Cut Davenport, Sign Foster

[dunkuntou]

Originally Posted by fansince'76

IMO, that has more to do with Ligashesky's unwillingness/inability to teach proper wedge forming techniques on returns. Watch closely - every time one of our returners catches a kickoff/punt, they are IMMEDIATELY surrounded by 4, 5, or 6 guys wearing different colored jerseys with absolutely no room to run, regardless of who it is - it's almost as if our return units don't even bother to block at all a lot of the time. However, I wouldn't be sad to see Davenport go either, and he can take Ligashesky with him.

Thats not really it. Guys know how to block and set up a seam but when your return man runs straight into the back of a blacker and stops running, you can't blame anyone but the returner.

The reason guys are generally surrounding instantly is because of lack of an instant burst of speed thats needs.

I guarantee if we had a legit returner we wouldn't be complaining at all

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by dunkuntou

Thats not really it. Guys know how to block and set up a seam but when your return man runs straight into the back of a blacker and stops running, you can't blame anyone but the returner.

The reason guys are generally surrounding instantly is because of lack of an instant burst of speed thats needs.

I guarantee if we had a legit returner we wouldn't be complaining at all

The problem is, Dookie is also our number 3 guy. We have to keep him around for running the ball in case some others get hurt...

Then again, when would two RB's ever get hurt in the same season?

[slippy]

the ST coach does get props for improving the coverage this year.

only two gaffes i can remember: one return in the giants game, and an almost muff in windy cleveland.

o-line coach and dookie need to be gone next year. i was sorry to see davenport return to us, he just didn't work out. the first time.

steelers are 2 and 2 in the re-tread running back dept.
bettis-all time great
moore-great so far
staley-great six games
dookie-one great game (seattle)

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by slippy

the ST coach does get props for improving the coverage this year.

only two gaffes i can remember: one return in the giants game, and an almost muff in windy cleveland.

o-line coach and dookie need to be gone next year. i was sorry to see davenport return to us, he just didn't work out. the first time.

steelers are 2 and 2 in the re-tread running back dept.
bettis-all time great
moore-great so far
staley-great six games
dookie-one great game (seattle)

We have to be honest about Staley however. It was a cheap shot by the cheatriots that hurt him. Then Willie stepped it up the next year and took his place.

[slippy]

good point preacher, but staley still never took the field again.

[Hapa]

It's not really about the returner, it's about the blocking. Devin Hester is good, but the Bear's special teams is amazing.

[steelreserve]

Originally Posted by Preacher

The problem is, Dookie is also our number 3 guy.

Funny, I always thought of Dookie as more of our Number 2 guy.

Bam!!

[bigben7MVP]

I would cut Davenport he is horrible at returning kicks. If Foster has 4.2 speed it would greatly inprove are ST because all he needs to do is break a tackle and no one would catch him.

[fansince'76]

Originally Posted by dunkuntou

Thats not really it. Guys know how to block and set up a seam but when your return man runs straight into the back of a blacker and stops running, you can't blame anyone but the returner.

The reason guys are generally surrounding instantly is because of lack of an instant burst of speed thats needs.

I guarantee if we had a legit returner we wouldn't be complaining at all

I dunno, Santo's pretty fast and it wasn't really any better with him back there either. Just seems to me there is never a delay between when the returner catches the ball and when he is swarmed over, which is when you'd be expecting guys to be blocked. There is still not much lane discipline and good wedge forming that I've seen. However, Dookie does suck as a returner.

[SunshineMan21]

Originally Posted by Hapa

It's not really about the returner, it's about the blocking. Devin Hester is good, but the Bear's special teams is amazing.

I agree that the value of blocking is underrated . . . but the returner still matters.

I don't think this is a huge issue because at least our returners don't fumble, but there's definitely room for improvement. I think it's good to be open to non-Davenport options.