An Interview with punter Michael Dickson

[Jville]

This interview is a bit dated ......... but posting it helps fill the off season information void. 2019 may turn out to be a very special year for special teams. It was the highlighted curve ball question caught my eye .......

Can you punt a curveball?

It was imperative to ask Michael if he can kick a punt like a curveball; not just aligning right and then kicking left like Hekker, but putting enough spin on the ball to hook its trajectory from one side to the other.

MD: “I would have to point myself at the boundary. I’d have to catch the snap, face the boundary, and then do it. Kind of kick it across my body to get it to go right to left.”

“I’m working on this other one now where it’s just an improvement of those ones with low hang time. I didn’t hit those ones. It was effective, but not near as much as we should have done because I wasn’t too comfortable with it because I didn’t do it in college. I kind of just started doing it when I got to Seattle. So I didn’t want to go out there and shank it, didn’t want to shank a few. I’m working on that a lot this offseason. Probably going to be doing those a lot this next year. And also one where I can aim left and make it hook right. We did one last year but I didn’t hit one into the next and so I said ‘Well I’m not doing that anymore’ but this year we’ll probably do them as well.”

.... something to look forward to.

There is more via this link >>> [urltargetblank]https://beastpode.com/2019/03/28/tsteful-discourse-an-interview-with-michael-dickson/[/urltargetblank]

 

[acer1240]

Awesome article. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jville]

Looking ahead to the latter part of June and early July ........................

There is going to be a genuine opportunity to post dated articles that are favorites of posters during the upcoming 6 weeks of dead space. That info dead space lies between the last day of mandatory mini camp on June 13th and the first day of training camp on July 25th.

I'm hopeful our forum will collectively make an improved effort to voluntarily fill in this year's dead air by reviewing, reflecting and posting some of the better articles out there. Those six weeks are an outstanding time for forum members to publish their own original contributions.

 

[DomeHawk]

Just hang 'em high and long, and do that consistently and we'll be just fine.

 

[Jville]

I got a kick out of the distinction drawn between how a player sees things and how a statistical site that never experiences the field of play interprets play and uses factor weighting at it's own independent discretion.

I saw one of [PFF’s] articles or something and it said they weighted hang time really heavily and I thought well if that’s the case what’s the point in having good hang time if the returner can catch it? Like, if I’m trying to kick it away from the returner the lower the hang time the better. It’s worse to have higher hang time. I have kicks where I’m trying to keep my hang time under a certain number. It doesn’t really make sense to have that at the start when there’s a lot of different kicks going around.

It's reassuring to read of a punting game that isn't slaved to the dogma of third party sites that are in turn chained to their own models of invention.

 

[chris98251]

This guy is a 5 Pitch Punter, he if he can continue will change the game, curve ball, knuckle, low hang, high hang, distance. You start making a returner guess what you do and put them out of position or thinking of what they are catching and boom turnovers and bad filed position happen for them.

 

[jammerhawk]

What an enjoyable read! This is a must read. Thanks Jville.

I enjoy these articles where players offer their insights into their positions.

Dickson was a great pick! Imagine the Hawks had the last laugh on Denver who thought drafting him in the 5th rd. was a mistake. He will entertain us as fans with unusual punts that flip the field position for the team.

 

[WmHBonney]

What a nice weapon to have!

 

[KiwiHawk]

Just hang 'em high and long, and do that consistently and we'll be just fine.

That's like having a Ferrari for your daily commute. Yes, it gets the job done, but it could do so much more.

Dickson is a weapon. Not only can he flip the field from almost any field position, but he can put unusual spin on the ball to make it more difficult to field. If he can move the return man as well, then you have a guy trying to catch an oddly-rotating football on the run, which is a recipe for disaster. Add rain or snow late in the season, and the chances for a turnover are pretty good.

Imagine the combo of Dickson punting and Ricardo Lockette as the gunner.