The Tennessee Titans hit a grand slam when they signed punter Ryan Stonehouse as an undrafted free agent our of Colorado State last spring.
Remarkably, there were five punters drafted last April but he was not one of them despite being arguably the best collegiate punter in America. This type of league-wide ignorance resulted in a steal for the Titans as they seemingly have a generational punter on their hands.
Tennessee’s rookie is on pace to break the single-season record that Sammy Baugh has held since 1940 for the highest gross average yards per punt over an entire NFL campaign.
Stonehouse is averaging a whopping 53.02 yards per punt this season, nearly two whole yards more than Baugh’s record-setting average of 51.40 yards.
On top of this historic gross average, Stonehouse (44.02) is also well on pace to break Rigoberto Sanchez’s (42.64) rookie record for the highest net average yards per punt.
.@_RyanStonehouse chasing all kinds of records for the #Titans. pic.twitter.com/30RxlqHc2m
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) January 5, 2023
He needs four 60-plus-yard punts to break the single-season rookie record for the most in that category. That milestone is probably unlikely to be topped, but at worst, Stonehouse will finish his rookie campaign with the second-most 60-yard bombs in NFL history.
Needless to say, the Titans’ impressive punting legacy is in good shape for the foreseeable future.