New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead has been named the special teams Player of the Year by Pro Football Focus, an analytics driven website.
Morstead, who finished his 10th season with the Saints, punted 50 times in the regular season and playoff, fewest in the NFL. The SMU product led the NFL in net yard average, PFF grade, and average hang time. From the PFF article announcing the honor:
"We go beyond the box score with things like hang time, location, and the type of punt all going into each grade. Standard stats can lie, or at least skew the perspective of punters somewhat, but when you see a player like Morstead ranking as the best in the league in net yards and average hang time, it's a safe bet that his PFF grade is going to be up there too."
You can learn more about where Morstead grew up, Pearland, Texas, in our Hometown Saints photo essay.
