[Stymie]

....looked at the you tube video today.  My notes:

1.  Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.
2.  Chryst was impeccable as a hander-offer but less so as passer-generalissimo.
3.  Power worked good, but SC-def will force us to a more complex O-level.  We got it.
4.  The TE's are awesome.  The alpha-male is Smith.
5.  Kalyambi is solid NFL material.  The rest of the LB group are not chopped liver.  The DBs are awesome.  As is Phillips.  There is enough talent there (including the bench) to kerfuffle any opponent.
6.  Love and Scarlett are world-class.  If Speights competes with them we are blessed.
7.  Wedington is a phenom.  Linked with Irwin, JJ A-W, the TE's  etc. nae problemo.
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.
9. The OL is very capable of holding the fort before the chaos begins.  It could be great.

All IMHO

[Stymie]

....looked at the you tube video today.  My notes:

1.  Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.
2.  Chryst was impeccable as a hander-offer but less so as passer-generalissimo.
3.  Power worked good, but SC-def will force us to a more complex O-level.  We got it.
4.  The TE's are awesome.  The alpha-male is Smith.
5.  Kalyambi is solid NFL material.  The rest of the LB group are not chopped liver.  The DBs are awesome.  As is Phillips.  There is enough talent there (including the bench) to kerfuffle any opponent.
6.  Love and Scarlett are world-class.  If Speights competes with them we are blessed.
7.  Wedington is a phenom.  Linked with Irwin, JJ A-W, the TE's  etc. nae problemo.
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.
9. The OL is very capable of holding the fort before the chaos begins.  It could be great.

All IMHO

[DC 86]

Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.

He actually muffed the first punt after calling for a fair catch but managed to recover it himself.

[DC 86]

Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.

He actually muffed the first punt after calling for a fair catch but managed to recover it himself.

[Stymie]

[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.

He actually muffed the first punt after calling for a fair catch but managed to recover it himself.
[/quote]

Yup.  That's what a player does.,

[Stymie]

[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.

He actually muffed the first punt after calling for a fair catch but managed to recover it himself.
[/quote]

Yup.  That's what a player does.,

[FarmBoy]

8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.

I'm torn between the excitement and potential show by Costello against a clearly over matched Rice team and the reluctance to crown a new leader. He had the highest QB rating but only threw 9 passes. How much of Rice's starting D was on the field and with how much passion did they play at the end of a squashing? And then I hate to second guess Coach Shaw who clearly knows a heck of a lot more than me about the players, team dynamics, and what it takes to succeed at this level.

Still, I hope he gets the promotion over Burns to QB2 and Shaw finds some time to work him into the next few games. It's too bad we don't have another tune up game before heading down to 'SC.

[FarmBoy]

8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.

I'm torn between the excitement and potential show by Costello against a clearly over matched Rice team and the reluctance to crown a new leader. He had the highest QB rating but only threw 9 passes. How much of Rice's starting D was on the field and with how much passion did they play at the end of a squashing? And then I hate to second guess Coach Shaw who clearly knows a heck of a lot more than me about the players, team dynamics, and what it takes to succeed at this level.

Still, I hope he gets the promotion over Burns to QB2 and Shaw finds some time to work him into the next few games. It's too bad we don't have another tune up game before heading down to 'SC.

[BostonCard]

[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.

I'm torn between the excitement and potential show by Costello against a clearly over matched Rice team and the reluctance to crown a new leader. He had the highest QB rating but only threw 9 passes. How much of Rice's starting D was on the field and with how much passion did they play at the end of a squashing? And then I hate to second guess Coach Shaw who clearly knows a heck of a lot more than me about the players, team dynamics, and what it takes to succeed at this level.

Still, I hope he gets the promotion over Burns to QB2 and Shaw finds some time to work him into the next few games. It's too bad we don't have another tune up game before heading down to 'SC.
[/quote]

Actually he had the lowest PER.  He did have the highest rating by ESPN's total QBR.


BC

[BostonCard]

[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.

