In his first year in the league, New Orleans Saints punter Matthew Hayball was an extremely effective weapon for the Saints. In fact, you never want to see your customer.
Unfortunately for the Saints, they saw Hayball a lot. Fortunately for the Saints, however, Hayball often delivers. Punts aren't typically highlight plays unless it's a punt return, but Hayball regularly puts opposing offenses in difficult situations.
Hayball placed 27 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line. No other player has done it more times in 11 games. More impressive is the percentage of punts he places inside the 20-yard line. 57% of Hayball's punts were inside the 20.
If you focus too much on yards per punt, you might think Hayball struggled. He ranks 31st in the NFL, which can be a misleading statistic. You don't want to make a 55-yard punt when you're just out of field goal range. It is wrong to judge a bettor based solely on how far he pushes on average, as a bettor does not always use his entire leg. Accuracy is key in this situation.
Punts that land inside the 20-yard line also don't tell the whole story, but are a better metric to measure effectiveness. But even if he's effective, let's hope we see less of Hayball over the last six weeks – that would mean the Saints finishing more drives with points than punts.