Punt Returns this weekend.....Fred or Trying out others??

[Kosydawg]

Anyone heard plan for punt returns moving forward? Might be a good weekend to rotate several guys back there....

[ShotgunDawg]

I think you go back to Jameon if he is healthy.

[Political Hack]

Fred will be back there on safe returns for sure, but will likely just fair catch it.

[Kosydawg]

Figured they wouldn't even consider bringing Jameon back in the mix until Bama....

[chef dixon]

Jameon was never good at punt returns, and now he's coming off an injury/slump I think its a bad idea.

[Political Hack]

Figured they wouldn't even consider bringing Jameon back in the mix until Bama....

I wouldn't think so either. not worth it until be can go full out at WR.

[Kosydawg]

Should be a lot of punting this weekend so maybe will be a rotation/tryout.....

[ShotgunDawg]

Again, I wouldn't want to throw him back there now, but Gabe Myles' skill set seems perfect for kick and punt return. Hopefully he develops into that role

[CadaverDawg]

Fred Ross. Period.

[Todd4State]

We should/will hopefully have the luxury to try some guys out there. This is a good time to get Graham's confidence back for next year by letting him get a punt or two. But I would let Fred Ross be the PR the rest of the year.

[HoopsDawg]

We don't get any yards on our returns anyway so might as well put somebody back there that can catch it. Fred Ross returned punts in HS and looked good against Arkansas so give him the reps and get him some more experience before Bama. If he muffs one, go to RoJo.

[ShotgunDawg]

We don't get any yards on our returns anyway so might as well put somebody back there that can catch it. Fred Ross returned punts in HS and looked good against Arkansas so give him the reps and get him some more experience before Bama. If he muffs one, go to RoJo.

I agree.

I don't really see anyone returning punts anymore. The entrance of the rugby style punting and teams putting more importance on the hange time rather than distance, has basically taken this play out of the game.

Sure you may see a 5-10 yard return every now and then, but, on the whole, teams basically get no yardage.

To make matters more clear for us, we have an elite offense in college football. There is no expected amount of yardage that a punt returner could get that our offense shouldn't be expected to make up for in one play. The most important thing is making sure that our offense gets the ball.

So yes, put Ross or anyone back there that can just catch the damn thing. Getting a return is a pointless risk.

[Political Hack]

just to clarify, they won't announce this until later this week. Fred has become the safe return guy, but they wouldn't have announced who is going to return yet.

[Dallas_Dawg]

What's wrong with being a "safe" return guy? Isn't that what we want, opposed to an unsafe one, i.e. Graham?
We need a guy back there to catch the ball, return it if it is open, and hold onto the ball. We don't need to worry about breaking one. We just need to get the ball to Dak and JRob safely

[Kosydawg]

At this point....we would definitely take safe. But at some point, if there is room or a short line drive punt, would be great to play on a short field/ or flip field position. We haven't needed special teams really yet but almost costs us several times.......could come into play.....

[Political Hack]

it matters on field position, the flow of the game, how the offense and defense are doing, etc...

Sometimes you need a 100% catch and place it and sometimes you need a spark of electricity. I have a feeling this week well get to see what some other folks can do as long as we're not catching the punt inside our 20 or 30. After the 1st or 2nd quarter, it may not matter. I really want to see 2-3 different guys back just to see how they react in a game. I'd like to get 2-3 guys at least 2 returns each.

[HoopsDawg]

i

I really want to see 2-3 different guys back just to see how they react in a game. I'd like to get 2-3 guys at least 2 returns each.

I couldn't disagree more. Just catch the damn ball.

[Dallas_Dawg]

If they can find one against Martin that can catch and return punts, fine. If not, put somebody in there to fair catch it against Bama.
One would think that if he existed, he would have been in all along.

[Political Hack]

I couldn't disagree more. Just catch the damn ball.

it's UT Martin. If this isn't managed as a practice /warm up game, we're not the best team in the country.

[Political Hack]

If they can find one against Martin that can catch and return punts, fine. If not, put somebody in there to fair catch it against Bama.
One would think that if he existed, he would have been in all along.

yes.