I'm torn between the excitement and potential show by Costello against a clearly over matched Rice team and the reluctance to crown a new leader. He had the highest QB rating but only threw 9 passes. How much of Rice's starting D was on the field and with how much passion did they play at the end of a squashing? And then I hate to second guess Coach Shaw who clearly knows a heck of a lot more than me about the players, team dynamics, and what it takes to succeed at this level.

Still, I hope he gets the promotion over Burns to QB2 and Shaw finds some time to work him into the next few games. It's too bad we don't have another tune up game before heading down to 'SC.
[/quote]

Actually he had the lowest PER.  He did have the highest rating by ESPN's total QBR.


BC

[Phogge]

The Squid needs to maintain over a long season. Had three years of ups and downs. Underwhelmed by Jackson and Robinson. Excited by Antoine.

[Phogge]

The Squid needs to maintain over a long season. Had three years of ups and downs. Underwhelmed by Jackson and Robinson. Excited by Antoine.

[FarmBoy]

[quote author=FarmBoy link=topic=17255.msg198422#msg198422 date=1504028560]
[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.

I'm torn between the excitement and potential show by Costello against a clearly over matched Rice team and the reluctance to crown a new leader. He had the highest QB rating but only threw 9 passes. How much of Rice's starting D was on the field and with how much passion did they play at the end of a squashing? And then I hate to second guess Coach Shaw who clearly knows a heck of a lot more than me about the players, team dynamics, and what it takes to succeed at this level.

Still, I hope he gets the promotion over Burns to QB2 and Shaw finds some time to work him into the next few games. It's too bad we don't have another tune up game before heading down to 'SC.
[/quote]

Actually he had the lowest PER.  He did have the highest rating by ESPN's total QBR.


BC
[/quote]

Thanks for the correction. I didn't even notice that ESPN has not opted to display their proprietary QBR instead of PER in the box score summaries. I did wonder in passing at the incredibly low rating all three had considering 3 TDs and no INTs.

[FarmBoy]

[quote author=FarmBoy link=topic=17255.msg198422#msg198422 date=1504028560]
[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.

I'm torn between the excitement and potential show by Costello against a clearly over matched Rice team and the reluctance to crown a new leader. He had the highest QB rating but only threw 9 passes. How much of Rice's starting D was on the field and with how much passion did they play at the end of a squashing? And then I hate to second guess Coach Shaw who clearly knows a heck of a lot more than me about the players, team dynamics, and what it takes to succeed at this level.

Still, I hope he gets the promotion over Burns to QB2 and Shaw finds some time to work him into the next few games. It's too bad we don't have another tune up game before heading down to 'SC.
[/quote]

Actually he had the lowest PER.  He did have the highest rating by ESPN's total QBR.


BC
[/quote]

Thanks for the correction. I didn't even notice that ESPN has not opted to display their proprietary QBR instead of PER in the box score summaries. I did wonder in passing at the incredibly low rating all three had considering 3 TDs and no INTs.

[johnnyo53]

....looked at the you tube video today.  My notes:

1.  Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.
2.  Chryst was impeccable as a hander-offer but less so as passer-generalissimo.
3.  Power worked good, but SC-def will force us to a more complex O-level.  We got it.
4.  The TE's are awesome.  The alpha-male is Smith.
5.  Kalyambi is solid NFL material.  The rest of the LB group are not chopped liver.  The DBs are awesome.  As is Phillips.  There is enough talent there (including the bench) to kerfuffle any opponent.
6.  Love and Scarlett are world-class.  If Speights competes with them we are blessed.
7.  Wedington is a phenom.  Linked with Irwin, JJ A-W, the TE's  etc. nae problemo.
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.
9. The OL is very capable of holding the fort before the chaos begins.  It could be great.

