WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Ethan Evans said it's common for opposing punters to approach him after games, asking how he boots his end-over-end punts so far down the field. It's because of his unusual proclivity for the weight room.
Last year, the Rams punter went viral on social media for squatting 585 pounds for two reps… during the season. When he went into the team meeting later that week, head coach Sean McVay asked Rams director of strength and conditioning Justin Lovett, "why is our punter squatting 600 pounds?" Evans recalled on Rams Revealed this week.
"Lovett just looks at him and goes 'big squats, big kicks.' And (McVay) was like 'touché my friend.'"
Evans' big leg and added variety in his punts have increased his accuracy and touch, helping the Rams' punt unit become one of the best in the NFL this season. Evans leads the league in punt rate inside the 20-yard line (54.7%) and the 10-yard line (24.5%), ranks third in punts inside the five (11.3%) and fifth in touchback percentage (3.8%), via TruMedia.
"Maybe he's not squatting as much," McVay said with a laugh. "He has a little bit more touch on these punts. No, I was joking with him about that earlier. I think overall, just the consistency at which he's hitting the ball and understanding the intent (has improved)."
In reality, Evans' leg strength has been a major factor in his success this season. When Evans was a kid growing up in North Carolina, he was a field goal kicker. He said there wasn't enough money to hire trainers, so he would just "kick harder than everybody else," because he knew his technique might be lacking. Last season, the power he'd built up over time served him well, as he executed mostly spiral punts, which travel and bounce further downfield.
In the offseason, he and special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn were trying out different types of kicks. He was hitting 50-yard end-over-end punts, which is extremely far because that type of punt creates more air resistance than the spiral. They did a test run in the preseason game against Houston and have stuck with it when they need to pin the ball close to the end zone.
"I had worked on (end-over-end punts) before, but not to this extent," Evans said. "I mean this year, I work on them every day just trying to improve on our distance, direction and hang time."
His routine is the same every single day. He goes out to practice early, hits a few one-step punts to see how the ball is flying, then goes into full punts, directionals and then the team punt period.
"I try to keep it as simple as I can," Evans said.
That wasn't always the case, though. At Division II Wingate College, Evans was transitioning from kicker to punter and said he would often get "super nervous." In his junior year, he figured out that keeping things simple and his mind blank was the best approach.
"Kicking is you take your two steps and you kick the ball, and hopefully it goes where you want it to go," Evans said on Rams Revealed. "… Keep everything simple. Don't think about it too much. Just keep it low key, have a good time and just go out and do what you gotta do."
Credit must also go to the gunners, Jordan Whittington and Xavier Smith, who have aggressively downed punts and tackled returners in close quarters. For two offensive players, their tackling and timing has been fantastic on special teams.
No matter how good Evans' punt is, those guys have to be on the same page as the rest of the unit. Before the play, Evans communicates how far and wide each punt is supposed to go, and where on the field it should end up.
"Just run a straight line as fast as you can and once you get to 50 yards look up," Evans said. "I just kind of make it clear-cut and dry for them."
Having players as physically gifted as Whittington and Smith on both sides is a gift. Even if he does shank a punt or get a bad bounce, he knows Whittington, who said gunner is now one of his favorite positions in football, is "going to be down there to make a sweet recovery."
End-over-end punts can also be more difficult to field, which caused a muff by the Jets near the end of the game in Week 16. As usual, Whittington was right there to pounce on top of it, icing the game for Los Angeles.
For Evans, everything is about simplicity, whether it's the message to his gunners, training approach or mindset before a punt. So, "big squats, big kicks" was a pretty accurate summation of his style by Lovett.
