ESPNDallas: News, notes from Cowboys practice

[JonJon]

Why not just use Ogleetree for punts and KR?

He fumbled his opportunity away.

I agree with you. Rather than a "kickoff" specialist being a problem, I'd say using a roster spot for just a kick returner would be more the problem, in this case.

With the exception of Crayton, our current crop of returners are injury prone as Cowboys and also play important decisions outside of returning kicks. It seemed lock a logical decision to bring in a specialist.

I do wonder why Jenkins was never really thought of as a returner. He tried it a few times in preseason last year but i never saw him again after that. Maybe he got hurt and the team thought the risk was too great. He did return kicks at Central Florida though.

 

[gimmesix]

This is where having a designated "kickoff" specialist hurts. Id like to see Mike Hamlin get back on the field!

Yes, how will we ever get by without Mike Hamlin? He's made our special teams great this year.

 

[cowboyfan4life_mark]

I don't know that I believe Hamlin is going to make a bigger difference than a guy who gets a touchback on darn near every kickoff.

Actually, it is one out of three. Buehler has had 27 kickoffs with 9 touchbacks.

 

[cowboyfan4life_mark]

Haha yeah. It was pathetic. Does anybody know the opponents average field position from last year compared to this year? That would show a good indication of Buehler's effectiveness.

Stats show that last year opponents average on returns was 21.4. This year it show it at 20.8. Can't find average starting spot.

 

[Cover 2]

Stats show that last year opponents average on returns was 21.4. This year it show it at 20.8. Can't find average starting spot.

That's good to hear. So they're getting less return yardage on average, and the ball seems to be going at least 5 yards deeper every time.

 

[Kevinicus]

I actually prefer most of his kicks that go a little higher and come down between 1 yard deep and the 1 yard line. The coverage has been very good and more often than not they don't even make it back to the 20.

 

[igtmfo]

This is where having a designated "kickoff" specialist hurts. Id like to see Mike Hamlin get back on the field!

Cap'n, I'm with you.

But Hamlin is really a mystery.

a) He was targeted by us as the safety we wanted, he was thought by our scouts to be better than anybody we could get from Round Two-on in the draft. (Amazingly, I think Wade or Jerry said in a break during the first day in the draft to ESPN radio or The Fan, like during the second round, that they wanted Hamlin the next day .... even though that might have been a strategic blunder you would think, somebody could have moved up and got him ..)

b) Coaches liked him well enough in camp and stuff (said nice things about his work), but he never did much of anything at all in preseason. He didn't light up practices in camp either accd. to the daily running DMN blog play-by-play of practices. He was OK maybe. Practically indistinguishable from D. Smith, probably looked better than Mickens at least. He made the 53 though, by dint of his work on special teams mostly ...

I have high hopes, watched all the preseason games, but never saw him make plays or anything ... anybody see otherwise?

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

I would consider sitting Williams another week along with Jones and let them get closer to 100 percent.

 

[mrla]

Buehler will do a lot more than Hamlin would. I'm not sure who you'd even deactivate to play him. And I don't know how much you want a rookie FS getting his first NFL time ever against a top QB like this anyway.

Not to mention a future hall-of-fame tight end!

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I would consider sitting Williams another week along with Jones and let them get closer to 100 percent.

I disagree. If they are good enough to contribute you need them out there. Cowboys are in no position at all to sit players so they can get 100%. Especially if they're 80-90%.

 

[rkell87]

Stats show that last year opponents average on returns was 21.4. This year it show it at 20.8. Can't find average starting spot.

adam has it somewhere but last year we were actually one of the top in the league with that 21.4 iirc but we all know that doesnt mean anything cause the returner always caught it between the 3 an 8 yard line so the starting field position against us was one of the worst

 

[raichledog]

Why not just use Ogleetree for punts and KR?

I'm pretty sure you have to be kidding but humor me for a second. What's the fascination here with this guy? He played 1 game, absolutely sucked on returns and fumbled one of his 4 away (got lucky it went out of bounds).

Allen Rossum is one of the best returners ever and he fell into our laps and it just happens to fill a weakness on our team. What's the problem with that?

 

[Silverstar]

Actually, it is one out of three. Buehler has had 27 kickoffs with 9 touchbacks.

I'll take 28 touchbacks this season over....zero, zilch, nada.


Kick away Buehler!

 

[kmd24]

Here are some stats I could find:

David Buehler
Nick Folk

If that's correct, it looks like Beuhler's been worth 8 yards per kickoff in 2009 (Folk - 33.1 vs. Buehler - 25.1)

 

[sonnyboy]

Here are some stats I could find:

David Buehler
Nick Folk

If that's correct, it looks like Beuhler's been worth 8 yards per kickoff in 2009 (Folk - 33.1 vs. Buehler - 25.1)

That's amazing. But it is what we were expecting to justify the roster spot.

 

[Seven]

Can a special teams coach be named Coach of the Year?

Gotta love Joe.

I'm buying his jersey.................

 

[links18]

Do you remember our kickoffs from last year? I think we were the only team with zero touchbacks.

Man, if you don't change the spelling of Whitten in your sig, you are going to get hammered on here.

 

[TheCount]

Can a special teams coach be named Coach of the Year?

Gotta love Joe.

Well he's probably the only one that stands a chance from this group right now. :laugh2:

 

[LeonDixson]

Man, if you don't change the spelling of Whitten in your sig, you are going to get hammered on here.

Every one of the names in his sig is misspelled. He's poking fun at guys that continually misspell their names.