter fourteen yards away. Good enough. No issues. In fact, his final most critical snap might actually have been his quickest of the night. Oakland's snapper was right around that same mark on his attempts, maybe fractionally slightly slower. But again good enough. The Redskins and Rams snappers were the best this year.

Jake Elliott kicked off only four times during the low-scoring game. They were all intentionally hit away from the Raiders explosive return man. When compiling the data to use, I always exclude "short" kickoffs because they distort averages. Two of Elliott's kickoffs had to be excluded. Two were included and only barely so. His average was only 55.0 yards with 4.15 hangtime. Giorgio Tavecchio kicked off three times for the Raiders with an average of about 71.0 yards and 3.81 hangtime. Obviously the Raiders were not fearful of a Kenjon Barner kick return and were willing to kick it deep. Huge "advantage" for the Raiders in distance, but Elliott clearly kicked it higher.

On the season, the Eagles as a team (Sturgis, Elliott, and Grugier-Hill combined) have averaged about 68.5 yards and 4.08 hangtime on their deep kickoffs while opponents have averaged about 70.8 yards and 3.99 hangtime. In Elliott's fourteen games, he has averaged about 68.9 yards and 4.13 hangtime compared to 70.5 yards and 3.98 hangtime for the other team. So he's kicking it with .15 seconds more hangtime but with a yard and a half less distance.

The snap-to-foot times on placekicks were very quick for the Eagles. Low 1.2s. I wonder if perhaps Elliott is rushing his short attempts too much. Maybe. The Raiders were a little slower (mid 1.2s) but still quicker than average...though not as quick as I recall Sebastian Janikowski being. He was the quickest I remember ever timing. No wonder he was so highly regarded a prospect. That power combined with those quick mechanics.

Elliott was 2 of 3 on field goal attempts from distances where the standard would be to make about 2.42 of them. On the season, he's now 26 of 31 from distances where he would be normally expected to make 23.8. So he's "plus" 2.2, which means he's earned the Eagles about 6.6 points over standard. The average distance of his attempts is 40.3 yards. The expectancy from that distance is about .795. His .839 (26 of 31) is plus .044. His Elo rating dropped from 2249 to 2236, which ranks 23rd in the league. (Sturgis's rating of 2237 ranks 22nd.) The league average is 2248. The rating of "Eagles Opponents" dropped to 2268, which would rank 14th in the league (still above average) and is .355 standard deviations above average. The Top Five rated kickers are Tucker (2420, an all time best), Gostkowski (2356), Gould (2355), Boswell (2351), and Zuerlein (2330-IR). The Bottom Five kickers are Ficken (2179), Gonzelez (2178), Walsh (2177), Tavecchio (2174), and Rosas (2140). Sort of a "Who's Who" of rookie kickers. Elliott and Butker look like the only rookie kickers this year who have done well. Of course they were both drafted so they had some reputation to start with.

Other stuff:

* When Alex Henery was instructed to kick off short against the Vikings four years ago to keep the ball away from Patterson, many Eagles fans lost their minds thinking that it was simply a lack of leg strength rather than something he did intentionally. But they were totally understanding when Elliott kicked it short. Funny how that works out.

* Grugier-Hill made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Rasul Douglas made a tackle on a punt.

* I really like the way that Barner aggressively came up to field short punts by the Raiders rather than let the ball hit and bounce away for extra yardage. I have to believe that he was instructed in advance to do this. On the other hand, he muffed a punt deep in Eagles territory late in the game. It could have been a game-losing moment but fortunately he recovered. Sighs of relief all around, although I still don't completely trust him yet.

* Braman and McLeod combined for a tackle on the opening kickoff of the second half.

* Burton made a secure tackle after a very short Elliott kickoff.

* The Raiders got away with a delay of game prior to the punt that Barner muffed. That could have been significant.

* On the final kickoff after the "winning" field goal by Elliott, Corey Graham lost his containment at the sideline and allowed the return man to dangerously get past him. Fortunately Jenkins and Clement came through to bring him down before it got too bad. And on the plus side, that return cost the Raiders time on the clock. (Not special teams related but something I thought of during the game. On the third down play with ten seconds left, if I were the Eagles I would have "held" every Raiders receiver before he could get downfield. The play itself is going take about five seconds, which makes the ensuing play the "last" play of the game anyway. I think that's worth five yards there. What you can't allow is a thirty yard pass play in eight or nine seconds which would allow them a chance at a tying field goal.)

