"He's not necessarily a punt returner anyway"

[parchy]

Wade said this about... guess who yesterday?

Yep. The one and only Isaiah Stanback. We don't need him for kick returns and he's still learning how to play the wide receiver position, so who knows if he even has a future there. And he might be fragile.

I wasn't worried about this pick until Wade said that. If he's "not necessarily a punt returner," I hope he figures out what he "necessarily is" pretty soon. Because so far it hasn't been a wide out.

 

[CATCH17]

Hes had some stupid injuries that have kept him off the field and hes changing from a College Quarterback to a NFL receiver.

This one is going to take time folks. It may work and it may not but we picked him because he is big, fast, and athletic.

But its to early to judge him on anything because hes obviously not ready.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I was *glad* Wade said that, because you don't draft a guy who never returned punts and expect him to be able to do it anyway.

Punt returning is hard. Just catching the punt with 10 guys bearing down on you is hard enough, never mind being good at running with it afterwards. But most of the guys who are good at punts are smaller, shiftier guys with natural hands. Stanback is quick for his size, but he's bigger than most returners, and I'm not sure he fits the profile.

But there are tons of good NFL WRs who wouldn't be worth a darn as a punt returner. If Stanback doesn't return punts -- and I don't want him doing it unless he shows a real talent for it -- it doesn't reflect badly on him as a WR prospect at all.

 

[superpunk]

ohnoes.

Wade should have consulted Madden 2008 before he opened his mouth - Stanback absolutely is a punt returner. His moves suck, though, and he's not that fast. Truthfully I'm thinking about cutting him.

Which would make almost as much sense as worrying about when they're going to find out what our 4th round draft pick who's been injured can do.

After all - "not necessarily" doesn't mean "not". Wade could have been saying that Stanback is not necessarily JUST a punt returner. That he is other things too. Hard to really know...

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Ever consider the possibility that Wade Phillips is sending Stanback a subtle message that he needs to get better at special teams? This would make sense since it's well known to all that, right now, Stanback is a PROJECT at WR. This is not a bad thing because with his size and speed he has upside to develop into a good one, but for right now, Wade Phillis may be sending Stanback a subtle message that his best chance to get on the field is special teams - primarily somewhere in the returen game.

**

 

[aikemirv]

9:38 -- INT by Joey Thomas on a poor pass by Jay Cutler. Thomas had good coverage on Brian Clark's fade route, so the only chance Cutler had was to loft the ball to the corner. He tried to zip it in there, and Thomas caught it cleanly. ... Isaiah Stanback beat Champ Bailey deep. Stanback also just burned Dre Bly for another TD. WRs have the edge in 1-on-1 drills, but it's very encouraging nonetheless. ... Boise State hero Jerard Rabb just beat Bailey on a crossing route.


In the overreaction mode. Who cares about a punt returner - we have a Star WR!!!!!:laugh2:

 

[theogt]

9:38 -- INT by Joey Thomas on a poor pass by Jay Cutler. Thomas had good coverage on Brian Clark's fade route, so the only chance Cutler had was to loft the ball to the corner. He tried to zip it in there, and Thomas caught it cleanly. ... Isaiah Stanback beat Champ Bailey deep. Stanback also just burned Dre Bly for another TD. WRs have the edge in 1-on-1 drills, but it's very encouraging nonetheless. ... Boise State hero Jerard Rabb just beat Bailey on a crossing route.


In the overreaction mode. Who cares about a punt returner - we have a Star WR!!!!!:laugh2:

PUT HIM IN THE RING OF HONOR NOW, DAMN IT!

 

[big dog cowboy]

Where's that panic button?

 

[parchy]

I was *glad* Wade said that, because you don't draft a guy who never returned punts and expect him to be able to do it anyway.

Punt returning is hard. Just catching the punt with 10 guys bearing down on you is hard enough, never mind being good at running with it afterwards. But most of the guys who are good at punts are smaller, shiftier guys with natural hands. Stanback is quick for his size, but he's bigger than most returners, and I'm not sure he fits the profile.

