RENTON, Wash. — Leonard Williams never thought much about punters before. Their fourth-down act was one of formality to him — a sign that he and his defensive teammates had either done their job or were about to take the field.

But then he got traded to Seattle and was introduced to the robust right foot of Michael Dickson.

"It was an unexpected surprise," the Seahawks defensive end said. "I don't think I've ever paid attention to that position too much, but because he's so great at it, it kind of makes you pay attention to his job more. You also notice how much of an impact he has on the game, which I never noticed before."

Exhibit A of that impact came last Sunday against the Cardinals, when it was unclear if Dickson was going to play until game day. He did. And his punts were as integral to the Seahawks' 30-18 win as any pass, sack or interception.

His first was a 51-yarder to the Arizona 5 that should have been an instant tackle if the coverage didn't misplay the angle. His second was downed at the Cardinals 5. His third was a 58-yarder taken from the Cardinals 8 to the 16, and his fourth — a 48-yarder — went out of bounds at the Arizona 2 with 10:42 to play and the Seahawks up by nine.

The YouTube account IsaacPunts quickly put out a video calling his game "an MVP punting performance," and the stats and eye test back it up.

Was that one of the best games of your career?

"No, it was a good game," Dickson said. "I hit all of them how I wanted to hit 'em, so that's nice."

When you've been one of, if not the best punter in the game for the past seven seasons, this is the expected reply. There's a reason Seahawks general manager John Schneider used his fifth-round pick on the Australian in the 2018 draft.

Since then, Dickson has had a couple of legendary moments — the impromptu, fourth-quarter first-down run vs. Detroit in 2018 that became known as the "Aussie Sweep," and the double kick vs. the Rams in 2021, when he recovered his own blocked punt and boomed it 68 yards to L.A.'s 11. His primary contribution has been his reliability, though. Doesn't miss games, rarely misses punts.

"I think probably the first thing that comes to mind is just his consistency," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said.

And this might be his most consistent season to date. That's what Pro Football Focus suggests, at least, as the analytics site gives Dickson a monster grade of 92.8 this year, by far the best Dickson has had in his distinguished career.

Usually, if you talk analytics with a player they don't, or at least pretend not to know how they're being evaluated. But Dickson actually downplayed PFF's grade, citing past discrepancies with the site.

"So they don't really account for some of the punts I do," Dickson said. "So like, I try and hit punts where I purposely hit them as low hang time as possible, and I have asked them before about how they grade that and they don't, because they don't know when I hit a low-hang-time punt. So I probably just hit less of those punts this year."

That wasn't an attempt to paint Dickson as a downer or complainer, but rather to highlight that, yes — he does pay attention to what people are saying. Or, at least he used to.

Do a Google search for the NFL's best punter, and Dickson's name will usually pop up near the top. Despite this, he has just one Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro nod — both of which came his rookie season.

How much do you think about that?

"There have been years where I thought that I missed out, and it took me a while to process it," Dickson said. "Now I'm just like — it's not really important to me at all. After a few where you feel like maybe you deserved it and don't get it, I don't really want to stress about it anymore."

The primary concern is what is taking place between the lines, where Dickson has regularly delivered this season. One punt not included earlier came against New England in September, when he knocked one 58 yards to the Patriots' 8, which flipped the field and allowed a three-and-out to become a Seahawks' field goal at the end of the half. Crucial in a 23-20 overtime win.

And that was an outdoor punt. Dickson will be the first to tell you that he prefers to kick indoors — even if Lumen Field doesn't offer that luxury. He mentioned how part of the reason for his success against the Cardinals last Sunday was that he was in "a controlled environment."

Are you envious of the indoor punters?

"Oh yeah, I love playing indoors," he said.

But above all, he just loves punting.

Over the years, Dickson has made a habit of writing notes on his wrist on game day — a mixture of technical and mental cues. Among them is "control you" — a reminder that factors such as weather, unfortunate bounces and coverage are beyond him.

Well, he has been in control. To the point — and this isn't an exaggeration — he is controlling games.

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