Former Cal Punter Bryan Anger Delivering an NFL Season For The Ages

Ahead of him on both lists is Tennessee’s Ryan Stonehouse, who averaged an NFL-record 53.1 yards per kick as a rookie last year and exactly matched that this fall before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in early December.

No other punter in the history of the NFL has enjoyed a season as productive as Anger.

His 51.4-yard average — with one game to play — equals the mark that stood for 82 years as the league’s single-season record. Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh, known primarily for his quarterback exploits, punted for a 51.4-yard average way back in 1940.

No one topped that until last year when Stonehouse burst onto the scene.

Anger’s 44.9-yard net punting average — which factors in punt returns — leads the NFL.

Ten years older than Stonehouse, Anger is aging well. As one of 15 punters ever to kick for 50 yards a try in a season (all of them since 2008, except Baugh’s big season), he has placed 17 punts inside the 20-yard line and allowed just two to go into the end zone for touchbacks.

Because the Cowboys are so prolific offensively, Anger has punted just 44 times in 16 games this season — 24 fewer times than he did in 2022. As a second-year player with Jacksonville in 2013, Anger punted an NFL-leading 95 times.

He has been remarkably consistent this season, including nine games where he averaged at least 50 yards. He posted a 59.3-yard average against Miami and a 58.7-yard mark vs. Carolina, and only once has averaged under 45 yards in a game.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell named Anger his second-team All-Pro punter, giving first-team honors to the Raiders’ AJ Cole, who is fourth in the NFL with a 50.0-yard average on 71 punts for a team with a less-prolific offense

An outfit called puntalytics ranks Anger atop the NFL this season in extra points added (EPA), a metric that attempts to judge a punter’s overall value to his team.

Anger ranks eighth all-time in career punting average at 46.8 yards. In 192 games, he has punted 828 times for 38,789 yards, equivalent to more than 22 miles. Exactly 300 of his 828 punts — or 36 percent — have been downed inside the 20-yard line.

He was a Pro Bowl selection and a second-team All-Pro pick in 2021 when he averaged 48.4 yards. Good from the start of his pro career, Anger averaged 47.8 as a rookie with Jacksonville, which chose him in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. He led the league at 47.5 yards in 2014.

Anger went on to play for Tampa (2016-18) and Houston (2019-20) before landing in Dallas. In three seasons with the Cowboys, he’s averaging 49.1 yards per punt.