All IMHO

I LOOK FOR TYLER TO IMPROVE
I'M STILL CONCERNED ABOUT THE QB'S
IT'S EASY TO LOOK AWESOME AGAINST RICE, BUT AT LEAST WE FOUND OUR TE'S EARLY THIS YEAR
KALAMBAYI NEEDS TO SUSTAIN HIS PERFORMANCES IN EACH DRIVE AND EACH GAME- VERY INCONSISTENT DURING HIS CAREER, BUT NFL SKILLSET AND FRAME
WORLD CLASS?  IT WAS RICE, I'M STILL FROM MISSOURI UNTIL I SEE IT AGAINST PAC12 ELITE COMPETITION- I THOUGHT SCARLETT MIGHT BE LACKING SOME BURST BUT WE'LL SEE
AGREE WITH YOUR REMAINING TWO POINTS

[johnnyo53]

....looked at the you tube video today.  My notes:

1.  Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.
2.  Chryst was impeccable as a hander-offer but less so as passer-generalissimo.
3.  Power worked good, but SC-def will force us to a more complex O-level.  We got it.
4.  The TE's are awesome.  The alpha-male is Smith.
5.  Kalyambi is solid NFL material.  The rest of the LB group are not chopped liver.  The DBs are awesome.  As is Phillips.  There is enough talent there (including the bench) to kerfuffle any opponent.
6.  Love and Scarlett are world-class.  If Speights competes with them we are blessed.
7.  Wedington is a phenom.  Linked with Irwin, JJ A-W, the TE's  etc. nae problemo.
8.  Costello is slightly raw, but if given some fresh air, could lead us to great things as the year progresses.
9. The OL is very capable of holding the fort before the chaos begins.  It could be great.

All IMHO

I LOOK FOR TYLER TO IMPROVE
I'M STILL CONCERNED ABOUT THE QB'S
IT'S EASY TO LOOK AWESOME AGAINST RICE, BUT AT LEAST WE FOUND OUR TE'S EARLY THIS YEAR
KALAMBAYI NEEDS TO SUSTAIN HIS PERFORMANCES IN EACH DRIVE AND EACH GAME- VERY INCONSISTENT DURING HIS CAREER, BUT NFL SKILLSET AND FRAME
WORLD CLASS?  IT WAS RICE, I'M STILL FROM MISSOURI UNTIL I SEE IT AGAINST PAC12 ELITE COMPETITION- I THOUGHT SCARLETT MIGHT BE LACKING SOME BURST BUT WE'LL SEE
AGREE WITH YOUR REMAINING TWO POINTS

[Stymie]

One very important note I forgot to pass on.

This team is together.  Solid.  Happy.  Hungry.  One for all and all for one.

They can do great things, for themselves and for us.

[Stymie]

One very important note I forgot to pass on.

This team is together.  Solid.  Happy.  Hungry.  One for all and all for one.

They can do great things, for themselves and for us.

[murky]

[quote author=DC 86 link=topic=17255.msg198416#msg198416 date=1504027038]
[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.

He actually muffed the first punt after calling for a fair catch but managed to recover it himself.
[/quote]

Yup.  That's what a player does.,
[/quote]

I couldn't find an a reason why he called for the fair catch, unless he anticipated muffing it.  That's about as much space as you are ever doing to get to field a punt and take off. 

[murky]

[quote author=DC 86 link=topic=17255.msg198416#msg198416 date=1504027038]
[quote author=Stymie link=topic=17255.msg198414#msg198414 date=1504026761]
Tyler may have been mediocre on punt returns, but he didn't fumble anything and had a great block freeing Love on play one.  He's a player.

He actually muffed the first punt after calling for a fair catch but managed to recover it himself.
[/quote]

Yup.  That's what a player does.,
[/quote]

I couldn't find an a reason why he called for the fair catch, unless he anticipated muffing it.  That's about as much space as you are ever doing to get to field a punt and take off. 

[Durty Nelly]

[/quote]
I couldn't find an a reason why he called for the fair catch, unless he anticipated muffing it.  That's about as much space as you are ever doing to get to field a punt and take off.
[/quote]

Did you ever return punts?  I did as a sophomore for the varisty team in high school.  (I also returned kick offs and played RB & WR.)  Punt Return players are a special breed and experience counts a lot.  It can be hard to concentrate on fielding the punt plus judging the on coming coverage.  The elements (sun, wind, rain) can cause problems.  Job 1 is to not turn the ball over.  Job 2 is to field the punt in the air. 