* The Raiders did something smart and something dumb at the same time. On several punt plays they had two return men back (smart) to field the ball. Yet on more than one occasion neither one caught the somewhat short punt by Jones (dumb). Isn't that the point of having two guys back there in the first place, to catch a short one and not allow it to roll? Strange indeed.

April 22, 2020

On 1/4/2018 at 2:08 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Cowboys "preseason" game.

Donnie Jones punted seven times with an average of about 40.6 yards (true distance, rolls/bounces excluded) and 4.28 hangtime. Two of the seven -- his first two actually -- were in the air for at least 4.5 seconds. Three (possibly four if you want to be lenient) were hit to the area outside the middle of the field. Chris Jones punted eight times for the Cowboys with an average of about 39.8 yards and 4.41 hangtime. Four of his eight reached the 4.5 mark, and four were hit outside the middle of the field. Statistically the edge goes to the Cowboys punter, putting our Jones's record at 6-10 in the theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 42.5 yards and 4.24 hangtime with 37% hitting the 4.5 mark and 44% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 42.9 yards and 4.31 hangtime with 45% hitting the 4.5 mark and 55% hit outside the numbers. Relatively close but definitely better numbers across the board for the other team. I would be surprised if Jones is back next year.

Punt snapping was very difficult to determine. There were times where both snappers seemed to have slow snaps, probably due to the weather conditions at that very moment but also did "normal" otherwise.

Jake Elliott only kicked off once with a distance of about 56 yards and 4.23 hangtime. Dan Bailey kicked off twice for Dallas with an average of about 64.5 yards and 3.92 hangtime.

On the season, Eagles kickers have averaged about 68.4 yards and 4.08 hangtime compared to 70.6 yards and 3.99 hangtime. In Elliott's fifteen games, it was 68.7 and 4.13 compared to 70.3 and 3.97. So the other teams kicked it about two yards further (notice how seldom the Eagles even returned kickoffs rather than taking a touchback) but with considerably less hangtime. I suspect this was by design. I also suspect that Elliott is not as strong-legged as Sturgis, who I considered an excellent kickoff specialist. I think Graham Gano is the best (take notice this weekend when he kicks off against the Saints indoors. I suspect every kickoff, and I hope there are many, will go out of the endzone) with Dustin Hopkins is right up there.

Elliott never attempted any field goals, keeping him at 26 of 31 on the season with an expectation, based on the individual distances, of making about 23.8 of them. So he finished the regular season "plus" 6.8 points. His average attempt was about 40.3 yards. His Elo rating remained at 2236 (ranked 23rd), one point behind Sturgis at 2237 (ranked 22nd). The league average is 2250. With Bailey's lest second shank from 23-yards, the rating of "Eagles Opponent" dropped below the average, down to 2244. The Top Five rated kickers are Tucker (2422, an all time record), Gould (2360), Gostkowski (2356), Bryant (2333), and Boswell (2331). The Bottom Five kickers are Rose (2183), Ficken (2180), Tavecchio (2179), Walsh (2171) and Rosas (2143).

Couple other brief points:

* I like the way that Barner continues to come up to field short punts. That aggression is a good thing in bad weather. If the conditions are going to force the punters to hit them short, by all means do what you can to take advantage of that. I have no doubt that this is something that Barner has been told to do. Good job.

* I hate the way that Barner continues to muff punts. He got away with it for the third time this year. It is a very dangerous path to walk when you put the ball on the ground. Fortunately there are only a few more games (three, I hope) where Barner will be the primary return man for the Eagles. I doubt he'll be back next year. Or Darren Sproles. Not that I would trust Donnell Pumphrey right off the bat either. But they'll have someone new back there.

April 22, 2020

On 1/18/2018 at 6:37 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Falcons playoff game. Not a lot of special teams activity.

Donnie Jones punted three times for the Eagles with an average of about 40.0 yards and 3.94 hangtime. None of his punts had at least 4.5 seconds and none were hit outside the numbers. In other words he hit the ball low and down the middle all three times. Matt Bosher punted six times for the Falcons with an average of about 33.3 yards and 4.25 hangtime. Three of the six had at least 4.5 seconds hangtime, and only two were hit outside the numbers. One of the six punts was actually deflected. I could easily have chosen to exclude that punt from the database but I chose to included it because the impact of the deflection was pretty minimal. But as it turns out, including it gave the "win" to Jones in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter. This win puts his mark at 7-10 on the season.

