3 Reasons why Cleveland Browns adding big-boot punters is pointless

3. Punters kick to coverage

Shockingly, teams figured out that if they placed a really fast guy who can catch on the opposite end of the field from the punter that they could have that guy catch the ball and run toward to the kicking team’s end zone. This brilliant idea changing punting forever.

To negate teams simply catching the ball and running with it, someone had to figure out how far a punter can kick the ball in conjunction with two other fast guys on his team. The idea was two fast guys would run down the field and stop the other team from catching the ball and running it back.

But to make this work, the punt distance had to equal the amount of time it takes for a player to run down the field. Who could be so smart as to figure this out? Enter Cleveland Browns legend Paul Brown.

Brown figured out that, given how the ball was kicked, the ball could travel roughly 40-yards in roughly four to five seconds. The goal was to minimize the damage a punt returner could do by only punting the ball forty yards and having a player right there to make the tackle. But to do this, you have to have players that can run down the field fast enough to arrive just as the returner was catching the ball.

So, Brown began timing all of his players running 40-yards as fast as they can. He needed to know who could cover punts and who could not. This 40-yard dash has become the standard for gauging speed in the NFL ever since.

But this means the punter must kick the ball only as far as the coverage guys can run and arrive as the ball is being caught. The faster the defender can run, the further the punting can punt the ball.

By kicking to the speed of one’s coverage, Brown was able to minimize his opponent’s ability to return the ball. Inversely, he was able to maximize the distance a punter can punt the ball before giving the opposing team a chance to gain the yardage lost on the punt back.