Kickoff returns

[ShotgunDawg]

This should be a good discussion.

Hearing that Holloway & Redmond are running first team kickoff return, Smokey & Brown running 2nd team, & Gray & Myles running 3rd

Fire away

[Irondawg]

i thought it would be some combination of Smokey, Graham, Gray

[RAYn_Man]

i thought it would be some combination of Smokey, Graham, Gray

Smokey = Graham I thought?

[Dawg Corps]

Smokey = Graham I thought?

This is correct.

[Irondawg]

Smokey = Graham I thought?

yeah, I meant Myles instead of typing Graham there

[klong-dog]

No, can't stand the thought of Redmond back there. Need him anchoring down the top opposing WR all year. Also, I'm sure he's a nice kid but Holloway is not the answer as a return guy. He runs timid and quite frankly don't blame him, being that size and the hit Christian Jones landed on him 2 years ago. I'd give it to Gray and Myles, maybe try out Bryant and Graham.

[chef dixon]

I like Myles in this spot. He's good at making one nice cut and using straight line speed without messing around. Also want to see Gray just based on the fact everyone on this board has been on his jock all offseason.

[Todd4State]

I like Myles in this spot. He's good at making one nice cut and using straight line speed without messing around. Also want to see Gray just based on the fact everyone on this board has been on his jock all offseason.

Well, with Gray it's just about utilizing him better. From what I have heard Gray is still learning our offense to a degree- so putting him in at KR/PR gives him a chance to help us and contribute while he is developing.

[maroonmania]

This should be a good discussion.

Hearing that Holloway & Redmond are running first team kickoff return, Smokey & Brown running 2nd team, & Gray & Myles running 3rd

Fire away

I personally don't like that. I'm fine with Holloway but I don't really want our best CB getting possibly hurt on a KO return. Would rather see Donald Gray there who I thought was a return demon in JUCO. Myles, Smokey or Brown I'm fine with as well. Redmond is just too valuable a commodity in our secondary.

[starkvegasdawg]

I personally don't like that. I'm fine with Holloway but I don't really want our best CB getting possibly hurt on a KO return. Would rather see Donald Gray there who I thought was a return demon in JUCO. Myles, Smokey or Brown I'm fine with as well. Redmond is just too valuable a commodity in our secondary.

I agree. Redmond has already missed enough of his college career. Don't need to risk the rest of it on kickoffs.

[thf24]

Not a big fan of Holloway back there... even though he's fast he hasn't proven particularly shifty or elusive, and you've usually got to make one or two guys miss for a big return no matter how well your blocking sets up. I'd like to see Smokey and either Gray or Myles. Keep Redmond safe as has already been said.

[FISHDAWG]

wasn't it Fred Ross that took over late last season / - I thought he did pretty good and he's not even in the discussion

[Leroy Jenkins]

wasn't it Fred Ross that took over late last season / - I thought he did pretty good and he's not even in the discussion

That was punt return.

[FISHDAWG]

That was punt return.

thanks for correcting the brain fart

[thf24]

wasn't it Fred Ross that took over late last season / - I thought he did pretty good and he's not even in the discussion

He took punts. He probably just falls way down the kickoff list when considering that consistently fielding the ball isn't nearly as critical on kickoffs as punts. Either that or the coaches don't want an offensive starter also on two different special teams units.

[SallyStansbury]

I have a more specific question for the coaching types.....do we run a completely generic/ineffective blocking scheme on kickoffs? Because the easy thing to do is single out Perkins or Johnson or whomever and say, those guys should not be returning kickoffs, because they shouldn't, but are we doing something else wrong? Is there a larger strategic problem?? Perhaps talent on the kickoff team?

This should be a good discussion.

Hearing that Holloway & Redmond are running first team kickoff return, Smokey & Brown running 2nd team, & Gray & Myles running 3rd

Fire away

[CadaverDawg]

Awful. I don't mind Redmond back there, although I agree about injury risk, but why can't we go ahead and put a bullet in this Holloway experiment? Jesus, the guy isn't SEC caliber. Hell, we supposedly play him because of his incredible speed, yet if anybody noticed the Iron Dawg board, he's not even one of the fastest guys on the team. And he's terrible at KO return. He never gets to top speed, and has no acceleration. Put Gray and Graham back there, and end this bullshit Holloway experiment already.

[ShotgunDawg]

Awful. I don't mind Redmond back there, although I agree about injury risk, but why can't we go ahead and put a bullet in this Holloway experiment? Jesus, the guy isn't SEC caliber. Hell, we supposedly play him because of his incredible speed, yet if anybody noticed the Iron Dawg board, he's not even one of the fastest guys on the team. And he's terrible at KO return. He never gets to top speed, and has no acceleration. Put Gray and Graham back there, and end this bullshit Holloway experiment already.

THIS

I agree that Redmond would be good on kickoff returns, but we have talent. Between Smokey, Gray, Myles, Bryant, Peters, Mixon, & Dear we have similar options as Redmond that we aren't relying on be one of the most important players on our defense.

Why can't we use our talent?

[CadaverDawg]

THIS

I agree that Redmond would be good on kickoff returns, but we have talent. Between Smokey, Gray, Myles, Bryant, Peters, Mixon, & Dear we have similar options as Redmond that we aren't relying on be one of the most important players on our defense.

Why can't we use our talent?

Exactly.

And if we're fine with putting a guy like Graham in on punt returns as a freshman in SEC games...why not put Peters back on kickoffs as a freshman? He may not be ready to start on defense this year, but why waste a year of that talent?...stick him back there on kickoffs and let the playmaker make plays. That's my opinion.

It's things like Holloway and Robert Johnson being kick returners, that make it still possible to get pissed at a coach that leads MSU to a 10-2 season. To be such a great coach, how can you make terrible decisions like that, and Never learn from them? Even after failed kick return after failed kick return.

I mean, if that's the worst thing he does, that's fine..but it's just a really easy fix, and could help us tremendously with field position. Kick return is a crucial part of the game...it's not a reward for the best practice field heroes. We need a game breaker returning kicks....and we have several. And none of them are named Holloway.

/end rant

[SallyStansbury]

It's things like Holloway and Robert Johnson being kick returners, that make it still possible to get pissed at a coach that leads MSU to a 10-2 season. To be such a great coach, how can you make terrible decisions like that, and Never learn from them? Even after failed kick return after failed kick return.

I would say, "Give him a chance to prove you wrong....he may change" but IfYouOnlyKnew is one stubborn dude. IfYouOnlyKnew would tell you that a return right up the gut to the 17 yrd line every time is not a failure......you and I might disagree.

The answer, I am afraid, is to have our talent overshadow Dan's stubbornness and predictability. We have that in a QB and it worked well for us most of time last year, except the last three games. I can't explain Holloway, unless he is really good at following orders...."catch it, run straight up the middle as fast as you can with no variation." The others I bet don't follow orders as well as Holloway. Who knows, it is troubling, but like you said, if that is our worst problem and we can win 9-10 games we should probably shut up.