Pick your punt returner

Seahawks | Two candidates for punt return duties
Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:20:44 -0700

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said WR Golden Tate will be given the first opportunity to earn the punt return duties. RB Christine Michael will also be given the chance to earn the role.
Share: | Source: The Tacoma News Tribune - Eric D. Williams
Read more: http://www.kffl.com/team/33/nfl#ixzz2RuJm8Io3

I am going with CM, I think he will bring more power and is more expendable then Tate.

Tough tough job! They have human bullets coming at them, and they are expected to move forward.

Both have the ability to be pretty darn good at it. I'd be fine with either.

Me too, keep our starting receivers out of that mess. (Especially you Percy).

I'm going with Tate (at the start) and Harvin on Kick offs.

I thought I actually read somewhere that Carroll promised Harvin he would be used in the return game. I don't think it would be returning punts, so I have to think KOs. I am curious as to how many injuries actually happen to return men in the punting game. I'll bet it's less than we think. How many years did (the great) Tim Brown do it?

HawkWow":1u4kxod0 said:

I'm going with Tate (at the start) and Harvin on Kick offs.

I thought I actually read somewhere that Carroll promised Harvin he would be used in the return game. I don't think it would be returning punts, so I have to think KOs. I am curious as to how many injuries actually happen to return men in the punting game. I'll bet it's less than we think. How many years did (the great) Tim Brown do it?

Click to expand...

He said something along those lines. Not so much a "promise" IIRC. He did say something a long the lines of "He can do it all, WR, out of the backfield, return kicks and punts."

"Hey Tate - here is a great deal for you. If you work really hard we will put you in a position to get smacked really freaking hard at least 3 times per game"

"Sweet! Thanks coach!!! Since this is extra risk and more plays I assume I will get some more money"

"Nope not a dime but you can EARN this spot! That is like one if those gold stars you could get in school back in the days"

.......

Basis4day":4ey4uijp said:

HawkWow":4ey4uijp said:

I'm going with Tate (at the start) and Harvin on Kick offs.

I thought I actually read somewhere that Carroll promised Harvin he would be used in the return game. I don't think it would be returning punts, so I have to think KOs. I am curious as to how many injuries actually happen to return men in the punting game. I'll bet it's less than we think. How many years did (the great) Tim Brown do it?

Click to expand...

He said something along those lines. Not so much a "promise" IIRC. He did say something a long the lines of "He can do it all, WR, out of the backfield, return kicks and punts."

Click to expand...

http://www.seahawks.com/news/articles/a ... 6c6cdb4a1d

Closest i can find.

“Percy played in the backfield in college. He played in the backfield for the Vikings. … That’s a tremendous spread of talent that he brings to our club. He will get the ball in his hands a number of ways and he’s going to return kicks for us, too.” - PC

The only time you will see Harvin on a kick or punt returns is in really special situations (like forth quarter and we need good field position to make a drive).

Shock2k":1zihekxq said:

The only time you will see Harvin on a kick or punt returns is in really special situations (like forth quarter and we need good field position to make a drive).

Click to expand...

I doubt that. PC said at Percy's introductory press conference that he was going to be handling the kick returns. He didn't qualify it by saying "some kicks" or anything like that. He's doing the kick returns.

As for punts, I'd kind of like to see Tate do it, if only for the fact that I think he's going to be jacked up trying to outdo Percy. You gotta believe he feels like he has something to prove this year with all the hype and attention Percy is getting.

Tate is really elusive when he has the ball so i can see why they would want him returning punts.

Its hard to imagine having better returners than leon washington though.

Basis4day":2qqpkkj6 said:

Basis4day":2qqpkkj6 said:

HawkWow":2qqpkkj6 said:

I'm going with Tate (at the start) and Harvin on Kick offs.

I thought I actually read somewhere that Carroll promised Harvin he would be used in the return game. I don't think it would be returning punts, so I have to think KOs. I am curious as to how many injuries actually happen to return men in the punting game. I'll bet it's less than we think. How many years did (the great) Tim Brown do it?

Click to expand...

He said something along those lines. Not so much a "promise" IIRC. He did say something a long the lines of "He can do it all, WR, out of the backfield, return kicks and punts."

Click to expand...

http://www.seahawks.com/news/articles/a ... 6c6cdb4a1d

Closest i can find.

“Percy played in the backfield in college. He played in the backfield for the Vikings. … That’s a tremendous spread of talent that he brings to our club. He will get the ball in his hands a number of ways and he’s going to return kicks for us, too.” - PC

Click to expand...

