What Is a Gunner in Football?

Aug 23

2 min read

Updated: 5 hours ago

A gunner is a wide player on the punt coverage team. His job is to beat the return team’s blockers, reach the catch area quickly and help prevent a return. Standard punt units commonly use one on each side.

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A gunner is the wide punt-coverage player whose first job is to beat the blockers at the line, sprint down the sideline and reach the returner before a return lane develops. Most punt units use one gunner on each side.

Speed matters, but arriving under control matters just as much. A player who outruns the kick or interferes with the catch can turn good coverage into a penalty.

Win the release

The return team’s outside blocker is often called a jammer. One or two jammers may try to delay the gunner at the line. The gunner uses speed, footwork and legal hand technique to escape.

In NFL punt formations, the eligible end players have different downfield release rights from interior ineligible players. Our punt release guide explains why some coverage players can leave immediately while others protect before the kick.

Arrive with useful leverage

The gunner needs to approach according to the punt’s direction and the coverage call. Often that means protecting an outside escape route and turning the returner toward teammates. It does not mean every gunner takes the same path on every punt.

Early arrival can force a fair catch or make a returner hesitate without producing a tackle in the box score. Near the goal line, a controlled coverage player may also help keep the ball from reaching a touchback result.

Respect the catch opportunity

Getting to the ball first does not permit contact that interferes with a receiver’s protected opportunity to catch it. A fair catch signal adds specific consequences, but catch interference protection does not require every receiver to have signaled first.

If a returner muffs the live ball, the gunner may have a recovery opportunity. That is different from simply being first to touch an untouched punt beyond the line.

The sideline is another responsibility

A gunner leaving the field must follow the scrimmage kick rules for returning and touching. Do not assume that coming back in erases everything that happened outside the boundary.

On television, start with the widest kicking player at the snap. Follow his release, path and approach to the returner. That sequence often explains why a punt produced a short return, a fair catch or a costly foul.

When blockers hear the returner’s Peter warning, they clear the loose punt. A gunner still needs to track any touch and secure the ball legally.