Roster analysis: Special teams
Last and ninth in a series
Today: Special teams
Starters: Kicker Shayne Graham, punter Kyle Larson, long-snapper Brad St. Louis, kickoff return Glenn Holt, punt return Antonio Chatman.
Graham was 31 for 34 on field goals and improved his length on kickoffs. Larson is a steady performer and solid holder for Graham. St. Louis returned to anonymity as the long-snapper following a poor close to 2006 for all three of the specialists.
Holt filled in again after wide receiver Tab Perry was lost to injury as the kickoff return man and averaged 24.3 yards with a 100-yard touchdown. Chatman added some punch to the punt return game, but an upgrade still is needed there.
Overall, the kickoff and punt coverage teams were affected early in the season by injuries at linebacker and safety. But special teams coach Darrin Simmons' effort and talent showed in how he returned the Cincinnati kicking game to its previous performance once he was able to stablize the lineup. As long as Simmons is running the kicking game, the Bengals are in good shape.
Question: Simmons told The Enquirer last week that he would like the organization to invest in a kickoff and/or punt return man that puts fear in the hearts of opponents. Agree? Disagree? Is Holt good enough?
posted by Mark at 8:18 AM
8 Comments:
at 1/30/2008 8:35 AM 
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at 1/30/2008 9:35 AM 
Anonymous said...
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at 1/30/2008 10:13 AM 
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at 1/30/2008 11:20 AM 
Frank Robinson's Ghost said...
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at 1/30/2008 11:30 AM 
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at 1/30/2008 12:36 PM 
Bearcat Ben said...
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at 1/30/2008 3:11 PM 
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at 1/30/2008 10:53 PM 
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Post a Comment*We should try to get a better returner prefferably through free-agency. However, Holts one touchdown isnt really cuttin it for me. I am not asking for some one to get more than one touchdown in a year but i am asking for someone to be consistant and not let go of balls. Chatman..... he is better than Keiwan!
Given the number of draft picks we will have this year (I've seen 10 or 11) we should use one middle round pick to get a punt+kick return specialist. We then make decisions on the last WR/DB/RBs based on who can 1) be a servicable replacement for the returner; and 2) contribute to other special teams activities.
It took half the season for Simmons to somehow fix special teams. At the end onf the season, We were still ranked really bad on it and then he comes up and say that we need a better kickoff return man.
I strongly believe injuries were part of this mess on special teams and that we need a dangerous return man. However, I would say it's better to get special teams that can stop players at the 15-20 instead of giving up 20-30 more yards. Holt is an average kick returner but it's not the problem.
Since the 2007 season started, I got the feeling Simmons didn't know exactly what was he doing and now I see I wasn't wrong. Marvin, please show him the door.
Anon 10:13 --
The first sentence of your second paragraph (serious injuries) explains why it took Simmons "almost half the year to fix" the special teams. You also admit Holt has been an average kick returner at best. I think he needs to step it up and fumble less if he is to keep his job.
(And for cripes' sake Blue Adams needs to stop hitting folks from behind.)
Part of the problem you mention with opponents' starting field position is short kickoffs, which will never really be fixed as long as we use Shayne Graham. He may be kicking longer -- but he'll probably never be a consistent touchback guy. The team has made a conscious decision to trade that ability for field goal accuracy.
The problems were the players and injuries, not the coach.
Dorien Bryant....Purdue
Part of the problem was not having Kilmer, injuries to the LB corps, no Tony Stewart, even Jones got injured at the end of the season. Getting healthie helped. Glenn Holt has the talent to be a KO return guy but must hang on to the ball. There really is no punt return threat currently on the roster.
Kickoff returns have been fine, its the punt returns that need to improve.
If I recall correctly, Holt had two fumbles for loss. I think it's kinda ridiculous to talk about how terrible that is when he had almost 60 kickoff returns, and 1 for a touchdown. He's not the problem...I'd go so far as to say he's one of the more promising return men we've had. We need PUNT return help, like someone above me said.
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