Kickers and punters for HOVG?

[Bryan]

Of the top 11 single season yards per punt seasons, nine of them are by punters who were active in 2016, and 20 of the top 25 all time yards per punt seasons have occurred since 2007. One has to wonder the reason for the increase, if it is due to the fact that punters just punt full time, or a combination of improved conditioning and medical innovations, or a combination thereof. I often have people tell me they would never let their sons play football, and I always tell them if their kids have an interest in it, try to steer them toward being a kicker or punter. They suffer the least wear and tear and minimal risk of concussions.

This is just a theory, but I think the increase might be due to NFL teams not really punting once they cross midfield. Kickers are very accurate on anything less than 50 yards, and coaches routinely let their kickers try 50+ FGs. I think in the past, those long field goal attempts would be 'coffin corner' punt attempts, with the shortened field hurting the punter's overall average and the ball bouncing into the endzone hurting the net average.