Not all punts are created equal, and nor are all punters, or for that matter, special teams coordinators. All of those variables, plus the opponent, the weather, and the coverage unit all factor into a team’s approach to any given punt, on top of the game situation and field position.
That’s why it’s wise not to read everything into pure gross averages, because teams that don’t move the ball as well are likely to have more long punts. Conversely, teams that do move the ball are more likely to be punting from near midfield or so.
A punter averaging 38 yards per punt could be better than one averaging 48 if you’re not contextualizing the numbers. And for Pittsburgh Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith, he knows that he has a good one in third-year man Pressley Harvin III.
“He’s still a young player. It’s just a level of consistency. He’s become more consistent. He’s a very good player. He really is”, he told reporters yesterday, via transcript provided by the team’s media department. “And when you watch other people in the league, you see those things, and he’s become more consistent, and again, he got his weight down. He’s becoming a pro”.
You don’t often talk about weight, certainly not losing weight, when it comes to punters. Many of them tend to be rather on the scrawny side, but not Harvin, who is built closer to a linebacker than your average specialist—a linebacker with more of a gut.
The Steelers were attracted to his 6-0, 250-plus-pound build when they drafted him in the seventh round in 2021 out of Georgia Tech. He had a rather awful rookie year in what I can only imagine was the most tumultuous year of his life dealing with multiple personal tragedies, but it is true that he has become more consistent and grown professionally in the intervening years.
“He really has and it’s starting to show, but it’s got to be all the time”, Smith said. “That’s just the world we live in and that special teams world we live in. When it’s a one-play series, we don’t get a redo. We don’t have a second down to make up for it…He’s matured”.
Harvin is putting up career highs nearly across the board, averaging 46.1 gross yards per punt and 41.3 net yards. His 41 percent of punts inside the 20 are comfortably his best figure, and his touchback percentage is better than last season.
Compared to league averages, he tends to rank just that—squarely average. His percentage of punts inside the 20 does rank 11th in the league, as does his touchback rate, but he ranks 23rd in gross punting average and 19th in net yards.
His 2023 and 2022 seasons respectively, however, rank first and second in team history for the highest net punting average in a single season. That excludes Corliss Waitman, who averaged 42.6 net yards per punt in 2022, but on just seven punts over two games. Of the five seasons of 40-plus net yards per punt in Steelers history, all belong either to Harvin or the man he beat out for the job, Jordan Berry.
