Depth Chart Out

[dawgman15]

The word from last year was that Tulu has trouble catching punts. The only reliable punt catcher we have is Austin Williams. Word is that Emmanuel Forbes could be used sparingly for PRs

[Goldendawg]

The word from last year was that Tulu has trouble catching punts. The only reliable punt catcher we have is Austin Williams. Word is that Emmanuel Forbes could be used sparingly for PRs

So we have one guy on our roster that can reliably catch a punt. That's a big recruiting failure. A very big % of our roster is WR, RB, and CB's and only one can catch a punt? Very concerning as all aspects of Special Teams can be the margin of victory in a close game.

[Johnson85]

Walley aint quicker than Rufus Harvey. Rufus is going to turn those stick routes into 15-20 yard gains if he has space

I know it's somewhat different now with Leach, but damn if all the talk about Walley doesn't remind me of so many prior WRs we've had hyped up.

I was pretty optimistic about having a Walley (hopefully healthy), Tulu, Austin Williams, and Jamire Calvin back and knowing we have enough younger guys coming up that Leach should be able to find some players to fill the gaps, but I don't know what to think about our two most hyped receivers being a 5th year player that caught 9 receptions last year and a 3rd year player that caught 5 receptions last year. I know between Polk, Walley, Austin Williams, Tulu, and Jamire Calvin we had a lot of experienced players to throw to, but still...

[PMDawg]

LOL - WRs will not be an issue this year.

[Goldendawg]

Will be year to step up quickly. 3 deep at "Z" receiver on depth chart listed here have fewer than about a dozen catches in game action. We will know soon. Hail State!

[Coach34]

The word from last year was that Tulu has trouble catching punts. The only reliable punt catcher we have is Austin Williams. Word is that Emmanuel Forbes could be used sparingly for PRs

We put Williams back there to catch the punt and avoid the ball rolling and hurting field position. We arent concerned about a return.

[HoopsDawg]

The word from last year was that Tulu has trouble catching punts. The only reliable punt catcher we have is Austin Williams. Word is that Emmanuel Forbes could be used sparingly for PRs

nothing is more demoralizing to a defense than a muffed punt.

[Homedawg]

Leach was asked tonight to name his top 3 WR. So instead he gave his top three inside and too 3 outside. Wallet wasn't mentioned. Doesn't mean much I know. Just providing what he said.

[Johnson85]

nothing is more demoralizing to a defense than a muffed punt.

False. A muffed punt after you gave up any chance of a kick return to put a "sure handed" guy back there is more demoralizing. Man did we have so many 17ups last year to allow the refs to hand over the game to memphis last year.

[FISHDAWG]

We put Williams back there to catch the punt and avoid the ball rolling and hurting field position. We arent concerned about a return.

this !!! Austin has good hands and if my memory serves correctly he has only fumbled once ... That's WAY better than me cringing every time someone was punting the ball to us - I'll take Austin fielding punts all day long

[Goldendawg]

Why do we at this point do we have no one on the roster who can not only securely catch a punt, but get return yards or dare so be a threat to flip field position or score? The games I watched last night had a PR that could do this. Having Williams puts no pressure on the opposition's ST. You know there will be no return yards and so does the other coach.

[TrapGame]

Why do we at this point do we have no one on the roster who can not only securely catch a punt, but get return yards or dare so be a threat to flip field position or score? The games I watched last night had a PR that could do this. Having Williams puts no pressure on the opposition's ST. You know there will be no return yards and so does the other coach.

That's why I'd love to see Hargrove and Price get a shot at PR.

[Coach34]

Why do we at this point do we have no one on the roster who can not only securely catch a punt, but get return yards or dare so be a threat to flip field position or score? .

Because punt return is very time consuming and is usually your most penalized ST. Lot easier to just set up and catch the punt as well as avoiding mistakes

[thf24]

Why do we at this point do we have no one on the roster who can not only securely catch a punt, but get return yards or dare so be a threat to flip field position or score? The games I watched last night had a PR that could do this. Having Williams puts no pressure on the opposition's ST. You know there will be no return yards and so does the other coach.

A great punt returner needs a deeper skill set than meets the eye and seems like it would be a pretty hard one to recruit out of high school as a focus. In addition to the all-around athleticism, there's an important mental aspect to it similar to that of a kicker that you really can't judge for sure until you see it on the field against real competition at your level. And a lot of the time guys with this specific skill set, for whatever reason, aren't great at any other position (see the NFL), so it seems like it would be hard to justify blowing a bunch of scholarships in a shotgun approach trying to land a great return man when the worst case alternative is just putting a sure handed fair catch guy back there if you don't get lucky with a receiver or corner in any particular year.

[Commercecomet24]

Because punt return is very time consuming and is usually your most penalized ST. Lot easier to just set up and catch the punt as well as avoiding mistakes

This, unless you just have a wide open field in front of you. So many mistakes and turnovers happen on punt returns(oh and injuries too)..

[Goldendawg]

Because punt return is very time consuming and is usually your most penalized ST. Lot easier to just set up and catch the punt as well as avoiding mistakes

Other teams seem to feel that this is time well spent. Hail State!

[WhiskeyPirate]

That's why I'd love to see Hargrove and Price get a shot at PR.

That would be ideal. Price apparently has skills and athleticism that jumps out at you plus he’s 216 pounds. Hargrove is a burner. I’d like to see those guys get a shot. Dortch or Tula would also be dangerous.

[Goldendawg]

That would be ideal. Price apparently has skills and athleticism that jumps out at you plus he’s 216 pounds. Hargrove is a burner. I’d like to see those guys get a shot. Dortch or Tula would also be dangerous.

Get a comfortable lead this week and next and give them a chance!

[Coach34]

Other teams seem to feel that this is time well spent. Hail State!

Yep. It's a philosophy thing. Go check stats and find me a team that returns more than 1 punt for a TD in a season. Teams average punting about 55 times a season. So you're lucky if you get 1 punt return for a TD in 55 punts.

There were 293 punt returns in the SEC last year. This doesnt count fair catches obviously. In 293 punt returns- there were 7 returned for a TD with Bama and Georgia having 3 of them. So in the other 290 punt returns- there were 4 returned for TD. I'm willing to bet there were 30 plus penalties on punt returns combined.

My philosophy in HS? My teams try to block every punt. We make teams max protect so they cant cover like they want. We always get more out of punt block than any return. College is obviously different due to specialists and such- but its still something you can do to put pressure on teams.

[Coach34]

The Big Ten also had 7 punt return TD's in 2021 and the ACC had 4.

Just not alot of return when measuring time spent