On the season, Jones is now averaging about 42.4 yards and 4.23 hangtime with 35% hitting the 4.5 mark and 42% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 42.3 yards and 4.31 hangtime with 46% hitting the 4.5 mark and 53% hit outside the numbers.

Rick Lovato's punt snaps were pretty normal. On their last punt, the Eagles had Jones line up a yard closer than usual, so his snap time was a lot faster. Atlanta's snapper was somewhat erratic, I thought. His best snap was probably the one that was deflected.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times but only two met the criteria for inclusion in the database. One was hit only to the 12-yard line, which is deemed "too short" and one was an intentional line drive which ended up going out of bounds. Elliott's two kickoffs averaged about 68.0 yards and 3.99 hangtime. (Incidentally, I'm not sure I marked the first kick correctly. My best guess was that it landed seven yards deep in the endzone. If someone can come up with a better number than that, I'm all ears.) Matt Bosher kicked off three times for the Falcons with an average of about 63.3 yards and 3.95 hangtime. You'll notice that the kickoff numbers were way off the usual numbers. That's what happens when it's cold outside. I pointed this out four years ago when Alex Henery's kickoffs weren't great in that playoff game against the Saints, but no one seemed to care. The lynch mob had already formed.

On the season, the Eagles (as a team) are averaging about 68.4 yards and 4.08 hangtime as compared to 70.2 yards and 3.99 hangtime for the opponents. In Elliott's games, he's averaging 68.7 yards and 4.12 hangtime compared to 69.9 yards and 3.97 hangtime.

Elliott missed his only PAT (I think he hurried the kick too much. Sub 1.2 snap to foot.) He did, however, make all three of his field goal attempts from distances where the standard would be to make about 2.38 of them. On the season, he's 29 of 34 from distances where he would be expected to make 26.2. So he's plus 2.8 which means he's earned the Eagles about 8.4 points above standard.The average distance of his attempts is 40 yards. The expectancy from that distance would be about 80%. Elliott's 85% (29 of 34) is obviously better than expected. Elliott's Elo Rating improved from 2236 to 2249, which now ranks 18th in the league. The standard is 2200. The league average is 2250. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" nudged up from 2244 to 2246. The Top Five Kickers are now Tucker (2422), Gould (2360), Bryant (2351), Gostkowski (2338), and Boswell (2331). (Some minor shifting based on the playoff games this past week.) The Bottom Five kickers are the same as at the end of the season. Teams with bad kickers usually don't make the playoffs.

Other stuff:

* The big special teams play of the day was when Kenjon Barner didn't come up to field a short Falcons punt and the ball wound up hitting an Eagles player, leading to a turnover. Horrible turn of events. I put the majority of the blame there on Barner. It was actually a pretty high punt (almost 4.8 seconds) which landed at the 19-yard line. Barner wasn't positioned that far away and had plenty of time to come up and catch it. In fact, he had done precisely that the previous couple of weeks -- aggressively coming up to field balls. But this time he didn't and it worked out badly.

* With the exception of Elliott's field goals, the best special teams play for the Eagles was when Bryan Braman got a finger on a punt by Matt Bosher. Bosher is known for taking long strides in his approach. From his standing position, he moves forward about five full yards before hitting the ball. (Jones only moves three). So the target point for a potential blocker is much closer to the line of scrimmage. I had expected the Eagles to make a strong effort to block a kick, and I wasn't surprised it happened. Unfortunately it was only a finger and the ball went forward. The snap was actually good and Bosher actually got the ball off quickly. The problem for the Falcons was that he was just too close to the line when he hit the ball.

* Secure tackle by Najee Goode on the final kickoff by the Eagles with about six minutes left. Big difference between that play and the one Sproles returned for the Saints in the playoff game four years ago.

April 22, 2020

On 1/25/2018 at 11:21 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Vikings NF Championship Game. Not a lot of kicking going on in this one.

Donnie Jones punted three times, with an average of about 43.7 yards and 4.34 hangtime. Two of the three had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and two were hit outside the numbers. Ryan Quigley punted three times for the Vikings, with an average of about 46.3 yards and 4.65 hangtime. Two of the three had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and only one was hit outside the numbers. The better statistical game goes to Quigley, putting Jones at 7-11 on the season in his theoretical duel with the opposing punter.

