“The Standard Is the Standard”: Packers Punter Raises His Bar — and Vows Not to Go Back to Old Habits
The first preseason night rarely defines a season. But in Green Bay, after Sunday’s practice, Rich Bisaccia’s words rang like an alarm bell: “The expectation is the standard is the standard… he has set the standard now. So he has to play above that at all times.” Expectations aren’t wall slogans. They’re weekly yardsticks—the line between keeping your job and clearing out your locker.
From “Flashy” to “Effective”: When Net Is the Truth
In 2024, Daniel Whelan left numbers with plenty of room to grow: 46.1 yards gross, 39.6 yards net, ~39.3% Inside-20. For a team built to play January football at Lambeau, net—the true distance after return and avoiding touchbacks—is the strategic reality. Every touchback burns hidden yards; every ball pinned Inside-10/20 suffocates a drive at its birth.
Against the Jets in the opener, Whelan launched six punts, averaging 52.0 yards, with a long of 63, one Inside-20 and one touchback. It’s a small sample, but a reminder of the ceiling—and of the harder assignment: sustainability.
Whelan’s Promise: Live Above the Standard, All the Time
“Coach said ‘the standard is the standard’—I know exactly what that means. I’ve set a bar for myself and for our special teams. From now on, every punt has to be above that bar—no going back to old ways, no backsliding. I want to give our defense the hidden yards they deserve.”
It isn’t flowery. It demands habits: reading Lambeau winds pregame, choosing sideline landing spots, using Aussie-style spin to force fair catches, and opting for fair catch or purposeful out of bounds. The internal mantra is simple: NET > GROSS.
Special Teams Is an 11-Man Equation
A “good” punt isn’t just a leg. The long snapper sets the tempo so Whelan can shape the spin; the gunners seal edges and funnel the returner; the coverage unit keeps lanes and kills cutbacks; the play-call chooses the wind-favored side. Whelan can stick one at the I-8, but if a gunner is half a beat late, the net evaporates. That’s why Bisaccia sets a standard for the unit, then anchors accountability to the last man to touch the ball.
A New Standard Has to Be… Repeated
Targets for the coming weeks:
-
Net ≥ 42.0 yds/game
Touchbacks = 0 (only acceptable on emergency 60+ yarders to midfield)
≥ 2 Inside-20 & ≥ 1 Inside-10 per game
Hang time ≥ 4.4s (≥ 4.6s when aiming to the boundary)
Returns ≤ 8 yds/punt, prioritizing fair catches/OB
These rarely make headlines, but they translate directly into deeper opponent starts, higher 3-and-out rates, and short fields for Green Bay’s offense—the small edges that decide January football.
What It Means for the Packers: A Quiet Weapon in Lambeau’s Wind
With young playmakers and unforgiving winter games, field position becomes a quiet weapon. A disciplined punt unit turns contests into uphill climbs for opponents: start deep, make a mistake, give it back. If Whelan truly “lives above the standard” as demanded, Green Bay won’t just have a solid punter—they’ll have a strategic anchor.
At day’s end, the headline doubles as the season’s frame: “The standard is the standard.” The rest—playing above it, every time—starts with the very next punt.
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