Thomas Morstead, NY Jets, Ranking, Stats, Contract, Age
Thomas Morstead, NY Jets, Getty Images

Thomas Morstead is tearing it up for the New York Jets

When the New York Jets scooped longtime Saints punter Thomas Morstead off the street in Week 2 to fill in for the injured Braden Mann, all they were hoping to get was competency while they waited for Mann to complete his four-to-six-week recovery timetable for a knee sprain suffered in the season opener.

But they’ve gotten much more than that.

A weekly ranking of punters shared by the Twitter account Puntalytics features Morstead as one of the NFL’s most effective field-flippers through six weeks of play.

The leaderboard is concocted using the metric “Punter EPA (estimated points added) per punt above expected,” which essentially calculates the true field-position value of each punt when adjusting for various factors.

Morstead ranks fourth-best with an average of just under +0.2 EPA per punt above expected, trailing only New Orleans’ Blake Gillikin (his replacement), Detroit’s Jack Fox, and Las Vegas’ A.J. Cole.

The location of each punt is a huge variable that goes into this metric. Compared to when punting from their own 10-yard line, punters cannot gain as much net yardage when punting from, say, the opponent’s 45-yard line. This metric compares each punt to the league-average expectancy of punts from that exact location, giving us a more accurate read on a punter’s impact than raw yardage totals.

Thanks largely to Morstead, coordinator Brant Boyer‘s Jets special teams unit is ranked as the NFL’s eighth-best overall group according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric.

Morstead was selected by the Saints in the fifth round of the 2009 draft out of SMU. He would play 13 seasons in New Orleans, winning a Super Bowl as a rookie and quickly establishing himself as one of the better punters in the league. His career average of 46.5 yards per punt ranks seventh-best in NFL history.

New Orleans released Morstead in March 2021. The 35-year-old punter remained on the open market until the Jets snatched him in September.

Mann’s injury against the Panthers occurred just over five weeks ago as of Wednesday, Oct. 20. Considering that he remains on injured reserve, his recovery timetable of four to six weeks suggests that his return could happen next week as long as he is on schedule.

New York will have some interesting decisions to make at the punter position once Mann returns.

Audio Version available to members only: Learn more here

Download Jet X Mobile on the App Store and Google Play.

Want More NY Jets News & Jets X-Factor Content?

Download the free Jet X Mobile App to get customizable notifications directly to your iOS (App Store) or Google/Android (Google Play) device.

Add Jets X-Factor to your Google News feed to stay up to date with the New York Jets.

Follow us on Twitter @jetsxfactor for all the latest New York Jets news, Facebook for even more, Instagram for some of the top NY Jets images, and YouTube for original Jets X-Factor videos.

Join the official Jets Discord community to connect with likeminded fans.

Michael Nania is one of the best analytical New York Jets minds in the world, combining his statistical expertise with game film to add proper context to the data. Nania scrapes every corner, ensuring you know all there is to know about everyone from the QB to the long snapper. Nania's Numbers, Nania's QB Grades, and Nania's All-22 give fans a deeper and more well-rounded dive into the Jets than anyone else can offer. Email: michael.nania[at]jetsxfactor.com - Twitter: @Michael_Nania
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Gary Berman
Gary Berman
1 year ago

Morstead has been very good but you have to go with the Younger Mann.