Reggie as a punt returner (3 Viewers)

[mmule]

SIGH.

If you take ALL his games into account in 2009. You have to include the playoffs. He helped us win those games too.

No Yds TD Lg Avg
31 243 1 83 7.8

Better, yes?

 

[TheRealJRad]

SIGH.

If you take ALL his games into account in 2009. You have to include the playoffs. He helped us win those games too.

No Yds TD Lg Avg
31 243 1 83 7.8

Better, yes?

Which always feeds the "it was the blocking" way of thinking.

 

[Dome50]

I asked Heath Evans about this earlyish on through the season last year, he was blunt and said the blocking was atrocious and that coach was upset about it. Funny enough, he even joked that he asked coach to put him on punt return to help blocking. Sure enough, Heath was on the return unit that very weekend. No one ever looks to the blocking, it's always what the return man is doing wrong. And not to take away from Reggie's return against the Cards, but that was a perfectly blocked return, Reggie didn't have to do much to get that TD, one cut and he was gone. Reggie is our return man. Period. Just need to give him something to work with.

 

[porculator]

Really with how good our offense is, all we really need to ask of our punt returner is not to fumble it.

 

[bornnraisedwhodat]

Really with how good our offense is, all we really need to ask of our punt returner is not to fumble it.

And Reggie has done that many times and at crucial moments.

 

[saints2k8]

And Reggie has done that many times and at crucial moments.

how many times has he fumbled or muffed a punt? I can remember 3 in 57 games..all of which were last year.

2 of them were in a blowout vs Detroit in week 1

the 3rd being in NFC championship game vs Vikings.

 

[SaintBrad]

how many times has he fumbled or muffed a punt? I can remember 3 in 57 games..all of which were last year.

2 of them were in a blowout vs Detroit in week 1

the 3rd being in NFC championship game vs Vikings.

and the one in the NFC champ game nearly cost us the trip to the Superbowl.

3 times is not acceptable. and during the NFC champ game alone is inexcusable. Saints fans should know better then anyone else what happens when you muff a punt in the playoffs. /cough Hakim

 

[TheRealJRad]

DeSean Jackson had 3 return fumbles in 2008. Imagine if the Eagles had cut him off last year (he had 1). These guys are professional players, they know what needs fixing and have the ability to fix it.

 

[SaintBrad]

DeSean Jackson had 3 return fumbles in 2008. Imagine if the Eagles had cut him off last year (he had 1). These guys are professional players, they know what needs fixing and have the ability to fix it.

Perhaps. But DeSean Jackson doesn't have a history fumbling prior to his 2008 season. And to top that off, your comparing a 3 year veteran (at the time) 2nd over all pick to a rookie (at the time) drafted mid 2nd round.

 

[saints2k8]

and the one in the NFC champ game nearly cost us the trip to the Superbowl.

3 times is not acceptable. and during the NFC champ game alone is inexcusable. Saints fans should know better then anyone else what happens when you muff a punt in the playoffs. /cough Hakim

you are right

but that doesn't mean we need to find a replacement because of 3 muffed punts in 4 years..I think the Saints staff would agree.

 

[SaintBrad]

you are right

but that doesn't mean we need to find a replacement because of 3 muffed punts in 4 years..I think the Saints staff would agree.

that alone? no. but you throw in his average, and to top that off his injuries returning punts (i know he reinjured his knee in 08 because of it, and he may have in 07?) and his recent breakout performance on offense, its best just to keep him on offense where his best contributions lay. We don't need him on special teams, where he's had ball security problems, injuries, and bad averages.

We can throw someone far less important on punt returns, stress to them ball security, who will get roughly the same average in yards per attempt. The only thin we'll be sacrificing by doing so is 1 TD per year roughly that Bush gave on average.

and considering we have the number 1 offense in the NFL, That sounds like a solid deal.

 

[starbuck2907]

I don't where you get your facts from but I don't think I saw Roby return one punt last season.

You're right about that...I think he only returned one punt.

I'm not sure what happened last season. Anyone know?

Anyway, he's the 5th best returner in the league, career-wise. Reggie doesn't even make the top 33 players in overall career return averages.

See here: http://bit.ly/8Zdn9D

Here's a pic of the top 20 kickoff (not punt) returners, career wise. In the punt return category, also attached, Reggie only clocks in at #16. Not awful, but not great.

 

[saints2k8]

that alone? no. but you throw in his average, and to top that off his injuries returning punts (i know he reinjured his knee in 08 because of it, and he may have in 07?) and his recent breakout performance on offense, its best just to keep him on offense where his best contributions lay. We don't need him on special teams, where he's had ball security problems, injuries, and bad averages.

There is a reason why he was returning punts in the superbowl and there is a reason why he will be returning punts this season.

career PR numbers (playoffs included): 88 PR - 771 YDS - 8.7 AVG - 5 TD

I'll just leave it at that.

 

[TheRealJRad]

Perhaps. But DeSean Jackson doesn't have a history fumbling prior to his 2008 season. And to top that off, your comparing a 3 year veteran (at the time) 2nd over all pick to a rookie (at the time) drafted mid 2nd round.

Jackson didn't have a season prior to 2008. Reggie only had 1 (return) fumble in 2007, 0 in 2008 (and 1 in 2006).

that alone? no. but you throw in his average, and to top that off his injuries returning punts

I think it's been well established the low average is due more to the atrocious blocking.

 

[SaintBrad]

There is a reason why he was returning punts in the superbowl and there is a reason why he will be returning punts this season.

career PR numbers (playoffs included): 88 PR - 771 YDS - 8.7 AVG - 5 TD

I'll just leave it at that.

I'm not surprised you'll try to leave it at that. Your stats are completely biased forgetting the 3 fumbles from this year, 2 in the previous years ( to match his total of touchdowns), the downtime on offense its caused because of injury, and not to mention his average is not good if you compare it to others who have been doing it for 4 years.

There may be a reason why he was returning punts in the Super Bowl, I'd like to know the reason. Its not because he's good at it on average. So if you can let me know the reason, please do.