nerdmann
13 years ago
http://packerupdate.net/?p=11064 

I love the pick of Randall Cobb for two reasons. One is that hes a really good player. The other is that I no longer have to write critical posts about Ted Thompsons inability to find an adequate return man. Granted, the second reason is completely selfish, but banging that drum incessantly really got tiring over the years (not to mention very frustrating).

One of the reasons it took Thompson so long to find a legitimate returner is because he was looking for a player who could also help out on offense or defense. That narrowed the field of candidates considerably. There are usually at least a half-dozen experienced and productive returners available in every draft, but the vast majority of those players really dont project to another position at the next level. Thats why the Packers showed absolutely no interest in Stefan Logan (Lions), Eric Weems (Falcons) and Brandon Banks (Redskins) three of the preeminent returners in the National Football League.

Another reason it took Thompson so long to find a legitimate returner is because of his aversion to smaller players. That kept undersized but talented athletes such as Seattles Leon Washington (5-8), San Diegos Darren Sproles (5-6) and Oaklands Jacoby Ford (5-9) off Green Bays radar. Sproles has caught over 100 passes in the past two seasons, Ford had 470 yards receiving as a rookie and Washington has rushed for nearly 2,000 yards since 2006.

The irony of drafting Cobb in the second round is that even he doesnt fulfill both of the above requirements. He can certainly play wide receiver, but he stands only a shade over 5-10. That means Thompson had to soften his stance on height in order to finally give coach Mike McCarthy and special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum a legitimate return man. So what made a GM so steadfast in his beliefs willing to compromise just a bit? Perhaps a season of watching Jordy Nelson fumble, Sam Shields tip-toe sideways and Brandon Jackson run into the back of his blockers was enough to make him reconsider. Whatever the reason, the Packers will finally have a legitimate returner bringing back kicks and punts next season. And I couldnt be more thrilled both as a fan and as a writer.

"UP" wrote:


“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Dulak
13 years ago

Perhaps a season of watching Jordy Nelson fumble, Sam Shields tip-toe sideways and Brandon Jackson run into the back of his blockers was enough to make him reconsider. Whatever the reason, the Packers will finally have a legitimate returner bringing back kicks and punts next season. And I couldnt be more thrilled both as a fan and as a writer.

"nerdmann" wrote:



We can only hope he turns out as suggested ... Find it sort of humorous that we future project draft picks into top starter positions ...

but guess thats whats fun about the nfl - to see how it pans out ...

I tell you Im getting tired of watching peeps like hester or cribbs get all the glory on opposing teams.

Be nice to see the fear in opposing teams eyes for a change.
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
13 years ago
I am looking for a return man who holds on to the ball first and foremost. Getting a few yards after that is a plus. Getting a boatload of yards icing on the cake.
bozz_2006
13 years ago
I think that having a top returner is completely over-rated. If you have a terrible returner, that will hurt you, but I just think the importance people place on having one of those top guys is way over the top.
dhazer
13 years ago

I think that having a top returner is completely over-rated. If you have a terrible returner, that will hurt you, but I just think the importance people place on having one of those top guys is way over the top.

"bozz_2006" wrote:



I'm not so sure here Bozz, perfect example; look at the Bears. Hester as a returner they make the Super Bowl after that game they take him off returns and bam not even the playoffs. Then this year they finally put him back there and they make the NFC Championship game. If you have a scary return man he doesn't even have to touch the ball for him to make a difference. Look at how many times teams punted away from Hester and the Bears ended up with awesome field position.

It's also something a team has to waste practice time on defending which doesn't hurt.
Just Imagine this for the next 6-9 years. What a ride it will be 🙂 (PS, Zero should charge for this)
Zero2Cool
13 years ago

I think that having a top returner is completely over-rated. If you have a terrible returner, that will hurt you, but I just think the importance people place on having one of those top guys is way over the top.

"bozz_2006" wrote:



1996.
Desmond Howard.
99 yard kick return.
Changed momentum of the game.
DakotaT
13 years ago
Wouldn't it be awesome to be outplayed by the Bears by 150 yards but still beat them because the return guy scored two touchdowns?

We only have one more dimension to overcome to be a complete football team, kick coverage.
zombieslayer
13 years ago
What Zero said. I remember watching the game with a bunch of Patriots fans in the back of the bar. When that return happened, I swear to the Football Gods, they didn't make another sound for the rest of the ***** game. They left the bar very quietly before the game ended.

It's a shame we passed on Jacoby Ford. He got me a lot of fantasy points last year. Cobb will hopefully be equivalent to Ford.
My man Donald Driver

(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷
nerdmann
13 years ago
There are guys who play on returns and then there are true returners. For a true returner, you want a guy who 1: fields the ball cleanly. 2: takes it straight up the gut, THEN can make a move to make people miss. 3: has that extra burst of acceleration.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Stevetarded
13 years ago

I think that having a top returner is completely over-rated. If you have a terrible returner, that will hurt you, but I just think the importance people place on having one of those top guys is way over the top.

"dhazer" wrote:



I'm not so sure here Bozz, perfect example; look at the Bears. Hester as a returner they make the Super Bowl after that game they take him off returns and bam not even the playoffs. Then this year they finally put him back there and they make the NFC Championship game. If you have a scary return man he doesn't even have to touch the ball for him to make a difference. Look at how many times teams punted away from Hester and the Bears ended up with awesome field position.

