Highlight of the day: Punt Returns

[CatQ]

Surprised I didn't see a thread on this, but when Kirtz went out with an injury, Joseph and Ray Niro III were finds. 4 returns for 166 yards. Joseph had the two that were 111 yards total, but 'RayRay' had 2 that were 55 total as well, and the team serenaded him with chants on the sideline after his second return. So happy to see this, especially for Niro, a former walk-on who is a great kid.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Big Play Ray

 

[phatcat]

More than we had all last year, I reckon

 

[CaliforniaCat]

Joseph was outstanding on punt returns today. But I worry whether it's worth the extra exposure to injury for him. He is far more important as a safety. In fact without him at that position we could be in big trouble defensively. There are other people who can return punts and who are less critical to the overall defense.

 

[7th Cir. Cat]

Joseph was outstanding on punt returns today. But I worry whether it's worth the extra exposure to injury for him. He is far more important as a safety. In fact without him at that position we could be in big trouble defensively. There are other people who can return punts and who are less critical to the overall defense.

I hear you, but maybe BJO wants to return punts? He's got NFL aspirations and showing scouts another demention of his athleticism is helpful to his personal brand (and of course the team given our offensive woes). I'm sure he knows about Newsome and Slater's contracts, and the huge difference in 1st round vs. 3rd round money.

Charles Woodson was an elite DB, but his college stock soared and he got additional press/hype because of his punt return skills. When you have special players, I think it's fine for coaches to let them flex a little.

 

[ricko654321]

I hear you, but maybe BJO wants to return punts? He's got NFL aspirations and showing scouts another demention of his athleticism is helpful to his personal brand (and of course the team given our offensive woes). I'm sure he knows about Newsome and Slater's contracts, and the huge difference in 1st round vs. 3rd round money.

Charles Woodson was an elite DB, but his college stock soared and he got additional press/hype because of his punt return skills. When you have special players, I think it's fine for coaches to let them flex a little.

Yeah I think it's somewhat helpful for him to be able to show that. I had the same pro / con debate on him getting exposure vs potential injury. If you ask any player, I'm guessing they would always want to play and show their abilities. I'd trust the coaches to be able to appropriately manage it.

Given that Kirtz seemed a bit apprehensive about catching the short punts (letting them bounce to give up additional yardage), I'm in favor of giving BJo and Niro some looks. I do have to say that as impressive as BJo's returns were, he also had a ton of space on his punts - much more than Kirtz. I think Kirtz would've generated pretty good chunks on those also, though maybe not quite as much as BJo did with his speed. I thought Niro's last long PR was the most impressive of the bunch, when he was navigating through traffic and kept finding little areas of space to extend the return.

 

[CatQ]

Joseph was outstanding on punt returns today. But I worry whether it's worth the extra exposure to injury for him. He is far more important as a safety. In fact without him at that position we could be in big trouble defensively. There are other people who can return punts and who are less critical to the overall defense.

Interesting that I had the same conversation on the sideline during the game. Steve, is that you?