IRISH ANALYTICS BRIAN FREMEAU
backed up against the wall, and the
offense for capitalizing on favorable
field position on its next drive.
Newsome's punts don't officially
register any points on the scoreboard,
but my calculation method distrib-
utes value to each unit that impacts
field position and leverages scoring
opportunities. Notre Dame ranked
15th nationally in overall punt value
generated last season, producing an
average of a tenth of a point per kick.
That isn't a huge value overall, but
that's because most of those punts are
relatively routine flips of the field that
generate almost no value at all. Every
punt that stops inside the opponent's
10-yard line can generate an addi-
tional 0.5 points of scoring value for
the punting team when it gets the ball
back. For potent offenses like Notre
Dame, it can be even more valuable.
If the Irish find themselves in
tightly contested games this fall, the
difference may actually come down
to fractional advantages generated
by players like Newsome. He may
not get MVP accolades in a narrow
win over a top opponent, but if his
leg helped set up the Irish defense
and offense for success, perhaps he
should. ✦
Brian Fremeau of ESPN/Football
Outsiders has been a statistical
analyst at Blue & Gold Illustrated
since January 2015. He can be
reached at bcfremeau@gmail.com.
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