Deciding the PR/KR choice.

[tom sawyer]

Tate was doing a GREAT job, upon Harvin's return, he seems the natural choice. So why did they use Turbin?

Thoughts, guesses, profound insights?

 

[CitrusHawk]

I'm guessing because Golden was beat up, had some noticeable dings, etc. Plus we are not incredibly deep in the WR category... Don't want to risk him.

 

[Killa Kam]

Golden Tate has been our punt returner all season and still is, Turbin replaced Jermaine Kearse as the main kick returner after Kearse fumbled the ball and got a concussion.

 

[Axx]

Lmao so the moral of the story. If you fumble as kr, youre benched

 

[Cartire]

Lmao so the moral of the story. If you fumble as kr, youre benched

He's also extremely slow to cut like turbin. Good long field speed, pretty pathetic acceleration.


As to the original question, Tate is the #1 receiver and full time punt returner. All though he is more then capable of returning kicks, I think his work load is already reletively high. Adding full time kick returner too is a lot to ask from just one man.

.....but now that Percy's coming back.....

 

[Basis4day]

Golden Tate has been our punt returner all season and still is, Turbin replaced Jermaine Kearse as the main kick returner after Kearse fumbled the ball and got a concussion.

Yup. It also happened around the same time that Thurmond got suspended and thus Lane got extra duty in the defense. Both were tested out at KR in the preseason.

I know many weren't satisfied with Turbin, but they weren't left with a whole lot of options with the 46 man gameday roster.

 

[hawksfanohio]

I think they'll stick with Baldwin and maybe let Harvin return one in a close game. I think they won't want to use Harvin kick returning unless he's 100% healthy.

 

[mjwhitay]

I think if Percy is playing, he's returning kicks. What's the point otherwise?

 

[kidhawk]

I think if Percy is playing, he's returning kicks. What's the point otherwise?

It's risk vs. reward. If the game isn't close, using baldwin makes sense. In the limited time he's been back there, he hasn't had a lot of opportunities to take them out, but when he has, his returns have been positive (past the 20). Harvin isn't going to be 100% this year. They've already said he needs the off season to fully recover from the major surgery he had in the pre-season. We are lucky to have him back this year at all, so you want to use him a bit more sparingly. The ONLY reason Harvin returned a kick against the Vikings was because Kearse got hurt on a KR and had to come out of the game in the first half.

 

[mjwhitay]

I couldn't disagree more. Why put him out the field at all, if you're afraid of him returning kicks? That makes zero sense.

Also, more importantly, when is the last time anyone saw a returner get hurt on a kick return??????

 

[DavidSeven]

If Harvin plays, he returns kicks. That's like half his value. This is football. You can't treat your players like china dolls.

I don't see how risking Baldwin on KR is a better proposition. We need him just as much as Harvin, if not more so given his familiarity with the offense and ability to play every down. Harvin returns kicks.

 

[ManBunts]

I couldn't disagree more. Why put him out the field at all, if you're afraid of him returning kicks? That makes zero sense.

Also, more importantly, when is the last time anyone saw a returner get hurt on a kick return??????

When was the last time a guy returned kicks coming off a year rehab of a major hip injury. And when guys tackle now, where is pretty much the only spot they can tackle? The hips. Would love to see Percy return kicks and play receiver, but if I had to choose I want him at WR to stretch the field and make big plays there.

 

[DavidSeven]

I couldn't disagree more. Why put him out the field at all, if you're afraid of him returning kicks? That makes zero sense.

Also, more importantly, when is the last time anyone saw a returner get hurt on a kick return??????

When was the last time a guy returned kicks coming off a year rehab of a major hip injury. And when guys tackle now, where is pretty much the only spot they can tackle? The hips. Would love to see Percy return kicks and play receiver, but if I had to choose I want him at WR to stretch the field and make big plays there.

Randall Cobb broke his leg in October (on a hit he took as a RECEIVER) and was returning kicks for Green Bay yesterday.

 

[kidhawk]

I couldn't disagree more. Why put him out the field at all, if you're afraid of him returning kicks? That makes zero sense.

Also, more importantly, when is the last time anyone saw a returner get hurt on a kick return??????

