By John Turney
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| Ryan Stonehouse |
The things cannot be looked at in a vacuum, it is interesting to note that there was a punter that got more Associated Press (AP) First-team All-Pro votes than Ryan Stonehouse and two others who got as many but it was Stonehouse's Second-team votes that secured his spot as the AP Second-team punter.
Under the old format, there were no Second-team votes. Voters simply filled in their ballots and the player with the most votes was the First-teamer and the one with the second-most was the Second-teamer. Simple.
This year, AP voters were asked to pick a First-team and a Second-team and the votes were weighted—three points for being on the First-team and one point for being on a voter's Second-team and were tallied in that manner.
At the punter position, Kansas City's Tommy Townsend received 28 First-team votes (worth three points each) and 16 Second-team votes (worth one point each) for a total of 100 points and was the First-team All-Pro punter, and rightfully so. He led the NFL in net punting with a 45.6 net average per punt which is the second-best all-time.
Tress Way, the Commanders punter, and the NFC Pro Bowl selection got three First-team votes but just two Second-team votes so his total score was eleven.
A.J. Cole of the Raiders had two First-team votes and sixteen Second-team nods for a total score of 22. The Panthers punter Johnny Hekker also secured two First-team votes but had just six Second-team votes for a total score of twelve.
Cole, Hekker, and Stonehouse had the same number of First-team votes but Stonehouse appeared on 39 ballots as their Second-team choice which gave him a weighted vote total of 45.
Logan Cooke of the Jaguars rounded out the voting with one First-team vote and two Second-team votes for a score of four.
In previous seasons Townsend would have been the First-team punter and Tress Way the Second-teamer and the rest would have been honorable mentions but the new format leapfrogged Stonehouse into the Second-team position.
Stonehouse had a great rookie season. He set a new NFL single-season record holder for gross punting average at 53.1 besting Sammy Baugh’s 1940 mark of 51.4 and it was capped with being voted Second-team All-Pro by the AP.
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| Sammy Baugh |
Still, the Second-team spot was not enough for Titans fans who think he was snubbed by AP voters (and the Pro Bowl voters as well) if you read social media, especially Twitter.
However, the so-called snubs were likely the result of the more nuanced punting stats like net punting which Stonehouse was fourth.
Oddly, the ones who may be calling foul may be fans of Michael Dickson who didn't get a single Second-team vote, he was second in net punting average. One would think he'd have gotten some support in the All-pro voting.
Stonehouse's Inside-the-20 to Touchback ratio was 3.3 to 1, which is below the NFL average of 5.2 to 1 if that is something the AP voters even look at. Sometimes it seems at least a handful of them simply check gross average and fill in that name but less now than in previous generations.
Overall, Second-team All-Pro is kind of fitting (if not generous) for Stonehouse's record-breaking season. The record is acknowledged but does not unfairly rob Townsend of his truly great season, which by some accounts would be at minimum a top-ten all-time season, all factors considered.
The NFL punting leaders chart—
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