Paul Bretl | 10/2/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Oftentimes the punter position can go unnoticed–that is unless things are going either really poorly or really well. For Packers second-year punter Daniel Whelan, he has had several game-changing moments already just four games into the season.
“I think he’s a guy that we were really encouraged about a year ago and you just continue to see the work that he’s put in, how serious he is about his craft, and he continues to get better and better and better,” said Matt LaFleur.
On his 13 punt attempts, Whelan is averaging 47.9 yards per return with a net of 42.1 yards. Nearly half of those attempts have pinned the opponent inside the 20-yard line, only two have been touchbacks, and just 30.8 percent of those punts have been returned. Whelan also has an average hangtime of 4.79-seconds–the second best mark in football.
However, going beyond just the raw numbers. Whelan has come through in some critical moments as well. In Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts, without Jordan Love, Whelan had three punt attempts and pinned the Colts inside their 20-yard line on all three kicks. This included flipping the field position with a booming punt when the Packers were backed up in their own territory and another near the end of the game that pinned Indianapolis inside their own 10-yard line, forcing them to drive the length of the field in the final minute.
“It’s a huge weapon,” said LaFleur. “When you look at the times that we had to use him, the first punt was inside the 10, the second punt flipped the entire field – it was a 59-yarder with unbelievable hangtime. And then the last one, to pin the guy down on the 5-yard line, you couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”
Then in this most recent game against Minnesota, down 28-0 with halftime approaching, Whelan again let out a booming kick with the Packers backed up in their own territory. The combination of the hang time and distance Whelan put on the punt made it difficult to field, resulting in a muffed punt attempt that Bo Melton was able to recover inside the Vikings 10 yard line. The Packers offense then scored a touchdown a few plays later.
“He can boot the ball really well,” said Melton after Sunday’s game. “As flyers, it’s our job to get the returner down and make sure he gets all the yards he can. Having the time to run like that, it’s our job to help him and have him be the best in the league. We all know he’s super talented. We just have to do our job.”
The version of Whelan that we see right now started to emerge over the second half of last season. Like many young players, the more reps that Whelan got, the more he improved. From Week 10 on in 2023, in many of the key punting categories mentioned above, Whelan ranked in the top 10 among all punters. This included all three of his punts in the Packers Wildcard win in Dallas pinning the Cowboys inside their own 20-yard line.
Physically, Whelan bulked up during the offseason. As Mike Spofford of Packers.com noted, Whelan said he put on 7-8 pounds of muscle and now weighs in at 236 pounds–20 pounds more than when he first arrived in Green Bay.
From the technical side of things, it was evident from the first time that we saw Whelan kick in practice last spring that he had the power, but what needed refining were the nuanced aspects of being a punter in the NFL, which can include directional kicking, managing the wind, being in-sync with the fliers, along with having different gears depending on what part of the field you’re on.
“He did a lot of work both off-seasons,” said Rich Bisaccia about Whelan’s progress. “He was with Mike Scifres and Nick Novak out there in San Diego, spent a lot of time with those guys that had played in the league a long time. Mike played a long time. So he’s really worked extremely hard at his craft, not only in season what he’s done over the last year and a half with us, but what he’s done in the off-season to perfect his drop and his hang and his ability to direct to the football. So he’s a player on the come and we’re excited about the direction he’s going.”
As LaFleur says, he hopes that the only time Whelan has to step on the field is to be the holder on extra point attempts–another area where he has been extremely reliable for this Packers team–but that’s also not realistic either. Punts will happen weekly, however, having a player of Whelan’s caliber leading that operation can have a big impact on the game, as we’ve seen early on this season.
“I’d just say I’m more confident in game in all aspects,” said Whelan. “Confident in what I set out to do. Like, I have a plan before I go out there instead of just like let the moment get to me. I just conquer the moment, basically.”