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Will improvement on Special Teams be lost in the shuffle this offseason?
Posted on 11/27/23 at 8:03 am
Posted on 11/27/23 at 8:03 am
Obviously everyone is focused on shaking things up on the defensive side of the ball, which is clearly priority 1 by a long shot.
But let's be real, our special teams were extremely underwhelming this year as well. It went largely unnoticed due to attention being on a horrific defense, and the fact that it didn't really matter where the offense started with the ball because they were most likely gonna score anyway.
KR and PR became nothing more than not turning it over. Fair catches were seen as home runs this year.
We rarely needed to punt but I wasn't overly pleased with how they looked when we did. Kickoff wasn't great either. While it wasn't anything crazy, there were a decent amount of good runbacks on us.
Just a little worried this portion of the game gets overshadowed this offseason while trying to improve other areas.
But let's be real, our special teams were extremely underwhelming this year as well. It went largely unnoticed due to attention being on a horrific defense, and the fact that it didn't really matter where the offense started with the ball because they were most likely gonna score anyway.
KR and PR became nothing more than not turning it over. Fair catches were seen as home runs this year.
We rarely needed to punt but I wasn't overly pleased with how they looked when we did. Kickoff wasn't great either. While it wasn't anything crazy, there were a decent amount of good runbacks on us.
Just a little worried this portion of the game gets overshadowed this offseason while trying to improve other areas.
7
Posted on 11/27/23 at 8:06 am to OJsLifeCoach
quote:
KR and PR became nothing more than not turning it over.
Which was 1,000,000x better than last year
They didn't lose us any games and didn't win us any games. I think we had the 2019 strategy where our offense was so good we just wanted to make sure we put the ball in Jayden's hands.
ETA:
Really hope Anderson gets the rock next year on PRs and they let him and Kaleb try to take the KRs back in certain situations.
This post was edited on 11/27/23 at 8:07 am
Posted on 11/27/23 at 8:10 am to OJsLifeCoach
Coverage teams weren’t as bad this year, but they definitely need to continue to improve.
Punt returns need a lot of work. We need to develop a reliable returner who can make defenses pay, whether that’s Anderson or someone else. And our coverage guys need to know how to block without drawing penalties. That’s been an issue all year, even on some fair catches.
Kickoff returns are more about restraint today. They are rarely worth attempting unless the kick is very short. Jackson had a few this year that were stupid decisions and his fumble against UF could have cost us that game. Now that you get the ball at the 25 for any catch, a fair catch is the right odds call probably 80% of the time. That needs to be drilled into the players.
We need better punting, but that’s usually addressed with kickers in camps or with consultants in the offseason. I doubt we have anyone on staff who does anything beyond monitor basic mechanics.
Punt returns need a lot of work. We need to develop a reliable returner who can make defenses pay, whether that’s Anderson or someone else. And our coverage guys need to know how to block without drawing penalties. That’s been an issue all year, even on some fair catches.
Kickoff returns are more about restraint today. They are rarely worth attempting unless the kick is very short. Jackson had a few this year that were stupid decisions and his fumble against UF could have cost us that game. Now that you get the ball at the 25 for any catch, a fair catch is the right odds call probably 80% of the time. That needs to be drilled into the players.
We need better punting, but that’s usually addressed with kickers in camps or with consultants in the offseason. I doubt we have anyone on staff who does anything beyond monitor basic mechanics.
This post was edited on 11/27/23 at 8:12 am
Posted on 11/27/23 at 8:17 am to OJsLifeCoach
Almost forgot who our punter was this year...curious if there is a stat for fewest punts during a regular season by a team??
Posted on 11/27/23 at 8:39 am to OJsLifeCoach
Will be interesting to see if both Dibert and Burrell are both here next year. Two scholarship kickoff specialists paired with a decent, but weak-legged kicker in Ramos. Three scholarships and it’s still not even close to a strength. Definitely didn’t expect this living through the Tracy and York years. Oh well.
Posted on 11/27/23 at 8:40 am to OJsLifeCoach
I don’t get why people fixate on special teams. If it’s not losing you games (like last season), then it’s good.
Whenever someone complains about KO’s, it proves that they do not know anything. As KO’s have pretty much been neutralized all together.
Whenever someone complains about KO’s, it proves that they do not know anything. As KO’s have pretty much been neutralized all together.
Posted on 11/27/23 at 10:26 am to OJsLifeCoach
A&M started two drives after kickoffs at the 35 yard line or better. They would've had a third but it was called back for holding which had no bearing on the result of the run back. We were nats arse hair from having yet another game affected by piss poor coverage and/or decision making.
We have not had a game changing special teams play in two years (at least not one in our favor). I'm not talking about making a FG. No big returns, no big hits on a return, no turnovers on a return, no blocked punts and nothing even approaching being innovative. The unit on its VERY best day is average. Its 1/3 of the game. This has to change.
We have not had a game changing special teams play in two years (at least not one in our favor). I'm not talking about making a FG. No big returns, no big hits on a return, no turnovers on a return, no blocked punts and nothing even approaching being innovative. The unit on its VERY best day is average. Its 1/3 of the game. This has to change.
Posted on 11/27/23 at 10:43 am to OJsLifeCoach
quote:
It went largely unnoticed due to attention being on a horrific defense, and the fact that it didn't really matter where the offense started with the ball because they were most likely gonna score anyway.
No it went unnoticed because teams rarely punted. And with the new kickoff rules pretty much everything is a touchback.
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