The Tennessee Titans found themselves a diamond in the rough in 2022 undrafted free agent punter Ryan Stonehouse, who had a record-breaking rookie campaign.
Stonehouse and his rocket launcher of a leg led the NFL with 53.1 gross yards per punt, smashing the 82-year-old record held by Sammy Baugh, who posted 51.4 gross yards per attempt all the way back in 1940.
If there was one knock on Stonehouse’s season it was the fact that he wasn’t great at angling punts to trap opponents deep, leading to more touchbacks and better field position for opponents.
As a result, Stonehouse finished with 44.0 net average yards per punt, which certainly isn’t bad but wasn’t the best in the NFL, ranking fourth. Whether unfair of not that stat was likely behind his being snubbed for an All-Pro nod.
Stonehouse has been busy working on that aspect of his game this offseason and so far he’s showing improvement, per special teams coach Craig Aukerman.
“Ryan has been ‘unbelievable’ this offseason,” Aukerman said Wednesday. “We’ve seen improvement and consistency from him with hang time and distance, direction.”
Aukerman went on to say that Stonehouse being exactly the kind of accurate sniper Brett Kern was isn’t necessary, but they would like him to get the ball in the general “vicinity” of where it needs to go.
“We’re not asking him all the time to be the directional punter that Brett Kern was, because there’s not many guys that have ever done that like Brett Kern,” Aukerman said. But if he can get it in the vicinity of what we’re looking for, we’re happy about that. So, he’s been really focusing on that, and doing a good job, too.”
Stonehouse is already a special talent, but if he can at least approach the level of accuracy Kern was able to reach during his career, the Colorado State product has a legit shot to be one of the best ever.