In MyFootballNow, special teams have traditionally been the plays where owners put in their expendable players, in order to avoid injuries to their starters. With only one play option available for each type of ST play, strategy for these situations has been limited. We don't have to worry about fakes or alternate formations or roughing the kicker. With the huge impact that these plays have on the game, I reckon it's time to shake up that tradition. I'm planning a series of posts on special teams strategy, starting with ...
THE PUNT“I emphatically believe that the punt is the most important play in football!” - George Allen
"The punt is a one-play series" - Joe Tressel
When everything goes right, the punt can be the most boring play in football. Usually ... the punter kicks the ball high in the air, another player fair catches it. The end. Or ... the ball crosses the goal line, touchback. The end. Sometimes we do get a little variety. The single returner doesn't get into position, or just lets it bounce - and the coverage team downs the ball.
But ... things don't always go right in football ... and what are the rewards available to a team that knows how to create and deal with those situations? At the least, they gain a huge field position advantage. If a punting team can pin their opponents deep, it multiplies the possibilities for their own defense to create a turnover or at least end the possession without a score. A good return shortens the field, which makes it tremendously easier for an offense to score. If the return team can block the punt and/or score, it's devastating.
The objectives of a punt team include preventing a punt block; getting off a good, deep, & accurate punt; and then getting to the punt returner as fast as possible, in order to prevent a return, or (hopefully) recover a fumble. So, since strategy is limited to overriding positions, and most positions require both defensive and offensive skills (Pass Block before the punt, Run Defense after), let's look at the positions and the skills they require in my scheme.
Punter - There are three skills significant to the punter - punt strength, accuracy, and timing. Speed and defensive skills are nice to have for last man back situations, but his primary responsibility is always the actual punting.
- We all have a pretty good idea what punt strength is about. Big deep kicks for a high average punt distance.
- Accuracy is the ability to place the football within an optimal range, like BETWEEN the 15 yard line and the goal line (avoiding a touchback). Those are the punts that can significantly affect the final score. When reviewing stats at the end of a game, I'm much more impressed by a high percentage of punts inside the 20 than I am by a long punt average.
- What about timing? Timing is the ability to kick BEFORE A BLOCK, while giving the rest of the team enough time to get downfield into coverage. Low timing skill (below 60) can result in high opportunity time (over two seconds) for a punt block, and significantly contributes to almost all blocked punts.
Bullets (Gunners or Ends in some terminologies, but almost everyone on my punt team is a Gunner somewhere on my deep depth chart, and there are too many positions called End already) - the outside guys who run down the field and "close the net" on the return man. They should be the first defenders to reach him. So what's important? SPEED. You want the fastest defensive players on the team here - preferably CBs, but Safetys or even OLBs could do the job if they are the fastest. What else is important? In order - Run Defense, Acceleration, Strength, and Tackle; skills and abilities that contribute to getting past the blockers and stopping the returner. (Strip Ball is nice to have here as well.) These guys are double-teamed by return blockers. Just remember, tackle won't matter if they never get there. If they are significantly faster than the return blockers, almost every punt will result in a fair catch.
Wings - Line up 1-yard deep on both ends of the LOS, outside of the tackles. The primary punt block threat in MFN is at the end of the LOS, not up the middle. These guys are not necessarily Gunners. Their primary responsibility is not return coverage. They block the punt blockers. What skills do they need? Speed, Pass Block, and Acceleration. I typically use RBs or fast FBs here. Sometimes a WR or TE will work. A full-sized lineman will not be fast enough to deal with the outside threat.
Not having players with the right skills in the Wing positions ... significantly contributes to almost every blocked punt.Personal Protector - the last line of defense for the punter. Again, needs to be fast with Pass Block skills. Acceleration and Strength are also important. On my teams he typically also covers up the middle to the right of the snapper, so Run Defense and Tackle are helpful. I typically put my best overall athlete here, regardless of his regular position.
Snapper - a C or TE with good Long Snapping skill. Speed helps in coverage.
Guards - The primary threat to the punter is from the outside. The line isn't fluid enough to open a significant gap for a block. Some players with run defense skills need to close the return lanes and provide inside coverage. I typically use fast RDEs or LBs here.
Tackles - Who I use here depends on my opponent. An owner that knows how punt blocks work in MFN will sometimes set up to double-team the Wings. The Wings typically block the inside threat, unless they have help. So against a team that punt blocks, Tackles provide that help - Pass Blocking and Speed are primary (OTs). Against other teams, its coverage - Speed and Run Defense (LBs or Safetys).
I briefly mentioned it above - I've found that Strip Ball can be a more effective skill on punts than during the rest of the game, and forced fumbles certainly have a bigger impact when they happen on punt plays, so don't ignore it.
In conclusion - the only position that always uses defensive players in my punt scheme are the Bullets (DBs). They are only responsible for coverage. The only positions that strictly use offensive players are the Wings and Snapper. The Wings block, the Snapper snaps. After that, they are welcome to help with coverage as their ability permits. The search for the right skill sets for punts and other ST plays has led into exploration of OoP play and cross-training, but that's another topic, already being addressed in other threads.
Last edited at 10/28/2019 8:32 pm
