LOU HEDLEY 2023 SEASON ANALYSIS:
The Saints embraced a new style of punting this season bringing in a former Australian rules football player out of the University of Miami Lou Hedley and entrusting him with the starting job. The 30-year-old Hedley would play in all 17 games in his debut season, punting the ball 75 times for 3,224 yards (43.0 yard average) with a net of 2,981 yards (39.8 yard average). Hedley recorded 31 punts inside the opponents 20-yard line, tied for the fifth highest total in the NFL and the second highest total in a single season in franchise history. The former Australian rules football player also minimized return yards effectively as the Saints allowed the league low 5.6 return yards per punt.
BEST GAME OF LOU HEDLEY'S 2023 NFL SEASON:
While there are a couple of games that the case could be made for, Hedley in the Week 9 game against the Chicago Bears punted four times for a 164 yards (41.0 yard average) with none of the kicks being returned and three of them landing inside the Bears' 20-yard line, including one 44-yard effort that went out of bounds at the 2-yard line, the worst starting field position for a Saints opponent on the season.
BEST QUOTE OF LOU HEDLEY'S 2023 NFL SEASON:
"I think once I committed to go to junior college in San Francisco, kind of leave my life behind — I had a pretty good job working in construction as a scaffolder — so leaving that all behind, family, friends, the life I had there, once I did that, I think there was no looking back."
- Hedley on what the biggest turning point was leading to his football career
Check out photos of New Orleans Saints punter Lou Hedley in action throughout the 2023 NFL season.