On the season, Jones is averaging about 42.5 yards and 4.23 hangtime, with 37% of his punts in the air at least 4.5 seconds and 43% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 42.4 yards and 4.32 hangtime, with 46% in the air at least 4.5 seconds and 53% hit outside the numbers. So Jones is getting the same distance but with a bit less height on his punts. He's also been hitting the ball to the middle of the field more often. By design, I'd assume. As long as I'm making assumptions, I'll make another one. And that is that next week's Super Bowl will be Jones's last game in an Eagles uniform.

The punt snaps for both teams were reasonable. Sub 4.8. Both punters got rid of the ball quickly. Both teams were quick on their place kicks. No issues whatsoever.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times, with an average of about 69.2 yards and 3.81 hangtime. He was also "wide right" on his last kickoff from the fifty when he was obviously trying to put the ball through the uprights. Kai Forbath kicked off only twice (yay!) for the Vikings with an average of about 68.0 yards and 4.22 hangtime.

On the season, the Eagles have averaged about 68.4 yards and 4.06 hangtime vs. 70.2 yards and 3.99 for their opponents. In Elliott's games, it's been 68.7 and 4.10 vs 69.9 and 3.98 for the opponents. Better distance for the other team but more height for the Eagles. I still maintain that Sturgis has the stronger leg, but like Jones, I think he also won't be in an Eagles uniform next year.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance where the standard is about 83%. On the season, postseason included, he's 30 of 35 from distances where the expectancy would be to make 27. So he's plus three, meaning he's earned the Eagles nine points above standard. The average distance of his attempts is 39.9 yards, which has an expectancy of about 80%. So he's about 6% on the plus side at 86% (30 of 35). His Elo rating improved from 2249 to 2252, which ranks 18th in the league. The league average is 2251. The rating of Eagles Opponent remains at 2246. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2422), Gould (2360), Bryant (2351), Gostkowski (2339), and Boswell (2331). The Bottom Five are the still the same.

Only other observation is that Shelton Gibson foolishly ran into the Vikings return man on the Eagles first punt. It was a boneheaded play which cost the team fifteen yards.

April 22, 2020

On 2/12/2018 at 4:03 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Super Bowl victory over the Patriots. Not a whole lot.

Donnie Jones only punted once, for 41 yards and 3.44 hangtime. It was right down the middle of the field. It was not a good punt. The Patriots never punted, so there was never a theoretical 1-on-1 matchup between the punters. I marked it as a tie, putting Jones' record at 7-11-1 on the season. His numbers on the year were 42.4 yards and 4.22 hangtime, with 36% of his punts reaching the 4.5 second mark and 43% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters were 42.4 yards (identical) and 4.32 hangtime with 46% reaching the 4.5 second mark and 53% hit outside the numbers. A definite edge for the other team for sure.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off nine times with an average of about 66.7 yards (nearly two yards deep) and 4.10 hangtime. Stephen Gostkowski kicked off seven times, but the opening kickoff is excluded because it was a line drive kick which didn't have enough hangtime. His six traditional kickoffs averaged about 65.5 yards (just over the goal line) and 4.21 hangtime.

On the season, the Eagles as a team averaged about 68.3 yards and 4.06 hangtime. Opponents averaged 69.8 yards and 4.01 hangtime. Elliott averaged 68.5 yards and 4.10 hangtime. His opponents (which means all the games except for the opener at Washington) averaged about 69.5 yards and 4.00 hangtime. More height for the Eagles, more distance for the other teams.

The snap to foot times on place kicks were normal for the Eagles. If anything, a tad slower than usual. High 1.2s. New England was pretty quick on theirs. Around 1.2, perhaps a touch quicker.

Elliott made all three of his field goals (but missed a PAT yet again...grrrr) from distances where the standard would be to make 2.43 of them. So he was plus 0.57 on the day. On the season, he made 33 of 38 from distances where the standard would be 29.43. So he was plus 3.57, meaning he earned the Eagles about 10.7 points above standard. His average distance attempt was 39.7 yards. The expectancy from that distance is about .805. So his .868 (33 of 38) is .063 to the good. His Elo rating improved from 2252 to 2263, which ranks sixteenth in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents went down to 2229 because of Gostkowski's missed field goal. The Top Five kickers at the end of the season were Tucker (2422), Gould (2360), Bryant (2351), Boswell (2331), and Zuerlein (2330). The Bottom Five are Ficken (2186), Rose (2183), Tavecchio (2179), Walsh (2171) ,and Rosas (2143).

