A statistic that measures that distance beyond the line of scrimmage that a punt travels before it is fielded by an opposing player, downed by a member of the kicking team, or enters the end zone. Despite the fact that the punter stands several yards behind the line of scrimmage during the punt, the yardage is only measured from the line of scrimmage onward. This allows an analysis of how much the field position changed on the play.
The main reason punt yards are measured on a play is to determine how effectively the punter is kicking the ball downfield. If a punter is collecting many yards each time they punt, their defense is more likely to benefit from excellent field position. Some teams will choose to measure "net yards", which measures the amount of yardage from the line of scrimmage to where the ball is eventually spotted for the next play, subtracting touchbacks and returns from their total yardage. This shows where the offense is actually taking over, rather than merely the total distance from scrimmage the punter can kick the ball.