Nice find. I knew I wasn't going crazy. I think I got the "promised" part outside of Hawk nation and this was said (basically) suggesting we sweetned the pot by "promising" Harvin he'd be in the return game. What I like best about this is that it is very clear Harvin wants the ball ...and he wants to score.

Also, I think the job should go to the person who's actually the best at it without regard to how "valuable" they are to the team. Percy is arguable the best kick returner in football, and Tate has shown game breaking ability as a punt returner in both college and the pre-season. The Seahawks are deep at wide receiver, and return men rarely get hurt on returns anyway. If someone gets hurt, so be it. This receiver group is deep enough to lose a guy for a few games. Maybe in the future when the core is a little thinner, you put less valuable pieces back there. But for THIS year, having the potential for explosive return plays multiple times a game, 16 times a year is too much to pass up with as much depth as we have to fall back on.

Christian.....mainly because I want to see what he can do as well as see him on the field as much as possible since he may not see many carries and we used a 2nd rd pick on him.

mikeak":3vpghkdc said:

"Hey Tate - here is a great deal for you. If you work really hard we will put you in a position to get smacked really freaking hard at least 3 times per game"

"Sweet! Thanks coach!!! Since this is extra risk and more plays I assume I will get some more money"

"Nope not a dime but you can EARN this spot! That is like one if those gold stars you could get in school back in the days"

.......

Click to expand...

Huh?

The more plays he makes the better the contract he earns when/if he re-signs.

If you were only putting Harvin in as a situational returner, you don't get rid of Leon Washington, who is still one of the best in the league at returns.

I can see us going with Harvin since he's so explosive, but also, with how many weapons we have on offense, and how run heavy we are as a team, we want the ball in his hands as much as we can and in as many different ways. It's not like this wasn't anticipated....it was obviously planned.

As for punts, I remember Tate was pretty good at them.

As for Michael, is he really that fast ? I don't remember the last time I've seen a 220 + lb RB on punt return duties. That alone would intrigue me. Michael is becoming more and more intriguing to me; anyone can look pretty good in youtube highlights, but the way people are talking him up on this site, he's the second coming.

Also look at Austin Coleman, he's a guy that got a rookie mini camp invite

I read somewhere that he doesn't have that breakaway speed, he's more of a bruiser in the mold of Lynch. I may be wrong, but that doesn't sound like any kind of punt returner I ever heard of. But if Pete thinks he's worth looking at, then maybe he's faster than the source I read thinks.

I'd be very excited with Golden as our punt returner. With him and Harvin on returns, I think it'd be the ultimate maximization of the Seahawks abilities on returns. Sure, there's an added risk for injury and yeah it's true that if Golden goes off on returns like I think he would, you'd have to show him even more $. I'm okay with that though.

As for Golden, I've always loved it when he returns punts. He was pretty bad when he was younger because he'd run backwards, laterally, but hardly went forwards, which was pretty frustrating but you could still tell that the potential was there with his ability to make people miss and his amazing ability to bounce off of tackles and stay not only on his feet, but moving forwards after taking hits. He's developed in a big way since those early days and I think now, with his excellent hands and even more amazing (at this point) ability to create after contact. That 3rd preseason game wasn't just the game that showed everyone Russell Wilson wasn't holdin no clipboard. Golden had a 92 yard punt return and it was at that moment I knew we were fine if Leon ever needed to be cut.

[urltargetblank]http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000054629/Golden-Tate-returns-one-for-a-92-yard-TD-run[/urltargetblank]

With Harvin returning kicks, and Golden returning punts, there's no reason the Hawks shouldn't have the #1 return team in the NFL. Even if teams start to try and kick away from them, their average will still be insanely high, so when they do get a chance they'll likely make the most of it. Loads of return talent back there.

Now watch Michael end up the PR after all that Golden gushing.

Mmmmmm, this is going to be interesting.

I agree with the camp saying Harvin should not play ST's, and I'm not sure Tate has the breakaway speed to avoid being caught from behind. Golden is elusive, but I don't see him as a sprinter. Harvin is fast, no doubt about it, but the tackles made on returns can be brutal. Let's preserve Percy for offense, please.

I want to see what Michael can do.

Just rotate both, no pun intended. It's simple if Tate has to start then go with Micheal, if Micheal has to start go with Tate. If both start go with Tate, no need to gas out the RB before the drive even starts.