It's also something a team has to waste practice time on defending which doesn't hurt.

"bozz_2006" wrote:



??
Hester on punt returns
2006 47 returns, Super Bowl
2007 42 returns, No Playoffs
2008 32 returns, No Playoffs
2009 24 returns, No Playoffs
2010 33 returns, NFC Championship

I really don't see your correlation here. It is more telling to look at their defense though.
2006 3rd Points Allowed, Super Bowl
2007 16th Points Allowed, No Playoffs
2008 16th Points Allowed, No Playoffs
2009 21st Points Allowed, No Playoffs
2010 4th Points Allowed, NFC Championship

Not that having a scary return man doesn't help but it's definitely overrated. There are thousands of returns every year and like 30 some TDs so even with a good returner a TD is not likely to happen. Now on punt returns the difference between Devin Hester (the best punt returner in history) and Tramon Williams (barely even top 20 in average) is only 9 yards. 9 yards for 20 some plays over an entire season is not worth going out of your way for (not that you could hope for a guy to replicate what Hester does even if you DID go out of your way).

The coverage aspects of special teams are far more important than the returner aspects.
blank
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (3h) : Packers. 🤦
Zero2Cool (3h) : One team.
Zero2Cool (3h) : One team petition NFL to ban Brotherly Shove.
beast (23-Feb) : Seems like he was just pissed because he was no longer the starter
beast (23-Feb) : Campbell is right, he's rich and he doesn't have to explain sh!t... but that attitude gives teams reasons to never sign him again.
dfosterf (22-Feb) : I have some doubt about all that
dfosterf (22-Feb) : I read De'Vondre Campbell's tweet this morning (via the New York Post) Florio says that if he invested his earnings wisely, he will be good
beast (20-Feb) : I haven't followed, but I believe he's good when healthy, just hasn't been able to stay healthy.
dfosterf (20-Feb) : Hasn"t Bosa missed more games than he has played in the last 3 years?
Mucky Tundra (19-Feb) : He hasn't been too bad when healthy but I don't feel like I ever heard much about when he is
Zero2Cool (19-Feb) : Felt like he was more interested in his body, than football. He flashed more than I expected
Zero2Cool (19-Feb) : When he was coming out, I thought he'd be flash in pan.
Mucky Tundra (19-Feb) : Joey seems so forgettable compared to his brother for some reason
Zero2Cool (19-Feb) : NFL informed teams today that the 2025 salary cap will be roughly $277.5M-$281.5M
Zero2Cool (19-Feb) : Los Angeles Chargers are likely to release DE Joey Bosa this off-season as a cap casualty, per league source.
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : If the exploit is not fixed, we'll see tons of "50 top free agents, 50 perfect NFL team fits: We picked where each should sign in March" lo
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : Issue should be solved, database cleaned and held strong working / meeting. Boom!
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : It should be halted now.
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : usually spambots are trying to get traffic to shady websites filled with spyware; the two links being spammed were to the Packers website
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : you know when you put it that way combined with the links it was spamming (to the official Packers website)
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : Yep. You can do that with holding down ENTER on a command in Console of browser
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : even with the rapid fire posts?
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : I'm not certain it's a bot.
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : I've got to go to work soon which is a pity because I'm enthralled by this battle between the bot and Zero
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : Yeah, I see what that did. Kind of funny.
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : now it's a link to Wes Hodkiezwicz mailbag
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : Now they're back with another topic
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : oh lol
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : I have a script that purges them now.
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : 118 Topics with Message.
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : what's 118 (besides a number)?
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : They got 118 slapped in there.
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : that's why it confused the hell out of me
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : Yeah, but this is taking a headline and slapping it into the Packers Talk
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : Wasnt there a time guests could post in the help forum?
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : lol good question, kind of impressed!
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : So how is a guest posting?
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : Tell them its an emergency
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : Working. Meetings.
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : Lots of fun; the spam goes back 4 or 5 pages by this point
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : I thought you'd look for yourself and put 2 and 2 together lol. I overestimated ya ;)
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : I thought Guests couldnt post?
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : And gosh that's gonna be fun to clean up! hahaa
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : Oh. Why not just say that then? Geez.
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : check the main forum, seems a spam bot is running amok
Zero2Cool (18-Feb) : What?
Mucky Tundra (18-Feb) : Is the Packers online game "Packers Predict" now available for 2024? I can't tell
Zero2Cool (17-Feb) : Bengals planning to Franchise Tag Tamaurice Higgins
Zero2Cool (14-Feb) : Packers are hiring Luke Getsy as senior offensive assistant.
Martha Careful (12-Feb) : I would love to have them both, esp. Crosby, but either might be too expensive.
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 3:25 PM
Vikings
Sunday, Jan 5 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Jan 12 @ 3:30 PM
Eagles
Recent Topics
5h / Green Bay Packers Talk / bboystyle

8h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

23-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

22-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / TheKanataThrilla

19-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

19-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / MintBaconDrivel

18-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

18-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

18-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

18-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

16-Feb / Around The NFL / beast

16-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

16-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

15-Feb / Around The NFL / beast

15-Feb / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

Headlines