Needing a new punter last year, the Rams used a seventh-round pick on Ethan Evans out of Wingate, a small Division II school in North Carolina. There wasn’t much known about Evans when he was drafted, other than the fact that he had a huge leg and he could deadlift 770 pounds.
That powerful leg didn’t translate to much success when he was a rookie in 2023, struggling to pin opponents deep and keep the ball out of the end zone. He had the eighth-most touchbacks (7) last season and only downed 20 of his 64 punts inside the 20. The Rams allowed 495 return yards on Evans’ punts, which was the second-most of any punter.
It was a combination of bad coverage and Evans out-kicking his guys without much hangtime, giving returners far too much room to run.
Fortunately, things have been different this year. Much different, in fact.
Evans only has one touchback all year, tied for the third-fewest of any full-time punter. Of his 23 punts, 12 of them have been downed inside the 20, an impressive rate of more than 50%. And when it comes to returns, only nine of his kicks have been returned for a total of 86 yards – a testament to the hangtime he’s generating and the coverage of his gunners.
Quietly, Evans has been one of the Rams’ most improved players of 2024. His PFF grade of 74.7 ranks 13th in the NFL and though his net average of 41.8 yards per punt isn’t among the league leaders, it’s partly because he hasn’t had the room to boom longer punts.
Through Week 8, P Ethan Evans (@EthanEv01980980) leads the league in percentage of punts landing inside the 10-yard line (30.4%), is tied for third in number of punts landing in 5-yard line (five), and is fifth in number of punts landing inside the 10-yard line (seven). pic.twitter.com/WsxBVp2BPE
— Los Angeles Rams PR (@TheLARamsPR) October 31, 2024
Evans was especially good against the Vikings last week, pinning two punts inside the 10-yard line at the end of the first half and late in the fourth quarter. The Vikings didn’t move the ball at all on either drive, in part because of how well Evans did to put them in a tough spot in the shadow of their own goal line.
Sean McVay has loved what he’s seen from his second-year punter, giving him a game ball for his performance against Minnesota.
“I think Ethan Evans has been a real bright spot,” McVay said. “We don’t like to punt. We like the punt as little as possible but when we’ve had to, especially in some of those short fields, he’s done an outstanding job of pinning opponents deep.”
Punters don’t get a lot of credit for the work they do, but Evans has played a part in the Rams ranking 12th in the NFL in opponent starting field position (own 29.1-yard line).