We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Safety over risk is the best option. 

I think it is possible that we see Irwin and/or Wedington in the mix for some punt returns this season.

[Durty Nelly]

[/quote]
I couldn't find an a reason why he called for the fair catch, unless he anticipated muffing it.  That's about as much space as you are ever doing to get to field a punt and take off.
[/quote]

Did you ever return punts?  I did as a sophomore for the varisty team in high school.  (I also returned kick offs and played RB & WR.)  Punt Return players are a special breed and experience counts a lot.  It can be hard to concentrate on fielding the punt plus judging the on coming coverage.  The elements (sun, wind, rain) can cause problems.  Job 1 is to not turn the ball over.  Job 2 is to field the punt in the air. 

We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Safety over risk is the best option. 

I think it is possible that we see Irwin and/or Wedington in the mix for some punt returns this season.

[murky]

I couldn't find an a reason why he called for the fair catch, unless he anticipated muffing it.  That's about as much space as you are ever doing to get to field a punt and take off.
[/quote]

Did you ever return punts?  I did as a sophomore for the varisty team in high school.  (I also returned kick offs and played RB & WR.)  Punt Return players are a special breed and experience counts a lot.  It can be hard to concentrate on fielding the punt plus judging the on coming coverage.  The elements (sun, wind, rain) can cause problems.  Job 1 is to not turn the ball over.  Job 2 is to field the punt in the air. 

We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Safety over risk is the best option. 

I think it is possible that we see Irwin and/or Wedington in the mix for some punt returns this season.
[/quote]

Are you calling me out  :P  Maybe we've been spoiled.  I would never sign up for returning punts.  That's crazy.

[murky]

I couldn't find an a reason why he called for the fair catch, unless he anticipated muffing it.  That's about as much space as you are ever doing to get to field a punt and take off.
[/quote]

Did you ever return punts?  I did as a sophomore for the varisty team in high school.  (I also returned kick offs and played RB & WR.)  Punt Return players are a special breed and experience counts a lot.  It can be hard to concentrate on fielding the punt plus judging the on coming coverage.  The elements (sun, wind, rain) can cause problems.  Job 1 is to not turn the ball over.  Job 2 is to field the punt in the air. 

We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Safety over risk is the best option. 

I think it is possible that we see Irwin and/or Wedington in the mix for some punt returns this season.
[/quote]

Are you calling me out  :P  Maybe we've been spoiled.  I would never sign up for returning punts.  That's crazy.

[ATLCard]

Lots of talk about Tyler's first fair catch.  Did you notice the game opening kick-off?  The ball came down at the same angle out of the sun and #11 (Alexander?) couldn't see it at all and it bounced in front of him.  There was a sun problem so Tyler likely was tentative and trying to be careful/conservative.  I wouldn't read too much into it.  I expect him to improve and get more comfortable going forward, and he doesn't we'll see someone else.

[ATLCard]

Lots of talk about Tyler's first fair catch.  Did you notice the game opening kick-off?  The ball came down at the same angle out of the sun and #11 (Alexander?) couldn't see it at all and it bounced in front of him.  There was a sun problem so Tyler likely was tentative and trying to be careful/conservative.  I wouldn't read too much into it.  I expect him to improve and get more comfortable going forward, and he doesn't we'll see someone else.

[CTcard]

We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Well, that's already off the table as we have already returned 3 of 7 punts, almost half.

The median (by team) average punt return last year was 7.85 yards.
But, it looks as if somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of all punts are returned at all, making the median average return per punt something on the order of 2+ yards.
[median edited to average as pointed out by murky - and yeah, mixing medians and averages like this is dodgy, but its the data that is easily available and its probably good enough for the very rough point being made. ]

Last year Stanford averaged one punt return per game, and 6.8 yards per game in punt returns. Overall, it just doesn't matter enough to get to the top of my worry list.

[CTcard]

We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Well, that's already off the table as we have already returned 3 of 7 punts, almost half.