But there are tons of good NFL WRs who wouldn't be worth a darn as a punt returner. If Stanback doesn't return punts -- and I don't want him doing it unless he shows a real talent for it -- it doesn't reflect badly on him as a WR prospect at all.

You were glad Wade said one of our players isn't a punt returner? Why? I can understand not putting people back there that aren't talented enough to do the job, but we haven't even seen him field punts yet. And don't tell me you didn't think he was a special teamer when he got here, because everybody did. We thought we had a fix at punt returner. That was, at the very least, something a ton of people KNEW he could do. I wasn't in that bunch, but a ton were.

If Newman is going to be the returner, which is the worst option of a bunch of bad options at the position, then I'm going to take interest in this issue. If you're a 4th rounder or higher, I think the pick deserves scrutiny. I'm going to wait and see. Of course I am.

And no, it doesn't reflect badly on him as a WR prospect. Never said it did. But punt returning is something we needed him for (remember all that talk about him being the SECOND special teamer drafted in the fourth round in two years to crap out). And now he can't do that. So assuming he develops into a WR, and all I pointed out was that it was anything but a safe bet that he does at this point, that's all we can use him for.

 

[parchy]

Where's that panic button?

Why do so many people here assume you're panicking if you have any gripe at all about anything?

 

[theogt]

Why do so many people here assume you're panicking if you have any gripe at all about anything?

It was probably the numerous panic-like comments, many of which were borderline false, that people are reacting to.

We don't need him for kick returns

True, and we didn't *need* another line or a linebacker or a fullback or any of the other positions that we've picked up over the years. We've always had bodies at every position. But maybe we *want* to upgrade those positions.

and he's still learning how to play the wide receiver position

Still? It's been one week of practice. We knew he didn't know how to play the position when we drafted him. He's a 4th round pick. The guy is a project.

so who knows if he even has a future there.

Who knows if any of the draft picks have futures here? But we do know that the coaches and scouts have been raving about the guy?

And he might be fragile.

Fragile? We drafted the guy with a foot injury and then he had shin splints, a temporary injury that many athletes develop at least once in their life.

I wasn't worried about this pick until Wade said that. If he's "not necessarily a punt returner," I hope he figures out what he "necessarily is" pretty soon.

Worried about the pick? So you're somewhere between worried and panicked. Gotcha.

Because so far it hasn't been a wide out.

Funny, because as you were typing this, he beat Dre Bly and Champ Bailey for deep touchdowns.

 

[iceberg]

Wade said this about... guess who yesterday?

Yep. The one and only Isaiah Stanback. We don't need him for kick returns and he's still learning how to play the wide receiver position, so who knows if he even has a future there. And he might be fragile.

I wasn't worried about this pick until Wade said that. If he's "not necessarily a punt returner," I hope he figures out what he "necessarily is" pretty soon. Because so far it hasn't been a wide out.

Where's that panic button?

Why do so many people here assume you're panicking if you have any gripe at all about anything?

griping isn't usually "i'm worried about this pick". i'd not quite call it "panic-ville" yet, but good lord - we're 1 pre-season game into the year and we're "worried" about a 4th round draft pick.

if he pans out, great. i hope so. if not, oh well - it's not a HUGE sacrafice to draft this kid when we did in an overall weak draft when we had no real glaring holes to fill with obvious players *who'd never dare to get hurt* sitting right there waiting to be the "smart pick".

as for "so far hasn't been a wide out" how wonderful a prediction is that? he's not been a qb either. or a cb. or a te, g, nt or anything else. he's been recovering from an injury we knew he had and dealing with issues around that.

the "instant gratification society" gets so very old.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I hope he figures out what he "necessarily is" pretty soon.

Well, I figured it out the moment we drafted him.