[Bo Darville]

Either Fred or our coaching staff had a return snafu against Arkansas. I don't know why you fair catch (risking a drop) inside the ten with 9 seconds left before the half. The plan was for Dak to take a knee, so why take the risk of catching it? Field position doesn't matter in that case.

[Political Hack]

Either Fred or our coaching staff had a return snafu against Arkansas. I don't know why you fair catch (risking a drop) inside the ten with 9 seconds left before the half. The plan was for Dak to take a knee, so why take the risk of catching it? Field position doesn't matter in that case.

good point. that's on the staff.

[ShotgunDawg]

Either Fred or our coaching staff had a return snafu against Arkansas. I don't know why you fair catch (risking a drop) inside the ten with 9 seconds left before the half. The plan was for Dak to take a knee, so why take the risk of catching it? Field position doesn't matter in that case.

yes, I was cursing about this in the stands. Couldn't believe we were actually going to try and field that punt in that situation. Made no sense and was poor coaching. So, I guess Mullen has done 99 of 100 things right this year.

[preachermatt83]

why is Justin Cox not our return specialist? wasn't he an all American in juco doing just that?

[Bo Darville]

yes, I was cursing about this in the stands. Couldn't believe we were actually going to try and field that punt in that situation. Made no sense and was poor coaching. So, I guess Mullen has done 99 of 100 things right this year.

Since there was less than 20 seconds, Arkansas was in our territory, and we planned on taking a knee, we should have just left the defense in and let them punt over our heads.

[justwin]

Again, I wouldn't want to throw him back there now, but Gabe Myles' skill set seems perfect for kick and punt return. Hopefully he develops into that role

100%

[Todd4State]

I agree.

I don't really see anyone returning punts anymore. The entrance of the rugby style punting and teams putting more importance on the hange time rather than distance, has basically taken this play out of the game.

Sure you may see a 5-10 yard return every now and then, but, on the whole, teams basically get no yardage.

To make matters more clear for us, we have an elite offense in college football. There is no expected amount of yardage that a punt returner could get that our offense shouldn't be expected to make up for in one play. The most important thing is making sure that our offense gets the ball.

So yes, put Ross or anyone back there that can just catch the damn thing. Getting a return is a pointless risk.

I feel like I should yell the obligatory "Just get an outfielder off the baseball team!" comment that I hear in the stands every time we screw up a punt return here.

[FlabLoser]

I say let Graham take all the PR duties this week. Get his confidence back.

He was good as this the first several PRs, then started fumbling. He just needs experience. Let him get it.

[mstatefan91]

Graham had great confidence and then lost it over a couple of games which turned into a couple more. IMO that's on the coaches.

I think Graham has the ability. Need to build his confidence back up against UT Martin

[thf24]

Let's not forget that at least three of Smokey's muffs have come from bad decisions to field instead of botching what should have been easy catches. Not saying he should get any more chances in meaningful games this year, but maybe it would be good to continue to give him experience with decision-making in those situations in the upcoming game.

[DancingRabbit]

I can't believe anyone would want to put Graham back there again this season. Too much at stake and not really fair to Graham either (or the rest of the team). I knew he was going to muff it a half-second before it happened - after signalling for a FC he looked down at the oncoming defenders twice in the last 1-2 seconds.

I don't think Jameon is the right guy either. I've seen him let punts go at the 11 or 12, then catch one at the 4. Seems like he's had a muff inside the 10 before also.

I'd go with Fred or RoJo for the rest of the year.

[ShotgunDawg]

I say let Graham take all the PR duties this week. Get his confidence back.

He was good as this the first several PRs, then started fumbling. He just needs experience. Let him get it.

I do agree that we need to find a way to get Graham's confidence back, but we are trying to win an SEC Title right now. Whoever we plan on returning punts at Bama needs the practice in this game. I doubt Graham will be returning punts at Bama

[Irondawg]

why is Justin Cox not our return specialist? wasn't he an all American in juco doing just that?

So was Slay and we hardly ever used them back there. I have to guess there is a reason why. I don't remember if Cox returned kicks or not in JUCO

[Percho]

Methinks JR would be a great kick off returner.