Camp Battle 2009: Special Teams
by FSBlueApocalypse on Aug 7, 2009 7:29 AM EDT
in Camp Battles
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Special teams are often the most overlooked aspect of football. No one remembers an eight yard punt return or a touch back on a kick off. However, when something goes wrong (or right) then Special Teams is perhaps the most important part of any team.
2009 was not a banner year for the Jaguars' special teams. After an excellent fake punt by Montell Owens on opening day, the Jaguars special teams constantly missed tackles, shanked punts, and played below par in general. Their play, along with some "encouragement" from Coach Del Rio, led to Joe DeCamillas being sent packing. New coordinator Russ Purnell is looking to make the Jaguars' special teams a top unit again. However, do the Jags have the players to do that?
Josh Scobee
Josh Scobee was drafted in the 5th round of the 2004 draft. Many questioned the drafting him, as he had a big leg, but accuracy issues.
Scobee is entering his 6th season in the NFL and had easily his worst year since his rookie year. Scobee only had 10 touch backs last year, one fewer than 2008 when he missed 8 games. Worse, after seemingly overcoming any issues with his accuracy, Scobee was only 50% from between 30-39 yards in 2008.
The lone bright spot for Scobee in 2008 was that he was 4 of 5 from 50+ yards, which shows he still has one of the biggest legs in football. Perhaps this is the only reason Scobee doesn't find himself in a competition, as does Adam Podlesh.
The main thing for Scobee in 2009 is to regain his kickoff ability. Scobee went from being one of the league leaders in touch backs for the last 3 years to being in the middle of the pack last year. If he doesn't regain that, then Scobee begins a slide towards being "just another kicker."
Adam Podlesh/Steve Weatherford
Another Shack Harris special, Podlesh was drafted in the 4th round of the 2007 draft. However, unlike Scobee, Podlesh hasn't demonstrated that he was worthy of using a draft choice on. Podlesh has been in the bottom third of the league in punt average, net average, and inside the 20.
Podlesh currently finds himself in a battle with Steve Weatherford for the starting punt job, and a spot on the team. Weatherford isn't that great of a punter, but showed more than Podlesh had in a short time starting last year.
Either way, the punting position has to improve for the Jaguars to have a better record in 2009. There were too many punts that bounced into the end zone, didn't hang high enough, or were just plain shanked last year.
Joe Zelenka
Not much to mention except that the longest tenured Jaguar and one of the most consistent long snappers in the league will be coming back for another year. I'm a proud member of the Joe Z fan club, are you?
Kick Returning
The biggest difference is that Maurice Jones-Drew won't be handling any of the kick returning duties in 2009.The kick returning duties are up for grabs. Brian Witherspoon seems to have the upper hand at the position going into training camp. Spoony set franchise records in kick and punt returning, not to mention reportedly having run a 4.16 40 time. However, I would expect the Jaguars to give him some competition to at least keep his competitive spirit going.
The current favorite to challenge for punt returning duties is 4th round pick Mike Thomas. Thomas only had one year of kick returning duties at Arizona, but took two for touchdowns and was named 1st team All-PAC 10 as a punt returner.
Kick Coverage
The worst area for the Jaguars special teams was their kick coverage. The Jaguars ranked 28th in the league, giving up 50 returns of 20 yards or more. The Jaguars were also middle of the pack in punt coverage.
The empahsis this year is on getting hang time on the ball and tackling, two things that weren't present often last year. Special teams ace Chad Nkang is no longer with the team, so a new gunner will need to emerge.
-John
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Just as you, me, or the other guy could've, would've contributed as much as Porter did
last year, the same can be said for our so called punter – he flat out sucks. It’s amazing he’s even in camp and we don’t have a couple of new guys competing for the punting duties. I put Podlesh in the same category as Troy Williamson – doesn’t deliver in games and if he was cut, would anybody care or even notice?
I like Scobee and believe he should have an opportunity to shine again. Unlike Podlesh, Scobee HAS demonstrated he’s more than capable on the field. - funny, it always seems to come back to that doesn’t it?
by OGN on Aug 7, 2009 7:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Podlesh is just inconsistent
he does kick a nice one every once in a while. I remember him saving our butts on more than one occasion. I still think he should be replaced by someone better. But I think it would be only half true to say he never punts well, or that he “doesn’t deliver in games.”
by Ewdtrey on Aug 7, 2009 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
fair enough - he "sometimes" never dilivers in games
but fundamentally, we are agreed – replace him.
by OGN on Aug 7, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
DeCamillis left
The Cowboys offered him more money than the Jaguars could. He was a good special teams coach…one of the best in the NFL.
Competition in camp should improve either Podlesh or Weatherford (at least, that’s what I’m hoping). I give them one more year before the Jaguars start looking elsewhere.
by acedarney on Aug 7, 2009 1:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I like this special teams bunch.
Scobee is pretty reliable. His touchbacks or lack thereof do concern me. I wonder if that injury he sustained in 07 has caused and issues with his leg strength especially when it comes to kick offs. He just doesn’t seem to have that same booming leg he once did.
The punting game stinks. Podlesh showed marginal improvement and Weatherford isn’t anything to get all shook up about. They are essentially the same guy. The one that shows consistency or the closest thing to it should win the job, although A-Pod has the advantage of being a draft pick.
Joe Z is well Joe Z.
I think the return game might take a hit. MJD was great at being able to move laterally without really losing speed. Witherspoon is fast when going in a straight line but that doesn’t often happen. His quickness and stop and start ability really limit what he can do with that 4.16 speed.
The coverage units should get better, I think. When you’ve got players like Owens, Iwuh, Starks, and Spoony you should be able to cover kicks better. I do think that even someone like a Tiquan Underwood could be utilized to cover kicks with his speed and size although that is just a guess.
Jacksonville Jaguars. It's what I do.
by JvilleJag2 on Aug 7, 2009 10:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I never saw him do it
but the word is Tiquan is great cover guy on ST.
by Ewdtrey on Aug 8, 2009 5:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I Think Tiquan
Is really going to stick.
If hip hop is dead, then it happened the day that Dilla died.
-Akrobatik
by Bestjagfan on Aug 8, 2009 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Vix once said
Never draft punters, because you can always get one in the market, if so then might want to start looking.
"HULU: An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy"
by TheTealDeal on Aug 9, 2009 3:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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