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Time to Use AB on Punt Returns?

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nitsuj1225

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Not impressed with Switzer despite being a "return specialist".

I liked when we used AB situationally in return situations. Basically when a team is punting from within their own 30 and the chances of getting some room for a return are greater. I miss having that game changing spark he would provide on punt returns. I've seen enough of Switzer to know he doesn't provide that.

I know I know, chance for injury blah blah blah. Playoffs essentially start this week. Give your team the best chance to win and AB returning a few punts per game does that.

None of that matters if they don't fix the defensive scheme first though.
 
Blah blah let AB get hurt the season is over anyway blah blah

Steelers defense stinks so bad they dont stop teams enough to punt, yeah
 
Switz is a solid hands guy, but doesn't look like he is breaking any soon. I dunno if it is worth the risk throwing AB in there.............
 
I always think Switz is going to get broken in half on any returns
 
Switzer is fine back there. I don't want AB to get hurt for something we brought in a capable player in to do. It's not like our block schemes are that great anyway and AB is the missing piece.
 
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It’s not like our punt return blocking is going to do anything other than force a fair catch or get the returner creamed. I’d rather have Switzer back there for that reason alone.

Danny Smith brings back horrible memories of bad ST coaches of the past (Jay Hayes, anyone? See here…). Bobby April was the last good ST coach I remember, and that was eons ago.
 
AggieSteel said:
Do our opponents punt?


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Click to expand...

Lol so true, that's why I had to add the last line as a disclaimer.

Regarding other comments on injuries:
Shouldn't you want your best player with the ball in his hands at all times? Is there some stat that I'm missing that says punt returner is the most injured position? Never understood this argument and have never seen anything to convince me otherwise. We have zero shot of getting a game changing return from Switzer. We need all the game changing plays we can get at this point.
 
thesteelcity said:
Switzer is fine back there. I don't want AB to get hurt for something we brought in a capable player in to do. It's not like our block schemes are that great anyway and AB is the missing piece.
Click to expand...

Blocking scheme? I feel like this is a very big assumption based on nothing other than the fact Switzer gets no more than 10 yards during a return. Who's to say AB doesn't make more guys miss? You know, because he's one of the best in the league at doing just that.

Good punt returners don't need perfect blocking, that's what makes them good punt returners.
 
nitsuj1225 said:
Lol so true, that's why I had to add the last line as a disclaimer.

Regarding other comments on injuries:
Shouldn't you want your best player with the ball in his hands at all times? Is there some stat that I'm missing that says punt returner is the most injured position? Never understood this argument and have never seen anything to convince me otherwise. We have zero shot of getting a game changing return from Switzer. We need all the game changing plays we can get at this point.
Click to expand...

There have been 776 punts in the NFL this season so far, of that number, only 5 have been returned for a TD. That means there is a .0064% chance of scoring a TD on a return. The average team has 28 punts for the season. You want to expose your #1 offensive threat to 28 high impact additional hits for the .0064% chance of a TD. Not even close to being worth the risk.
 
At fist glance, Switzer looked like a great option for returning punts/kicks. However, time has shown he ain't all that. He has decent start/stop, but he is VERY weak and lacks top-end speed. Unfortunately, he is not the answer.
 
AggieSteel said:
Do our opponents punt?


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Click to expand...

:lol: There's some truth to that, Switzer hasn't had many opportunities and when he does, it's usually from a punter who booms the ball 60 yards in the air. How many times have we seen him back-peddling for a fair catch? He may have had a couple of opportunities for decent returns negated by holding penalties but not many beyond that.
 
nitsuj1225 said:
Blocking scheme? I feel like this is a very big assumption based on nothing other than the fact Switzer gets no more than 10 yards during a return. Who's to say AB doesn't make more guys miss? You know, because he's one of the best in the league at doing just that.

Good punt returners don't need perfect blocking, that's what makes them good punt returners.
Click to expand...

Great returners are able to run North/South because there is usually a crease, when was the last time you have seen a crease for anyone to run thru with our return teams? Second, it doesn't matter what kind of return we have since half of the time we have a penalty on our return teams even when we fair catch the ball.
 
When the TD is going to get called back for a penalty anyway, it doesn't matter who is back there.

I say put all 11 rushing the punter with no return. Less likely for a hold or a block in the back and might even get a block,
 
No...AB should be done with that. Always the danger of getting hurt real bad. I'll pass
 
Swiss is fine. Whenever he gets a descent return it’s called back for a block in the back of an invisible hold during the return. He’s tough and he has grit. He reminds me of Wes Welker.
 
nitsuj1225 said:
Blocking scheme? I feel like this is a very big assumption based on nothing other than the fact Switzer gets no more than 10 yards during a return. Who's to say AB doesn't make more guys miss? You know, because he's one of the best in the league at doing just that.

Good punt returners don't need perfect blocking, that's what makes them good punt returners.
Click to expand...

and if they punt or kick away from AB, where does that get them anyway? Do you really want the risk of him getting hurt returning kicks, too? The bad certainly outweighs the good having your #1 WR back there.
 
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I don’t want AB returning punts as well. Too much risk of injury. Switzer will do to finish out this season at least.


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Steeler Pride said:
There have been 776 punts in the NFL this season so far, of that number, only 5 have been returned for a TD. That means there is a .0064% chance of scoring a TD on a return. The average team has 28 punts for the season. You want to expose your #1 offensive threat to 28 high impact additional hits for the .0064% chance of a TD. Not even close to being worth the risk.
Click to expand...

No, that's why I said "situationally". As in, situations where it's a higher probability of having a successful return based on field positioning. They have used this strategy with some success in past seasons so I'm not just pulling it out of my ***.

I'm also not only talking about touchdowns, an impact play could easily be a 30 yard return that sets up the O inside the opponents territory which Switzer has yet to do all season. Talk about probability, Switzer has a 0% probability. With AB, at least there's a chance.

Also, of those 776 punts, how many were fair caught...as in, not even returned? How many were touchbacks into the end zone? You have to remove those from the total to get a proper TD to punt ratio to assess injury risk. I'd be willing to bet at least half of those 28 "high impact hits" didn't even happen.

Even still, the way I look at it is glass half full as opposed to half empty. That's 28 more touches for our best playmaker on the team. That in itself gives the team a better chance to win and as close as these games have been this season, could have been the difference in a few.

I feel like Tomlin is rubbing off on some of you people, you're ok with mediocre, or "capable", or "fine" which is what I keep seeing Switzer described as. Apparently that's what we've become numb to and accepting of these days.
 
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Just call for the fair catch. Every time they try to return it they're called for holding.
 
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