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Will Special teams be "Special" This Year?

Michael G

By Michael G,
in Carolina Panthers

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BrianS Veteran

BrianS

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, NAS said:

Everyone just lists these obvious positions, but it's the guys doing the blocking, the gunning, and the coaching that make the biggest difference. 

I don't think I agree.

Obviously you need blocking, but does it really make THAT much difference across the league?  How many kicks are actually BLOCKED every year?  Not too many, which tells me that blocking isn't all that different from the best ST units in the league to the worst.

Likewise tackling / gunning.  How many kicks are run back for touchdowns every year?  Again, top to bottom, not much difference between the units.

I do agree, good ST coaches can make a difference.  Chase Blackburn certainly did when he came in and took over.

Nevertheless, your biggest determining factors in ST are your kickers and kick returners.  How accurate is you place kicker?  How far and how much hang time does your punter produce?  Is your returner sure handed and evasive?  These are the big difference makers.

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SBBlue Veteran

SBBlue

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3 hours ago, BrianS said:

I don't think I agree.

Obviously you need blocking, but does it really make THAT much difference across the league?  How many kicks are actually BLOCKED every year?  Not too many, which tells me that blocking isn't all that different from the best ST units in the league to the worst.

Likewise tackling / gunning.  How many kicks are run back for touchdowns every year?  Again, top to bottom, not much difference between the units.

I do agree, good ST coaches can make a difference.  Chase Blackburn certainly did when he came in and took over.

Nevertheless, your biggest determining factors in ST are your kickers and kick returners.  How accurate is you place kicker?  How far and how much hang time does your punter produce?  Is your returner sure handed and evasive?  These are the big difference makers.

We had one last year if I remember correctly.  Also we used special teams on multiple fake punts, I think Chinn ran for a first down and Charlton threw for one.

I think blocking is important to make the kicker comfortable.  It seems like there a lot of almost-blocked kicks...but that could be the camera angle.

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Sasquatch Explorer

Sasquatch

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Posted (edited)
On 5/27/2021 at 11:28 AM, Michael G said:

So our core special teams most likely will be:

K- Joey Slye

P- J. Charlton

LS- T. Fletcher (Unless Jansen has him assassinated or he just starts snapping to ball into the ground during camp)

KR/PR- Shi Smith/T. Cannon (or maybe some other guys depending on camp battles)

Will these guys be special? Does anyone foresee it shaking out differently? Please tell me what you think. 

 

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Michael G Mentor

Michael G

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39 minutes ago, SBBlue said:

We had one last year if I remember correctly.  Also we used special teams on multiple fake punts, I think Chinn ran for a first down and Charlton threw for one.

Zylstra was the receiver on that play. Charlton threw a good ball with a guy in his face.

 

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rippadonn Grand Master

rippadonn

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Whenever the Panthers special teams has been great we've had above average years.

Remember how you would hold your breath and your heart would skip a beat when Micheal Bates would return a kick? He was pure speed. Rocket Ismail did work but then it was Smitty. Had to make him a WR to keep that raw explosion on the field. Who has been that guy since? Maybe He Hate Me, when was the last time we had a Bates, Rocket or Smitty returning?

The the NFL has taken out half the return game anyways so those days are halfway over, exciting times they were. A guy could be a special teams star and had more opportunity to show that he should start.

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NAS Grand Master

NAS

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1 hour ago, SBBlue said:

We had one last year if I remember correctly.  Also we used special teams on multiple fake punts, I think Chinn ran for a first down and Charlton threw for one.

I think blocking is important to make the kicker comfortable.  It seems like there a lot of almost-blocked kicks...but that could be the camera angle.

Right, but I'm also just talking about 'blocking' for your returner.  It's useless to have a great returner if he has no seams and holes to take advantage of.

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