I'm not so sure I don't agree with ColtTiger; maybe not when he's the starter, but why not for now? Have you ever seen his highlights on youtube of him in the open field? He's amazing. As long as he's not the starting QB, give him a chance and get him on the field any way you can. Is there risk of him getting hurt? Sure, but you can say that about him at any position, especially under center. I think the risks are minimal.
Read it: After a highly successful season in 1997, Sehorn suffered a debilitating knee injury, tearing both his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, returning the opening kickoff in the 1998 preseason game against the New York Jets. Though Sehorn returned the next season, his speed was greatly diminished. (Source:Jason Sehorn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Nothing like losing your starting corner for the whole year because somebody thought it would be electrifying to see him return kicks (DURING A PRESEASON GAME). It would be a REAL BIG GAMBLE to put Patrick Peterson returning any type of kick. If Peterson (starting CB) goes down, he is not as easily replaced as if Trindon (not a starter) would go down. (Hopefully NOBODY ever goes down, but you need an effective backup plan in the case someone does).
Last I checked, football is a rough, contact sport, and bad injuries can occur at any position anytime. The issue is the lieklihood of injury, not whether or not it can happen. Tom Brady missed an entire season doing his normal job because a defender got overzealous, and who knows if he'll be the same QB when he returns. Just because it has happened before doesn't necessarily mean it's likely to happen again.
Sorry for not clarifying...I meant prolific as in punt returning, which I do not think he's very good at as opposed to returnign kicks. Punt returning is a different animal than kick returns because in kick returns, the returner is usually at least ten yards upfield by the time he reaches the first defender. Punt returns, you have to be ready for someone in your grill the moment your body touches the ball. It usually requires someone with the ability to operate in tight spaces...someone shifty. Trindon, for all his speed, ain't that shifty. But give him a hole to run through and it's off to the races. But I understand how the casual football fan (and yes, even diehard tiger fans can be considered casual when they don't know much about the game itself) can mistake the intracacies of kickoff and punt returns. They are NOT the same. LSU has several guys with those shifty type abilities, a few which came in this last class. I also disagree with that no starter's sentiment. Sure, we'd love to have a guy who can concentrate solely on punt returns, but if Peterson is the best guy, then let him do it. Sehorn tore up his knee on a punt return, when not a sole touched him. There are more cases of skill guys tearing up knees on bad cuts than tearing them up getting hit. Mike Mackenzie for instance...two times, neither involved returns or getting tackled. Fear of injury should not be a factor for deciding whether a starter returns punts. FEAR OF FATIGUE should certainly play a factor. I think any team needs two guys. One with the surest hands for deep field position punts (and smart enough to know when to let it bounce away), the other when you anticipate having some field to work with...like beyond your own 20 or 25 yard line...this is the "skill" guy who will get positive yardage.
This would be fantastic in an ideal world. I hope we have that kind of depth in reality, but I just ain't sure.
I'm unsure if this true.... I'm going to double check and get back with you on this one. :wink: We are not talking about doing normal jobs. We are talking about taking a valuable player (Peterson or Tom Brady for example) and weighing the reward of him running back a punt for a TD versus the risk of him missing anything from a portion of a game to an entire season. As for the Tom Brady comparison: If he would have gotten hurt returning punts, EVERY FAN would have called for Patriot coaches to be fired. You know why? ....because it's stupid to put valuable players in the line of fire of a bunch of kamikaze crazies running down the field with a full head of steam with the intent of knocking opponents unconcious.
Who returns punts for Alabama? Who did it for USC when Bush was there? Just two quickees off the top of my head...but don't tell me Arenas and Bush weren't full time players at "normal" positions. - And the neat post about Sehorn..tragic as it was...was shot down by a99 when he reminded us that Sehorn wasn't touched. He could've blown the knee when a receiver cut and he tried to follow. - Obviously, I disagree about the whole "don't put a starter back there" mentality. The same ones are saying they don't want Shep or Randle back there, and neither is likely to be starting this year. (Randle may...probably in the 3 deep WR) If a guy ain't starting...or at least seeing the field a lot...it's likely because he isn't up to the caliber of play in the SEC. I want someone with great hands, great vision, great speed, great moves, and great decision making ability back there. That's probably gonna come from a starter. - Red, you really don't think LSU is deep enough to have 2 PR guys?? Not that I think we need two, but still...LSU is a deep, talent laden team. There are folks on the bench that many teams would LOVE to have in their starting lineup.
I luv the idea of Rueben myself sure hands, moves, and decent speed same reasons that DID make Skyler a great returner. I think Rueben could do both punts and KO.
