Saints punter Lou Hedley struggling mightily so far in rookie season
The New Orleans Saints made plenty of notable decisions this past offseason. They signed quarterback Derek Carr to a four-year deal. The Saints grabbed veteran running back Jamaal Williams. New Orleans moved on from long-time kicker Wil Lutz in favor of rookie Blake Grupe. One of their other major moves does not get as much […]
The New Orleans Saints made plenty of notable decisions this past offseason.
They signed quarterback Derek Carr to a four-year deal. The Saints grabbed veteran running back Jamaal Williams. New Orleans moved on from long-time kicker Wil Lutz in favor of rookie Blake Grupe. One of their other major moves does not get as much discussion as these, though.
The Saints chose rookie Lou Hedley to be their punter. Accordingly, the team moved on from Blake Gillikin, who had punted for them for the past two seasons.
Gillikin's first year with the team was incredibly impressive. He was a top five punter in the NFL by most metrics. Last season was a bit rough for him. You could call it a sophomore slump.
The Saints felt like their best decision was to roll with the rookie in Hedley rather than Gillikin after his struggles a season ago.
Now, they may be regretting that choice. Hedley has been among the worst punters in the NFL so far early in his NFL career.
The Saints punter is the only punter in the NFL currently averaging less than 4.3 seconds of hang time per punt. That stat comes from NFL Next Gen Stats.
Hedley is also tied for first in 'punts returned' (15). That's not a positive statistic for a punter, either.
Gillikin is now with the Arizona Cardinals, but he is not their starting punter.
No matter what – the choice to go with Hedley over other options could come back to cost New Orleans in a big way.
Special teams are the least talked about aspect of the game, but flipping the field with a punt can win a game in the NFL. Keep an eye on Hedley to see if he can improve over the course of the season.