Other stuff:

* Shelton Gibson's coverage on the low Jones punt forced the Patriots returner into a fair catch. Good job by him. Wondering if he ever saw the field otherwise.

* Najee Goode made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Kamu Grugier-hill was flagged for a block in the back on a kick return. It looked like he knew it immediately.

* Pretty good returns by the Eagles (Clement and Barner) on their kickoff returns. No "big plays" but they made positive yardage. Kudos.

* Loved the decision by the Eagles to intentionally kick the ball short on the final kickoff because it would force the Patriots to use time on the clock. Fortunately it worked out even better than that because the Patriots tried a tricky reverse which was stopped at the nine yard line. (I think Al Michaels was off base somewhat in his comment that the reverse used extra time. The return was going to take time regardless. I don't think the reverse ended up costing them more time.) Corey Clement did a really nice job on the play, as he barreled through to knock the returner off balance as soon as he got the pitch. This allowed the rest of the coverage guys to get there. Jaylen Watkins overran the tackle but forced the returner to lose time dodging him. And Bryan Braman made about as secure a tackle as you'll ever see. Reminded me of what I've always imagined Chuck Bednarik's tackle on Jim Taylor looked like. A great play for the Eagles.

* WE WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April 22, 2020

On 2/21/2018 at 2:00 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Current Elo Kicking Ratings -- at end of the 2017 season. A lower rated kicker might have had a better season than a higher rated kicker but that doesn't account for previous history. Incidentally these ratings do not included PATs. If they did, Jake Elliott would surely rank lower. Same for Caleb Sturgis, by the way. There is definitely a bias in favor of kickers who play home games indoors. I believe over time that their ratings will inflate by about 40 points. And Denver kickers ratings will inflate about 70 points.

2422 Justin Tucker (only player to ever crack 2400)

2360 Robbie Gould

2351 Matt Bryant

2331 Chris Boswell

2330 Greg Zuerlein

2329 Matt Prater

2326 Steven Hauschka

2320 Stephen Gostkowski

2319 Adam Vinatieri

2284 Graham Gano

2282 Ryan Succop

2275 Josh Lambo

2268 Dan Bailey

2265 Wil Lutz

2264 Phil Dawson

2263 Jake Elliott

2260 Cairo Santos

2254 Kai Forbath

2248 Cody Parkey

2245 Mason Crosby

2243 Harrison Butker

2241 Randy Bullock

2237 Caleb Sturgis

2235 Chandler Catanzaro

2226 Patrick Murray

2217 Nick Novak

2214 Mike Nugent

2211 Brandon McManus

2204 Dustin Hopkins

2198 Ka'imi Fairbairn

2188 Zane Gonzalez

2186 Sam Ficken

2183 Nick Rose

2179 Giorgio Tavecchio

2171 Blair Walsh

2164 Nick Folk

2143 Aldrick Rosas

Sebastian Janikowski was on IR all season. His current rating is 2267.

Guys who played this past year who were released before the end of the season:

2224 Jason Myers

2206 Travis Coons

2199 Connor Barth

2157 Younghoe Koo

* Just for perspective, David Akers' average weekly rating throughout his career was 2191, which goes to show how much better kickers are today compared to fifteen years ago. When Akers played, kickers almost never achieved ratings over 2300. That's quite common nowadays.

At some point this summer, I'll probably post ratings based exclusively on this past season. I expect Jake Elliott will rank higher there than in this list, although again, that won't account for PATs.

April 22, 2020

On 8/13/2018 at 1:53 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Steelers preseason game. Not going to go into as much as I would for a regular season game.

Cameron Johnston punted seven times, with an average of about 49.0 yards (true distance, meaning from the line of scrimmage to where the ball hit the ground, was caught, or the spot it was marked when flying out of bounds -- bounces do not count) and 4.46 hangtime. One of his punts was a re-do after a penalty wiped out a 68 yard/4.85 effort, his best of the night. His touch-to-toe times looked average-ish. (1.3 to 1.35 seconds.) That's probably one area where he won't measure up to Donnie Jones. My suspicion is that this is something the Eagles have been working with him on, which might explain why, according to training camp observers, he's occasionally shanking some balls. Probably working on mechanical stuff.

