New Orleans Saints 2016 season recap: Thomas Morstead

Veteran punter turns in another outstanding season

Jan 25, 2017 at 02:27 AM

John DeShazier

Senior Writer

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There were areas of unevenness among the New Orleans Saints' special teams units for a good portion of the 2016 season.

Thomas Morstead wasn't among them.

The eight-year veteran only continued to solidify his status as the best punter in franchise history. Relieved of his kickoff duty full-time for the first time since he joined the Saints, Morstead was healthy and it showed: a 48.3-yard gross average (tied for second-best of his career), 42.4 on his net average (fourth-best in his career) and 22 of his 57 punts downed inside the 20, the second-highest total of his career.

In several games, Morstead was the glaring bright spot for the Saints on special teams. He's the longest-tenured punter in franchise history, with good reason.

BEST GAME:The Saints dropped a tight road game to the Chiefs in Kansas City, a 27-21 decision Oct. 23 in which they fell just short. Morstead, though, didn't come up short whatsoever. He punted four times, and all four were inside the Chiefs' 20 (Kansas City attempted one return, for no yards). Morstead's gross and net averages were the same, 48.3 yards, with one punt out of bounds, one downed by the cover unit and one fair caught.

BEST QUOTE: "It seems easy when you ask a punter to hit a direction. It'd be like us trying to hit a draw off the tee to the right side of the fairway. I'm not ever thinking that. I'm thinking stay in bounds and don't break a window. But when you look at a punter, to actually hit the distance and some of the location marks he's hitting, it's a big plus for us." – **Saints Coach Sean Payton

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