Punt Returner

[gimmesix]

Majority were muffs that he had after he broke his wrist and had a soft cast on it. He doesn't fumble anymore than any other player on punt returns.

Good point on the broken wrist.

 

[ItzKelz]

Cobb

 

[Beaker42]

Austin and Beasley were the only players that returned Punts in 2018.

Beasley is obvious gone.

With Austin's injury history, they have to find a second Punt Returner.

College Return Stats
(#, yards, avg, TDs)
Reggie Davis

KR 47, 998, 21.2, 0
PR 34, 251, 7.4, 1​

Cedrick Wilson

KR 31, 742, 23.9, 0
PR 10, 132, 13.2, 0​

Tony Pollard

KR 87, 2616, 30.1, 7
PR 2, 11, 5.5, 0​

Jourdan Lewis

KR 24, 529, 22, 0
PR 2, -1, -0.5, 0​

Mike Weber

KR 9, 143, 15.9, 0
PR 0, 0, 0, 0​

Devin Smith

KR 13, 240, 18.5, 0
PR 5, 18, 3.6, 0​

Troy Pollard says “Hi”.

 

[gimmesix]

Pollard

I think he'll end up handling kickoffs, but I don't think punt returns are his forte.

A lot of running backs have a problem with them because of the trajectory. Kickoffs are more like a pass, low and fairly flat, so they are easier to field. Punts hang in the air, sometimes with quite a bit of spin. Plus, usually you are having to concentrate on them with bodies coming at you or flying around you, while you don't have that obstacle with kick returns.

As a former receiver, that might not be as much of a problem for Pollard as it seems to be for a lot of backs.

 

[ItzKelz]

There should be a poll on this. I would like to see what most think about this without having to read all the post lol.

 

[xwalker]

Troy Pollard says “Hi”.

Pollard is in the list.

He had 2 Punt Returns in college for 11 yards (5.5 average).

 

[xwalker]

Cobb appears to want to do it. I would try to limit him to more of the Beasley role, and let Austin be the main returner unless he gets injured.

The main difference is that Cobb will actually be a return threat when he's not forced to fair catch.

I think they want to be cautious with Cobb because of his injury issues.

He's going to be the starting slot WR.​

Austin has injury issues but they likely aren't planning a significant role for him at WR.

If Austin is the #1 PR, then Cobb is a good option as the game day backup PR.

Even if some of the young players are options, they might not always be on the 46.
​

Cobb's PR stats in the NFL:
89 for 832, (9.3 average)

It would be great if Tony Pollard has PR ability. He'll be active on game day.

I don't know if Pollard wasn't a good option at PR in college or if they just didn't want to over use him.

He had a big role on offense and he returned Kicks.​

 

[gimmesix]

I think they want to be cautious with Cobb because of his injury issues.

He's going to be the starting slot WR.​

Austin has injury issues but they likely aren't planning a significant role for him at WR.

If Austin is the #1 PR, then Cobb is a good option as the game day backup PR.

Even if some of the young players are options, they might not always be on the 46.
​

Cobb's PR stats in the NFL:
89 for 832, (9.3 average)

It would be great if Tony Pollard has PR ability. He'll be active on game day.

I don't know if Pollard wasn't a good option at PR in college or if they just didn't want to over use him.

He had a big role on offense and he returned Kicks.​

I don't know either with Pollard. I just know that a lot of players have trouble judging punts, then with the footsteps that are near them while fielding the ball.

I don't see Dallas having any problem letting Cobb handle the Beasley role. Beasley only returned 11 punts last year. He was mainly back there for sure hands, with 18 fair catches. Cobb does have some fumbles in his punt return history, but I would think the team would trust his hands more than a rookie or first-year player who hasn't shown his reliability yet. (I don't know with Cobb if his fumbles came while fielding the ball or during the return. He has nine in 156 opportunities. Austin has 17 in 241. So their rates aren't very far apart — every 17 punts fielded for Cobb, every 14 for Austin. Five of Cobb's fumbles came his first two years, though, but he also received a lot more of his opportunities then.)