The median (by team) average punt return last year was 7.85 yards.
But, it looks as if somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of all punts are returned at all, making the median average return per punt something on the order of 2+ yards.
[median edited to average as pointed out by murky - and yeah, mixing medians and averages like this is dodgy, but its the data that is easily available and its probably good enough for the very rough point being made. ]

Last year Stanford averaged one punt return per game, and 6.8 yards per game in punt returns. Overall, it just doesn't matter enough to get to the top of my worry list.

[murky]

[quote author=Durty Nelly link=topic=17255.msg198450#msg198450 date=1504047970]
We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Well, that's already off the table as we have already returned 3 of 7 punts, almost half.

The median (by team) average punt return last year was 7.85 yards.
But, it looks as if somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of all punts are returned at all, making the median return per punt something on the order of 2+ yards.

Last year Stanford averaged one punt return per game, and 6.8 yards per game in punt returns. Overall, it just doesn't matter enough to get to the top of my worry list.
[/quote]

I may already be coming across as the jerk in this thread, but I can't help it.  Given your numbers, the median punt return counting the non-returns would be 0 yards.

And I'll take sun in eyes as an explanation.  It wasn't apparent to me watching the game live.  That's the sort of information the commentators could share that would be actually useful.

[murky]

[quote author=Durty Nelly link=topic=17255.msg198450#msg198450 date=1504047970]
We will be fine this season if every punt is fielded as a fair catch.  Exceptional punt return average for a season is 10 yards while the average is closer to 5 yards. 

Well, that's already off the table as we have already returned 3 of 7 punts, almost half.

The median (by team) average punt return last year was 7.85 yards.
But, it looks as if somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of all punts are returned at all, making the median return per punt something on the order of 2+ yards.

Last year Stanford averaged one punt return per game, and 6.8 yards per game in punt returns. Overall, it just doesn't matter enough to get to the top of my worry list.
[/quote]

I may already be coming across as the jerk in this thread, but I can't help it.  Given your numbers, the median punt return counting the non-returns would be 0 yards.

And I'll take sun in eyes as an explanation.  It wasn't apparent to me watching the game live.  That's the sort of information the commentators could share that would be actually useful.

[Snorlax94]

I wasn't overly concerned about the punt returns from the Rice game, but it is something I'd like to see cleaned up, and I do think a viable punt return matters a bit.

I'm not surprised we had a very short punt return average last year, because punters were kicking to McCaffrey, so they're going to kick it either to a sideline or very high in the air, or both, and the angle and higher arc can take a good chunk off the total distance and can impact field position on almost every drive.

If a team has a weak punt return with unreliable returners, punters can start putting a little more spin or angle on it to try to create a turnover, or they can kick the ball at a sightly lower angle so it'll go further.

So, I think it does matter some. I think a team can be great with no punt reurn yardage, but I would much rather have a strong returner, which is why I think the team has often placed many of their top players on specialty teams.

Who can forget that 97 yard punt return by McCaffrey against K-State that was called back?

[Snorlax94]

I wasn't overly concerned about the punt returns from the Rice game, but it is something I'd like to see cleaned up, and I do think a viable punt return matters a bit.

I'm not surprised we had a very short punt return average last year, because punters were kicking to McCaffrey, so they're going to kick it either to a sideline or very high in the air, or both, and the angle and higher arc can take a good chunk off the total distance and can impact field position on almost every drive.

If a team has a weak punt return with unreliable returners, punters can start putting a little more spin or angle on it to try to create a turnover, or they can kick the ball at a sightly lower angle so it'll go further.

So, I think it does matter some. I think a team can be great with no punt reurn yardage, but I would much rather have a strong returner, which is why I think the team has often placed many of their top players on specialty teams.

Who can forget that 97 yard punt return by McCaffrey against K-State that was called back?

[fullmetal]

I believe sun in the eyes contributed to Scarlett's juggling catch as well.  I would not be surprised if Allianz Stadium was constructed without thinking about athletes catching long passes from the sky...

[fullmetal]

I believe sun in the eyes contributed to Scarlett's juggling catch as well.  I would not be surprised if Allianz Stadium was constructed without thinking about athletes catching long passes from the sky...