In response to punt returners, our best returner, besides the Eel was Todd Miller. He took 2 or 3 to the house in one season.
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In response to punt returners, our best returner, besides the Eel was Todd Miller. He took 2 or 3 to the house in one season.
Yeah, McCarney had a nice run with Moses, Miller, Baum. I still do not understand why Chizik didn't put Sumrall back there. He did some PR under McCarney and did OK. Instead, Chizik could have put a mannequin back there because no one was going to return the ball. One of the dumbest things I've ever seen in FB. I mean, HS teams can find someone to catch a punt and bring the ball forward a couple of yards, but ISU can't?????
I hope that Rhoads makes a decent choice here. Lenz would be OK, as long as he catches that first one. If he fumbles it, he is doomed...just like Sandvig. He'll never get that confidence back. My other choice would be either Reynolds or LJ. If Lenz can do a similar job, I'd rather have him back there and not risk having a starter at PR.
I thought Carlson was supposed to be fast and maybe a kick returner. I see he is listed 3rd on the depth chart so why not let him return? We are losing some good seniors after this year but not very many of them. This could turn around quick:smile:
Sean Smith @ Center - a little off the radar
Good to see some new names in there, but it doesn't mean they'll stay.
I do not want to see LJ back there returning punts or kicks. In another thread, it refers to an ISU team with high expectations that found ways to lose close games. 1 of the 2 games the Cyclones were overmatched was OU, and I think that game De Andre Jackson was returning kicks and suffered a knee injury. It was a different team after that. Let's keep our best defensive player where we need him most, playing CB.
After that, then let's trust our staff to pick the best player possible, be that Lenz, Money, or whoever.
Good to see some new names in there, but it doesn't mean they'll stay.
I do not want to see LJ back there returning punts or kicks. In another thread, it refers to an ISU team with high expectations that found ways to lose close games. 1 of the 2 games the Cyclones were overmatched was OU, and I think that game De Andre Jackson was returning kicks and suffered a knee injury. It was a different team after that. Let's keep our best defensive player where we need him most, playing CB.
After that, then let's trust our staff to pick the best player possible, be that Lenz, Money, or whoever.
ISU honestly needs somebody that can catch the ball and simply fall forward. That would be a tremendous improvement over what we had in recent years.
Many of the posts seem to miss this point. If we are expecting an explosive offense and a work in progress defense, the last thing that you want to happen is to cough up the ball after forcing a punt. Secure the ball and let your offense make up the difference in field position. Anybody who shows ball security issues in practice should never see playing time as a returner, regardless of how fast or shifty they might be.
Kudos to Smith. I always root hard for the unheralded lineman that come in, work hard, and wind up making a positive contribution before they go(Branon Johnson, Braacksma, Knapp etc...). It's one of the things that make College Football so great.
1st On average a punt that hits the ground is about 15 yards lost field position for the receiving team.
2nd It takes a lot more than good hands to catch a punt for example great focus and great depth perception to name a few.
3rd If you lose a turnover on special teams your odds of winning that game decrease exponentially.
4th Every coach in America knows these things.
My question: Do you really think a coach is going to put a player back their that just works hard or do you think the are going to put a guy back their that does the best job in practice every day and that they can trust. I trust the coaches on this one.
2nd It takes a lot more than good hands to catch a punt for example great focus and great depth perception to name a few.
3rd If you lose a turnover on special teams your odds of winning that game decrease exponentially.
4th Every coach in America knows these things.
My question: Do you really think a coach is going to put a player back their that just works hard or do you think the are going to put a guy back their that does the best job in practice every day and that they can trust. I trust the coaches on this one.
From everything I remember, DMac put guys back there with the number one concern being ball security. The in state guys just happened to be the ones that caught the ball the best in practice, regardless of how it worked out on the field. A big play guy would be great, but turnovers are killers.
What if....the posted 2 deep at PR/KR was a smoke screen to get our opponents to think that we will place a guy with minimal threat back to receive. That way when our opponent prepares for those special teams they practice actually kicking it to our return guy and not out of bounds. Therefore this allows us to slip in a guy unannounced that has the capability to take it to the house before the other team realizes what happened?
:wink::wink::wink::wink::wink: :wideeyed:
Just wondering....:biglaugh:
:wink::wink::wink::wink::wink: :wideeyed:
Just wondering....:biglaugh:
Not sure why there is so much talk about who will return punts on here. Yes, we sucked returning punts over the last few years, but that's not why Chizik won only five games in two years. We lacked playmakers at way too many positions. To win consistently, you need playmakers at pretty much every position. Last year ISU lacked a big time WR, a big time DE, a big time DT, a big time LB and a big time Safety. Unfortunately, when I look at the new depth chart, it looks like we've only addressed one of those 5 shortcomings. Maybe two if Sims is the real deal but it's a little bit discouraging to see that O'Connell still has a chance to beat him out.
Right now the 2009 depth chart looks a lot like the 2008 depth chart... especially in terms of the starters. Hopefully, an additional year of experience and a new coaching staff will be enough to elevate more of these guys to "big time" status.
Right now the 2009 depth chart looks a lot like the 2008 depth chart... especially in terms of the starters. Hopefully, an additional year of experience and a new coaching staff will be enough to elevate more of these guys to "big time" status.
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In 2002, he had punt returns for TDs against Tennessee Tech and Troy (at the time) State. I remember watching the telecast of the ISU-Texas game later that year and the commentators called Todd Miller "one of the most dangerous punt returners in the country." Seemed like a little inflated praise but it was still fun to hear.
His budding reputation as a "dangerous" punt returner of course prompted my roommates and I to declare "It's Miller time!" anytime he went back to return a kick.
It seems that would be pretty easy to do, but for a stretch there it seemed like ISU was fumbling at least one punt a game. It was really frustrating when the coaches would put someone back there to just catch it and fall foward and they still managed to fumble.:no: It is pretty bad when your team forces a punt and you still have to close your eyes when the punt comes down.
We forced punts last season, and this defense won't be anywhere near as bad as last season.
I'm hoping all of these guys are healthy.
Im guessing these guys all werent starting the last few years for no reason. Hopefully it will be soon that one of the newcomer punt returners can take over. I certainly dont want it to be anyone on the team from the past few years.
Whats with Houston Jones being so low on the chart? He had some good catches last year.
I didnt realize how big the Oline is. There is going to be beef upfront, lets hope they can block and move.
I didnt realize how big the Oline is. There is going to be beef upfront, lets hope they can block and move.
