3 things to know about new Giants’ punter Jordan Stout

Among the many problems the New York Giants have had in recent years, punting was low-key a nagging one. Jamie Gillan did a decent job for the Giants for four seasons, but despite his “Scottish Hammer” nickname, he didn’t have many booming punts, and unless I’m imagining it, he seemed to save his worst efforts for key times late in close games.

That’s now changed as the John Harbaugh era begins. The Giants signed former Baltimore Ravens’ punter Jordan Stout to a contract expected to be the highest

in league history for a punter, three years and $12.3 million, per Adam Schefter. Compared to the $27 million per year contract Harbaugh’s former center just signed with Las Vegas, this is chump change, but it does signal a philosophical change for the Giants – valuing special teams play. That shouldn’t be surprising considering Harbaugh’s early background as a special teams coordinator.

What are the Giants getting in Jordan Stout?

One of the highest-drafted punters in recent years

Stout was drafted in the fourth round in the 2022 NFL Draft. Only one other punter has been selected that high since 2019. At Penn State he developed a reputation for booming punts. Others punted farther, but Stout’s reputation was that his punts were not often returned and did not often wind up in the end zone for touchbacks. He also handled kicking duties for the Nittany Lions, making 34 of 36 extra points in 2021 but only 16 of 23 field goals.

Stout was the first punter off the board despite the presence of the unorthodox “punt God,” Matt Araiza, who went in Round 6 of that same draft. Araiza and other punters had higher average distances on their punts, but Stout had the highest PFF grade among punters because he only allowed 15 returns for 41 yards all season, with only 3 touchbacks.

Stout was a work in progress as a Raven

Stout’s reputation at Penn State obscured the fact that he was a relatively inexperienced punter when he was drafted. Stout only punted for the second half of the 2020 season and only the one full season, 2021, before entering the draft.

Perhaps his lack of experience showed in his performance as a Raven. Stout did not stand out as an elite NFL punter his first three seasons. It’s hard to assess punters strictly from their stats, because so much of punting is situational, but his first four years in the NFL do not stand out statistically from one another:

Nor do they impress among the stats of other punters – Stout had the third lowest PFF grade among starting punters last season. However, he was fifth in yards per attempt (50.1), third in net yards per attempt (44.9), and third best in return yards (158). That was good enough for him to be selected to his first Pro Bowl, and more importantly, to his first 1st team All-Pro, so apparently the league was impressed.

Stout’s (not so secret) weapon: The boomerang

That 50.1 yards per attempt is nice, but it’s not why Stout flips the field on so many of his punts and why he was voted All-Pro. Per Sam Cohn of the Baltimore Sun:

What he’s doing, more often than not, is called a boomerang kick. And it’s the reason he’s playing his way into a payday this offseason.

Stout recently tried explaining what the boomerang kick is. He held out one finger to trace the flight path of the ball, shooting it off his foot up to the sky. It curls back like a ribbon and plops at the far end of the field. Stout’s finger shivered, mimicking the way the football dribbles in unpredictable ways.

Special teams coordinator Chris Horton likened the punt to a helicopter propeller spinning violently above the field. “You don’t know where that ball’s going to land,” he said. Stout can hit the ball three times in a row, long snapper Nick Moore said, and “the ball does three different things in the air.” 

Every punter in the NFL has at least two kicks in his arsenal: the traditional spiral, with a flight path similar to any Lamar Jackson deep ball; and an end-over-end, which glides like a wheel.

The boomerang keeps opposing teams guessing. It forces returners into making a judgment call.

The bottom line is that the Giants are betting that Stout will be an upgrade over Gillan in the things that matter – the end results of punts. Here’s a comparison of the two from last season:

The things that stand out in that regard are Stout’s much better return yards and yards per return, almost twice as many downed punts without a return, and the drastically lower number of fair catches. Perhaps this season, fans will finally find something good to say about the windy and unpredictable conditions at MetLife.