Now that Bess is a much bigger part of our offense and is on the field much more than Ginn, I ask: Do you think that Ginn should be given Punt Return duties. Not only because Bess is on the field more, but because he's more valuable to our offense at the moment and because Bess really isn't that good on punt returns. I definitely think Ginn would be better. This came to mind after seeing Bess hurt himself on that punt return. Losing Bess to injury hurts this offense much more than losing Ginn to injury, IMO Thoughts?
From what I recall, Ginn did a fairly poor job on punt returns. Doesn't always make the fair catch, instead let them just roll, costing us field position. I'm not sure Ginn could be an effective PR, because of his lack of toughness. Maybe with some practice, but what I've seen hasn't been promising.
I agree that it would be nice to remove Bess from punt returns to remove the chance of injury. But Ginn isn't the anwser. He struggled before in fielding punts cleanly, which is why he was replaced back there. Bess is reliable to make the right decision on fair catching/fielding the punt, has sure hands, and can do enough to get a couple yards but will not be a gamebreaker back there. I would say Ginn is only the latter. No one else on our team that I know of has any experience returning kicks at the college or pro level. I made sure to check Sheets, Clemons, Davis, Smith. Bess is the best we got for it.
i think brian hartline did a little kick returning in school. or maybe it was only kick coverage. id be in favor of giving him a shot. he is a smart kid. i recall seeing him diving to knock one of williams' fumbles out of bounds yesterday, instead of trying to jump on it. for him to think of that in the moment shows he has some brains. i think he runs faster then bess as well. he ran some track in school. brian hartline, so far, seems to be everything that tedd ginn is not: reliable, determined, tough and smart.
I would like to see someone else return punts. Not so much because he's playing more on offense. NE uses Welker to return punts and doubt they will stop using him. He's good at it, and that's why I would like to see someone else back there returning punts for us. I simply don't think Bess is very good at it. He ranks near the bottom half of punt returners in the league, and I would like to see a more significant contribution from the PR unit.
Really? It seems to me that Bess usually makes the fair catch or fields the punt. He doesn't get many yards after that, but he generally makes better decisions than I saw from Ginn last season.
Hartline is certainly someone who can return punts for us in the future. I think right now, he has enough on his plate as a WR. Come next season, they may start having him practice PR if he isn't already.
I tend to agree. the Idea of letting Hartline return punts intrigues me. But like you I think he has enough on his plate and would hate to do anything that could potentially hamper his progression as a receiver.
Considering he has fumbled two punts and almost miffed the one yesterday I think he is far from sure handed. I don't know that Ginn is the answer but with Bess having fumble problems I don't see how he could be worse. What about Hartline or Sheets or Clemons? Any of our depth corners have moves? Bess doesn't provide big plays and doesn't have sure hands - so I see no point in having him return punts. There has to be a better option on the roster - even if you just want the guy to fair catch everything.
he's had a couple ive questioned why he's let it go. I don't know whose better he or ginn, but i guess my point is bess has done some of the same things and I would like whoever, don't really care, on punts that can do better then bess.
I think that is because the blocking was terrible against the Jaguars. There is no reason that a kick returner should be getting hit at the 14 yard line.
From a consistent basis, just have'nt been as impressed, punt returner?, tougher challenge..i wish he would just snap out of his funkness and RUUUUUUN. Besides 2 linebackers, 1 wide receiver and 1 tight end, full time returner needs to be explored this offseason. Arenas from alabama would be a nice pick.
wonder about besses college teammate grice mullen - he's returning punts and kickoffs in the CFL and from what i here isnt to bad - could get him cheap
Probably because the field was super wet and he didn't want to slip and fall like the first two times...
i can't see Ginn being very successful with punts. he shies away from contact - which he can get away with on KRs - but not on PRs ... i'm not happy with Bess, but Ginn would be worse (except on those occasions where the punter outkicks the coverage). i will give Ginn credit though, the last couple games, he has actually tried to break thru the middle - something i thought i would never see him do. but at the end of the day, PR takes a certain mental toughness that Ginn just hasn't displayed during his tenure thus far.
id say he's runnign in the middle more and initiating contact more. i havent seen him be too tentative.
I think he's just trying to show more patience and see a hole break open... that's just me. He use to be too aggressive with his kick returns.. not letting things develop IMO.
But wasn't Ginn a GREAT punt returner at Ohio Sate too? We haven't seen him on punt returns the past 2 years, so I don't understand all the people speculating that he wouldn't be good there. I just don't see how he can be any less effective at punt returning than Bess. And being that Bess has become a top target on offense, he needs to relinquish returning punts and hand it over to someone who will most likely, IMO, do a better job (Ginn).
Could be that after catching the ball and looking up the field the overwhelming amount of opponent jerseys that have gotten past his teams jerseys have something to do with it We say he runs OOB too much. Yesterday eh took it up the middle and got squashed at the 14. Our return blocking sucked pretty bad yesterday. Ginn had to do some nifty moves and sideline to sideline moves just to get past the 20 yesterday.
if GinnJr. can't make it on Special Teams returning punts & kick-offs then he is a bust & will be long gone by the end of the year it is what it is & he is what he is: almost
If Ginn could do as well on punt returns as he has been doing on kick returns he should absolutely be back there. I don't quite understand why we aren't using punt returns as an opportunity to get the ball in Ginn's hands to utilize that speed. He formerly struggled on kick returns as well, but it's plain to see how much he has improved there.
Love how many people are bashing Ginn's KRs. He had a 51 yard return LAST WEEK that set up a score to beat NE. Two weeks before that he had returns of 48 and 37 in a win over Carolina. When you nitpick every single return it is easy to say the guy is struggling, when in fact, he has been a top 5 returner since becoming full-time. Our coverage has been HORRIBLE the last two weeks. He has to have a lane to break it. EDIT - Not sure he should be on PR - though I think he is a much better option than Bess. I would be happy to see the coaching staff experiment back there. Bess has bobbled too many punts - I am nervous every time he is back there.
If not Ginn, we've got to try someone else back there. Bess is horrible. I agree that Ginn may not be tough enough. I'd probably try Hartline back there. He's not fast, but he's faster and plays faster than Bess and has some experience returning punts. Ginn is a home run hitter, though. If anything, we should drop him back there when the opposing offense is backed up. Go with a safe Bess or Hartline when they're kicking from mid field.