So, your league voted to add punters. How the heck do you set scoring for punters? IDP+ is here to guide you through this difficult position and contend with some choices as commissioner.
How Does Scoring Work?
Not every platform supports punters, but a few do: MFL, ESPN, and FleaFlicker. There’s no true standard in punting scoring, but there are a few paradigms floating around.
Balanced Scoring:
- 1.5 pts – punt attempt
- 1 pt – within 20 yards
- 1 pt – within 10 yards (in addition to within 20 yards)
- -1 pt – touchback (note: MFL doesn’t have a metric Touchback)
Generally, the simplest scoring method where performance is mostly centered around the punter.
Amongst the top 10 players, you should expect ~9 pts/wk (142 pts/season). The next 10 players, ~7.5 pts/wk (118 pts/season). The next 10 players, ~6.4 pts/wk (98 pts/season).
ST Premium Scoring
- 1.5 pts – punt attempt
- 1 pt – within 20 yards
- 1 pt – within 10 yards (in addition to within 20 yards)
- -0.1 pts/yd – return yards
Almost equally balanced with Balanced Scoring in terms of expected scoring per player tier, but uses an alternative to touchback (return yards).
Amongst the top 10 players, you should expect ~8 pts/wk (122 pts/season). The next 10 players, ~6.3 pts/wk (98 pts/season). The next 10 players, ~5.4 pts/wk (82 pts/season). This format will allow several negative points throughout the year for some punters.
Punter Premium Scoring
- 1.5 pts – punt attempt
- 1 pt – within 20 yards
- -0.1 pts/yd – return yards
- 0.01 pts/yd – yards punted
Weighting the punter’s performance can provide some more disparity amongst the top tiers compared to the other two methods. Some specialty leagues consider 0.1 pt/yd for yards punted (or use a net punt yards metric), which would weigh these scores considerably higher.
Amongst the top 10 players, you should expect ~9 pts/wk (146 pts/season). The next 10 players, ~8 pts/wk (120 pts/season). The next 10 players, ~6.5 pts/wk (98 pts/season).
Other metrics
Some other metrics exist, depending on the platform:
- MFL: Punts Returned, Punts Had Blocked, Number of Punt Return TDs, Long Punt Returns of 40+ Yards, etc.
- FleaFlicker: Average Yards Per Punt, Punt Net Yard, Blocked Punt, Average Punt Return Yard Allowed, etc.
- ESPN: Punts Returned, Blocked Punts, Fair Catches, Punt Average (different tiers)
Also, note that despite the 2024-25 season NFL changes to kickoffs, punting remains the same. There are no fair catches in kickoffs anymore, but there are fair catches in punts.
Thank you for reading this article written by Richard Latham! Go and follow him on X here! Read more great content at IDP+!
