In 2006, Mat McBriar blew everyone away with his 48.2-yard average. He
followed that up in 2007 with an equally impressive 47.1-yard average.

After suffering a season-ending leg injury in 2008, McBriar has returned with
an average of "only" 46.4 yards per kick. But that only tells part of the story.
His net average has increased to 41.7 yards per punt, which is the best in his
career. Consider these numbers:

2004: 42.4 average; 35.1 net yards per punt

2005: 42.5 average; 37.1 net yards per punt

2006: 48.2 average; 38.6 net yards per punt

2007: 47.1 average; 38.5 net yards per punt

2008: 49.0 average; 38.8 net yards per punt

2009: 46.4 average; 41.7 net yards per punt

On top of that stat, McBriar has also downed 17 of his 30 punts (56.6%)
inside the opponent 20. He ranks third in the league in total punts downed
inside the 20. No other punter has placed a higher percentage of punts inside
the 20, though. In fact, the only other punter who has placed more than half of
his punts inside the 20 is Cleveland’s Dave Zastudil, who has downed 25 of 49
punts.

McBriar’s best season in terms of punts inside the 20 was 2005, when he had
28 of these punts. At his current rate this season, he will finish with about
39.

Consider this: McBriar’s replacement last season was Sam Paulescu, who averaged just 41.8 yards per punt with a net average of 35.2 yards per punt. In fact, in the ten games in which he appeared last season, Paulescu had a net average of more than 40 yards in only one game.