Jake Elliott only kicked off three times, with an average of about 70.3 yards (about five yards deep) and 4.52 hangtime. Amazing hangtime numbers. Small sample, of course. But then again, you see that sort of thing on a hot summer night. The ball will travel when it's hot, which is why I was somewhat optimistic when he lined up for that 61-yarder against the Giants last year. It was unusually hot that day, and I was sure the ball would carry.

Didn't look at Rick Lovato's snaps this time. That was something of interest last summer when he was in a battle with Jon Dorenbos. I think I was the only one who actually realized there was actually a competition last summer. I did notice that one of his punts snaps -- the one after the penalty -- was a little low. Johnston had to reach below his knees to grab it.

Other stuff:

* Steelers were flagged twice for lining up over the center on Eagles PATs. It's hard to see what the officials saw, unless they're going to be ridiculously picky about foot placement. It didn't look like the Eagles were lined up any differently on their defensive PATs. Weird.

* Sidney Jones with a kick coverage tackle.

* Corey Clement returned a punt and didn't appear out of place. I liked the way he didn't waste any time with unnecessary lateral movement. He just took the ball and decisively moved forward. He may be a viable candidate this year, although obviously Darren Sproles will be the primary guy.

* Shelton Gibson muffed one kickoff but recovered it quickly enough for a touchback. There was no one around him so he had enough time. Still, it's a little worrisome that he can't field a ball cleanly. I also thought I saw some ball security issues on his other kick return. I have a "fumble vibe" from him. Had that same vibe watching Josh Huff as a rookie, and it ended up becoming a reality.

* Rashard Davis had a slight bobble on on touchback. He returned punts and looked quick footed but didn't really do too much.

* Jeremy Reaves made a nice play on a punt. Secure openfield tackle.

* Stephen Roberts had a diving tackle on a punt.

* Looks to me like there will be more returns on kickoffs this year, which I'm not sure was the intention when they implemented the new kickoff rules. Because of the spacing, the kicking team will probably look to kick it "short" more than in the past, while returners will also have more incentive to return balls that go into the endzone.

* I was at the game, and according to my count, Elliott was 21-of-21 in pregame and halftime field goal practice attempts. Nice.

April 22, 2020

On 8/13/2018 at 6:58 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Here's a statistical look at last regular season. It's a ranking I would call "Points Per Attempt Percentage." For example Greg Zuerlein attempted 40 field goals, making 38. He would have been expected to make 31.4 of those, based on the distances. So he "earned" the Rams about 19.8 points (38 minus 31.4, times three). 19.8 divided by 40 is roughly .494.

Of kickers with at least ten attempts:

1) .494 Greg Zuerlein

2) .482 Robbie Gould

3) .476 Justin Tucker (the best kicker in football)

4) .396 Josh Lambo

5) .378 Graham Gano

6) .374 Steven Hauschka

7) .337 Matt Prater

8) .326 Matt Bryant

9) .291 Cody Parkey

10) .289 Stephen Gostkowski

11) .284 Chris Boswell

12) .267 Harrison Butker

13) .214 Jake Elliott (our hero)

14) .204 Wil Lutz

15) .188 Mike Nugent

16) .167 Kai Forbath

17) .162 Randy Bullock

18) .155 Ryan Succop

19) .152 Chandler Catanzaro

20) .147 Adam Vinatieri

21) .062 Patrick Murray

22) -.009 Ka'imi Fairbairn

23) -.031 Phil Dawson

24) -.044 Dustin Hopkins

25) -.091 Mason Crosby

26) -.091 Giorgio Tavecchio

27) -.091 Dan Bailey (surprisingly low for such a proven quality kicker...was obviously injured)

28) -.136 Zane Gonzalez

29) -.147 Nick Rose

30) -.148 Jason Myers

31) -.156 Brandon McManus

32) -.237 Blair Walsh

33) -.243 Connor Barth

34) -.284 Aldrick Rosas

35) -.484 Nick Novak

36) -.653 Nick Folk

So Elliott ranked thirteenth. If you include the posteason, where he made all seven attempts, his number improves to .282, which would put him at twelfth overall. But he missed two PATs in those games, and those aren't included.