When was the last time a guy returned kicks coming off a year rehab of a major hip injury. And when guys tackle now, where is pretty much the only spot they can tackle? The hips. Would love to see Percy return kicks and play receiver, but if I had to choose I want him at WR to stretch the field and make big plays there.

Randall Cobb broke his leg in October (on a hit he took as a RECEIVER) and was returning kicks for Green Bay yesterday.

You do realize a broken leg can heal in under 2 months and the player can be 100% whereas Harvin will not be 100% until next season right?

 

[The Radish]

To answer the original question Tate had dinged up his hand on one of his receiver trips. He was bothered by it most of the rest of the game. Could make catches but its obvious they didn't want to risk him fumbling a return.

See how that worked out.........

I don't understand the Turbin love as a RB either. He can be knocked down by the wind of a lineman farting as he goes by and rarely makes yards by himself. I've always said if he can get by the first tackle he isn't to bad. But that is an unfrequent event. He's great in the open field but who isn't? Plus he carrys the ball like its a loaf of bread he's showing off the brand of.

I need to go back to my original question of years ago.

"IF TURBIN IS THE ANSWER, WHAT THE HELL IS THE QUESTION?"

:les:

 

[DavidSeven]

I couldn't disagree more. Why put him out the field at all, if you're afraid of him returning kicks? That makes zero sense.

Also, more importantly, when is the last time anyone saw a returner get hurt on a kick return??????

When was the last time a guy returned kicks coming off a year rehab of a major hip injury. And when guys tackle now, where is pretty much the only spot they can tackle? The hips. Would love to see Percy return kicks and play receiver, but if I had to choose I want him at WR to stretch the field and make big plays there.

Randall Cobb broke his leg in October (on a hit he took as a RECEIVER) and was returning kicks for Green Bay yesterday.

You do realize a broken leg can heal in under 2 months and the player can be 100% whereas Harvin will not be 100% until next season right?

His original timeline was 3-4 months for a surgery he had on August 1st. His last X-ray showed that his hip was 100% from a structural standpoint. His issue is soreness and recovery, and I think that's a permanent issue for him going back to his rookie season.

Edit: and the point was, Cobb came off a major injury and rehab and was returning kicks immediately.

 

[jblaze]

If you put Harvin back on kicks, they may not even kick to him either. Minnesota kicked the ball out of bounds as opposed to giving it to Harvin. Plus most kicks are downable anyways but just having him back there could be intimidating. The problem is that I think Harvin would return it even if it was 8 yds deep.

I think early in the game they'll go with Baldwin and if it's close late, they may go with Harvin.

A lot of teams don't put their big $ #1 receiver back on kicks and it's for good reason. It tires you out and opens you up to injury. There's also a reason the league pushed the kick up, it's because it's inherently dangerous to return kicks when you have people running full speed at each other.

I'd rather keep him on the field in our offense than risk injury in a kick return or two. He changes our offense completely and changes their defense completely. He'll draw double teams or coverage rolls to his side which will help our struggling pass offense and then you'll have Tate, Baldwin or Miller/Willson with better looks.

 

[DavidSeven]

A lot of teams don't put their big $ #1 receiver back on kicks and it's for good reason. It tires you out and opens you up to injury. There's also a reason the league pushed the kick up, it's because it's inherently dangerous to return kicks when you have people running full speed at each other.

The injuries that happen on kick returns are usually to the guys who are blocking or tackling. Rarely to the actual returner.

 

[kidhawk]

His original timeline was 3-4 months for a surgery he had on August 1st. His last X-ray showed that his hip was 100% from a structural standpoint. His issue is soreness and recovery, and I think that's a permanent issue for him going back to his rookie season.

That's 3-4 months to heal from surgery, but that doesn't mean he's going to be 100% ESPECIALLY for playing an NFL football game. There is a time frame after recovery from surgery to get up to NFL conditioning levels. This is something that takes time. You still just can't compare a major surgery recovery to a broken leg recovery, there's just such a huge difference in the recovery process

 

[mjwhitay]

I think my point was this... He can take a hit on offense, or throwing himself into a block, or on a carry, or or or.... Why not let him do what he does better than anyone on the planet? Return kicks.