Tress Way likes to joke that he’s a bit of a thief. In nearly a decade as an NFL punter, Way — like many others in the league — has taken parts of others’ games to boost his own.
Just for kicks, Commanders’ Tress Way borrows a few tricks
Guys such as former Baltimore Ravens punter Sam Koch and the Miami Dolphins’ Thomas Morstead, widely regarded as two of the best at the position.
Guys such as Brett Kern, the former Tennessee Titans standout whose drop influenced Way’s.
“Brett Kern was the punter for the AFC in the Pro Bowl the year I went [in 2019],” Way told reporters during training camp. “On his jersey he asked me to sign, I said: ‘Hey, Brett, thanks for your drop. I stole it and made the Pro Bowl. Tress Way, #5.’ [Washington special teams coordinator Nate Kaczor] really encouraged me a lot to just see what guys do really well and try to blend it with what you do well.”
Way jokes, but since he arrived in Washington in 2014, that blended style has helped him become one of the Commanders’ most valuable players.
To casual fans, the punt team jogging onto the field may be a signal to head for the concessions or take a bathroom break. But in Washington, where quarterback turnover is all but an annual tradition and the offensive struggles run deep, Way’s punting often has been a difference-maker.
“It’s not just standing out there on the driving range and hitting drives,” Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots coach and a noted lover of punting, said in 2012. “A lot of it is situational punting: punting relative to the rush, punting relative to the team’s return tendencies or to where to give your gunners better opportunity to make the play, backed up, plus-50, end-of-the-game situations or end-of-the-half type situations, with wind and field conditions and all that. Probably less than half the punts, for most teams, the punter can just punt it high and long — just stand out there on the driving range and bang it away. There’s another high percentage of plays, I would say over 50 percent, that involve some type of situational punting.”
In his nine seasons with the Commanders, Way has punted 609 times, the second most in the league over that span, and has landed 25 of them inside the 5-yard line (the third most). He and defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Chase Young are the only players on the roster to have earned a Pro Bowl nod with Washington. And this year, as the team’s longest-tenured player, Way is working on a career season featuring a 44.7-yard net average.
But perhaps his finest skill is one that has been steadily honed. Way is one of the NFL’s top directional punters, a skill that only a handful have mastered and, by Way’s estimation, roughly a third of the league utilizes.
Instead of always just swinging for a booming kick down the middle that puts significant trust and responsibility on the coverage team, Way can launch the ball outside the numbers on either side of the field — without giving away his intended direction before it leaves his foot.
The Commanders emphasize directional punting, so much so that Kaczor and assistant Ben Jacobs grade each of Way’s punts. If he places the ball down the middle or near the hashes, he gets a poor grade.
“A great one would be outside the numbers,” Way said, “because the returner is bottled up in a little area.”
Like a golfer, he can dictate where the ball lands with only subtle changes to an operation that lasts roughly two seconds.
Way’s accuracy can pin returners in the far corner of the field so his coverage team has the benefit of using the sideline as an extra defender. He also can launch the ball similar to how a baseball pitcher throws a cutter — so the ball dips late or falls to the side, making it tougher to catch.
Take his 43-yard punt against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. The ball floated to just outside the numbers on the right side. Returner Amari Rodgers muffed it at the 20-yard line as Washington’s coverage team closed in. Washington recovered, setting up its first scoring drive.
“My most common punt is a punt that does not turn all the way over,” Way said. “It kind of rides flat. And when it rides flat, it can either turn over and go further, or the bottom will fall out and it’ll cut down to the side. I punt that way on purpose when I’m trying to punt it to the right. So against Green Bay, it came falling out that way, and he bobbled it.”
Way’s ability to punt to either side with the same effort took time — and challenges from his coaches. Former Washington special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica, now with the Minnesota Vikings, told Way earlier in his career that he wasn’t living up to his potential.
“I think it was going into the 2018 year,” Way said. “He looked at me dead in my eyes, and he said: ‘Your production does not match your talent. You got to find a way to get to that next level.’ And that, to be frank with you, really pissed me off.”
That was the year Way started to punt to both sides of the field.
When Kaczor arrived the following season, he pushed Way to make his punts going left as routine as those going right.
“I don’t even think about punting left anymore,” he said. “It took a long time to get there.”
The full punting operation is an exercise in details and mind games. The hang time, the distance, the location — all can determine whether a punt is successful. So, too, can the wind and game circumstances, the way the punter catches the snap, the way he drops the ball and the way it leaves his foot.
“By the time that ball snaps, my teammates are banking on me putting that ball over there,” Way said. “Anytime I can get it around 4½ seconds of hang time or higher, and I like to be somewhere around 45 or 50 yards numbers-ish or outside, it’s game on.”
Consistency is paramount, and it comes primarily from repetition. Way now has specialty directional punts, such as his “screamer” that sails 60 to 65 yards, low and away from the returner. He used it against Minnesota in 2019, punting the ball 63 yards to the right. The Vikings’ returner struggled to track the ball because of its spin before it landed outside the numbers.
“Other than that, I’m kind of boring,” Way admitted.
Way suggests he’s boring because he doesn’t have any tells with his punts. He also is consistent, and consistency is paramount in punting.
“Because the feel, the rush, the snap — everything comes into play,” he said. “But your ability to catch the ball, mold it and drop it while moving that line, it really takes some commitment. It takes some nerves.”
And sometimes a bit of thievery.
Source: WP