Anyway, somewhere between tenth and fifteenth seems like a fair estimation of the kind of season Elliott had as a rookie. He should get better, but you never really know. Blair Walsh is an example of a kicker who had a great rookie year but tailed off after that. I do find arguments that Elliott is already a "Top Five Kicker" to be ridiculous.

April 22, 2020

On 8/19/2018 at 3:46 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Patriots game (not the one that mattered in early February) stuff. Just a quick look. Not as detailed as the regular season.

Cameron Johnston punted seven times, with an average (usual measuring method which excludes bounces and rolls) of about 47.4 yards and 4.33 hangtime. His two game average is now at 48.2 yards and 4.39 hangtime. For comparative purposes, Donnie Jones's averages the past five preseasons were 47.7/4.67, 45.4/4.40, 44.0/4.62, 47.2/4.51, and 43.7/4.53.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times, including one kick from midfield. He averaged about 70.3 yards and 4.14 hangtime. His two game average is now at about 70.3 yards and 4.30 hangtime.

Elliott attempted three PATs and doinked one off the upright for a miss. From that distance, he's expected to make about 2.7. It's distressing how often he's blowing short kicks. Four years ago, fans thought that was important but apparently no one really seems to care anymore.

Other stuff:

* Shelton Gibson had one nice kickoff return, displaying a strong burst off of a change-of-direction cut. Looks like he likes to hold the ball exclusively in his left hand when he runs. Perry Harrington used to do that too.

* Kamu Grugier-Hill had a very secure openfield tackle on a punt. With Bryan Braman (definitely) and Chris Maragos (likely) no longer on the roster -- and Trey Burton for that matter -- he figures to be the top special teams player this year.

* Thought there was some protection vulnerability on the Eagles first PAT attempt. The Pats defender got through the snapper/left guard gap for easy penetration. Kind of alarming actually.

* Corey Graham made a diving shoestring tackle on a kickoff.

* Bryce Treggs showed some upfield burst on a kick return. Unfortunately he suffered an injury later which will probably prevent him from making the roster.

* Rashard Davis was a disaster on punt returns. He lunged awkwardly fielding one punt (and got away with it), lost about fourteen yards running backwards to his own goal line trying to be DeSean Jackson, and ran backwards on his next return too. And on yet another return, his initial step was in reverse. I have a feeling this is an ingrained habit that he's unlikely to ever break. You can't have that. Simply can't see him making the team.

* A couple of Lovato's punt snaps looked a little high. Around the helmet. This, a week after he sent one back down below Johnston's knees. Not really worried about him though.

April 22, 2020

On 8/26/2018 at 2:10 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Browns game. Very little special teams action because of the lack of scoring and the amount of turnovers.

Including the free kick after the safety (which I always count as being a punt from the thirty), Cameron Johnston punted five times for an average of about 49.8 yards and 4.31 hangtime. He also pinned the Browns inside the ten on his one punt from near midfield. In the three preseason games, he's averaging about 48.6 yards and 4.37 hangtime. Distance is good but I would expect a little more height. Only six of his nineteen preseason punts have had at least 4.5 hangtime. But overall, I would say he's been fine this preseason. The panic that surrounding him during training camp seems to have been averted.

Jake Elliott only kicked off once, for about 64 yards and 4.06 hangtime. In the three preseason games, he's averaged about 69.5 yards and 4.27 hangtime on his kickoffs. Good numbers.

Elliott missed his only field goal attempt from 33 yards out. Including extra points, he's had four kicking attempts this season with an expectancy of making about 3.6 of them. Instead, he's only made two. Pretty bad. I had been comforted a couple weeks ago at the Steelers game when I witnessed him making every single warmup kick. Kinda figured, okay, he seems to have put the uncomfortable misses behind him. Wondering slightly (and it's probably a stretch) if perhaps Johnston didn't spin the laces on the hold. It's hard to tell. And it's probably shifting blame quite a bit to make that assertion.

Other stuff:

* Kamu Grugier-Hill and LaRoy Reynolds combine to make the tackle on the opening kickoff. Good job by both of them.

* Was pleased with the play of DeAndre Carter in the punt return game. I thought he fielded the ball confidently and with good form and balance. He got under the ball and didn't lunge, which is something that Rashard Davis did the week before. He also had a pretty good return down the sideline. He's definitely making a push for a roster spot.

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