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

For those saying Cobb

He's had a total of 32 punt returns over the last five years, for an average return of 7.65 yards
That would have been the 4th lowest in the league last year of returners with at least 20 returns

 

[buybuydandavis]

Cobb appears to want to do it. I would try to limit him to more of the Beasley role, and let Austin be the main returner unless he gets injured.

The main difference is that Cobb will actually be a return threat when he's not forced to fair catch.

Cobb makes sense for the in game backup. It's good to hear that he wants to do it.

If Austin gets injured, maybe they bring up a guy from the PS.

But people grossly overestimate Austin's "injury history". He's actually been extremely durable over his career, particularly for such a small guy. Last year was an aberration. He missed 5 games total in the prior 5 seasons. For all I know, some of those may even have been just sitting out the final game of a season.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I don't know either with Pollard. I just know that a lot of players have trouble judging punts, then with the footsteps that are near them while fielding the ball.

I expect Pollard is one of those guys who don't judge punts well. Why else wouldn't he have returned punts in college, while being such a fantastic kick returner?

 

[cern]

And those 17 times has been debunked. As most of them were considered muffs. And he recovered those. It is not the same.
Still a lot but not as bad as many want to make it out to be. They act as if he fumbled and lost everyone of them.

He has not had as many injuries either, it was mostly from 2017.

I don't want a muffer returning punts for my team. I would prefer he not make the team. the jet sweeps just aren't worth it. it will be interesting to see who we keep as wr's. there are some potential good rookies among the group, but as we know, rookies looking good in ota's aren't the same as rookies in games.

 

[buybuydandavis]

For those saying Cobb

He's had a total of 32 punt returns over the last five years, for an average return of 7.65 yards
That would have been the 4th lowest in the league last year of returners with at least 20 returns

Cobb would be the backup. You'd expect *starting* PRs to be better than a guy who is the backup.

I'm not using a roster spot to bring on a *backup* punt returner.

 

[cern]

Majority were muffs that he had after he broke his wrist and had a soft cast on it. He doesn't fumble anymore than any other player on punt returns.

3 of his 4 with the rams resulted in losses. I think he will be hard pressed to make the team.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Yes. I'd want to keep him as the primary returner. Austin's problem in the past with fumbling has had to do with muffs, most likely from taking his eye off the ball.

Also, I can't find the stat breakdown now, but my recollection is that Austin's fumbling problem was largely confined to kickoffs, and I'd think Pollard will take those anyway.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I think they want to be cautious with Cobb because of his injury issues.

He's going to be the starting slot WR.​

Austin has injury issues but they likely aren't planning a significant role for him at WR.

If Austin is the #1 PR, then Cobb is a good option as the game day backup PR.

Even if some of the young players are options, they might not always be on the 46.
​

Cobb's PR stats in the NFL:
89 for 832, (9.3 average)

It would be great if Tony Pollard has PR ability. He'll be active on game day.

I don't know if Pollard wasn't a good option at PR in college or if they just didn't want to over use him.

He had a big role on offense and he returned Kicks.​

Pollard was too good on kickoffs for them to be saving snaps on him with punts. I bet he has issues with punt returns.

 

[starfan1]

need someone with sure hands for punts and in terms KO's it really dont matter the days of KO returns are behind us.

 

[gimmesix]

Also, I can't find the stat breakdown now, but my recollection is that Austin's fumbling problem was largely confined to kickoffs, and I'd think Pollard will take those anyway.

Based on what I see on nfl.com, he has no fumbles on kickoffs (25 attempts).

 

[gimmesix]

For those saying Cobb

He's had a total of 32 punt returns over the last five years, for an average return of 7.65 yards
That would have been the 4th lowest in the league last year of returners with at least 20 returns

It's hard to judge a return man with fewer opportunities against those who have more.

Cobb has had only one season in the past six seasons where he had more than 10 returns, and he averaged 8.0 on 14 returns that year. His first two season, when he got 20-plus, he average 11.3 and 9.4 with a TD return each season.

However, I wouldn't expect him to have more than 15 returns in the Beasley role, where he'd only occasionally get to actually return one and it's harder to break a big return because the punts are generally higher and shorter since the team is attempting to down them inside the 20.

 

[Big D]

Austin will be the PR and Pollard will handle KR. Cobb can fill in if there's an injury to either.