Tom Hackett’s masterful power and control earned the admiration of Utah fans and national media attention, culminating in his winning the 2014 Ray Guy award. Stats for punting don’t do justice to Hackett’s dominance. A handful of new metrics to measure punting illuminate just how special he was in 2014.
Tom Hackett’s basic numbers suggest that he was one of the best punters in the nation in 2014. He ranked 3rd in yards per punt and 3rd in yards per game. These stats are the only traditional measures that exist to evaluate the skill of a punter, and they don’t do justice to the many facets of an expert rugby-style punter like Hackett.