He "necessarily is" a phenomenal athlete who will take a year or two to develop. Not a big deal since he was a 4th round draft pick, and they rarely contribute as rookies on playoff contenders. Show me a team that is counting and depending on their Day 2 picks to play huge roles for them as rookies, and I'll show you a team that sucks.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

You were glad Wade said one of our players isn't a punt returner? Why? I can understand not putting people back there that aren't talented enough to do the job, but we haven't even seen him field punts yet. And don't tell me you didn't think he was a special teamer when he got here, because everybody did. We thought we had a fix at punt returner. That was, at the very least, something a ton of people KNEW he could do. I wasn't in that bunch, but a ton were.

Because expecting him to return punts when he's never done it before would be insane. If nothing else, it would put unrealistic expectations on the kid (as looks like happened here), and that isn't fair to him.

That talk about the second punt returner in two years was bluster from Jerry and the media, IIRC. Green was definitely a returner -- he was much better at that than as a WR in college. That's not the case for Stanback. He hasn't even done this before.

Maybe he can do it and do it well -- that would be great. But it's not right to hold it against him if he can't do it.

And I still don't see why Newman as PR is such a terrible option. Crayton can still catch the deep ones that would likely be fair caught anyway.

 

[speedkilz88]

On talkin cowboys, Spagnola was saying that he hopes Stanback plays saturday like the coaches claim. He said that if people just saw the guy with the ball in his hands they would realize why he was drafted by the Cowboys.

Also, the Broncos have a wr named Brandon Marshall who is reportedly looking great in practices. He was a fourth round pick last season that's been compared to TO. He did literally nothing last year for the Broncos, I believe he battled injuries.

 

[DanTanna]

Stanback was a *luxury* pick!


We were stacked at most every position and we rolled the dice. If he doesn't turn out to be a stud, so what? The upside far outweighs the negativity of a bust. I would rather our 4th rounder totally bust than our first rounder turn out to be a Greg Ellis (average). If we are a team loaded with average players, we are the Houston Texans. :

 

[peplaw06]

On talkin cowboys, Spagnola was saying that he hopes Stanback plays saturday like the coaches claim. He said that if people just saw the guy with the ball in his hands they would realize why he was drafted by the Cowboys.

THIS is why he will make the team. But no doubt he's a project.

 

[carphalen5150]

I'd rather him focus on WR anyways. We have Crayton and Newman already, so we are pretty set. He was a home run pick...from what Ireland said after the draft there were other teams looking at him right around where we took him.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

You were glad Wade said one of our players isn't a punt returner? Why? I can understand not putting people back there that aren't talented enough to do the job, but we haven't even seen him field punts yet. And don't tell me you didn't think he was a special teamer when he got here, because everybody did. We thought we had a fix at punt returner. That was, at the very least, something a ton of people KNEW he could do. I wasn't in that bunch, but a ton were.

If Newman is going to be the returner, which is the worst option of a bunch of bad options at the position, then I'm going to take interest in this issue. If you're a 4th rounder or higher, I think the pick deserves scrutiny. I'm going to wait and see. Of course I am.

And no, it doesn't reflect badly on him as a WR prospect. Never said it did. But punt returning is something we needed him for (remember all that talk about him being the SECOND special teamer drafted in the fourth round in two years to crap out). And now he can't do that. So assuming he develops into a WR, and all I pointed out was that it was anything but a safe bet that he does at this point, that's all we can use him for.

Just because you erroneously thought he was drafted as a special teamer doesn't make it so.


Most level headed posters understood that he was a project pick thanks to his injury. Most people weren't expecting him to even see the field this year while he rehabbed or if he did, he was expected to contribute very little, relegated to a few special teams plays if anything.


You do realize that without the lins franc, he would have probably gone in the high second round because he was simply the best athlete in the draft?

Ginn went in the top ten thanks to his speed yet Stanback has timed faster.

 

[aikemirv]

Stanback was a *luxury* pick!


We were stacked at most every position and we rolled the dice. If he doesn't turn out to be a stud, so what? The upside far outweighs the negativity of a bust. I would rather our 4th rounder totally bust than our first rounder turn out to be a Greg Ellis (average). If we are a team loaded with average players, we are the Houston Texans. :

And like I have said before. If I could get an athlete like him every year in the 4th round, I would continually take him year after year.