Could Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen throw a ball further than Matt Araiza can punt one?

Could Buffalo Bills’ Matt Araiza punt further than Josh Allen can throw?

In the 2021-22 college football season, Matt Araiza earned the name “Punt God” based on his lead-filled leg, as he was able to shift field position for his team just about every time he punted.

Thankfully for Araiza, the longest punt per season is a stat that’s tracked. It helps Araiza that this is the case, but unfortunately for Josh Allen, passes aren’t the same. A quarterback could throw a football six yards and have the receiver take it 80 yards, but that’d count as an 86-yard pass.

It’s a weird concept, but it’d be worse to only count a quarterback’s yards thrown through the air.

Back to Punt God.

In Araiza’s final season at San Diego State, he had five punts travel more than 70 yards.

Now, his first season in 2020 wasn’t much, as he only punted five times– in one game– with the longest punt of 58 yards. Not bad at all, but certainly not 70+ yards.

Something to note, too, is that these long punts had some help from this thing called “the roll.”

Once a punt from Araiza hits the ground, it had a tendency to roll for extra yards.

In the video above, Matt Araiza begins his punt at the 0.5-to-1-yard-line, and the punt hits the ground for the first time at the other 23-ish yard-line.

So, for those doing math at home, that punt had a flight distance of around 67 yards, which is far different from the 86 yards promoted.

Now, to be fair, if it just mattered how far the ball traveled in total, Araiza and Allen would have a great battle. That being said, I don’t see Araiza beating Josh Allen in total yards traveled through the air.

Josh Allen’s arm is only getting seemingly stronger, so– while Matt Araiza’s left leg is incredibly impressive on its own– Josh Allen’s arm wins on this one. With time, similarly to Allen, Araiza could build up the leg strength to beat him eventually, but as of now, Josh Allen’s arm is just too strong.