Are the punt return yards getting in Ryan's head?

[seabowl]

Let me start by saying I am not complaining about Jon Ryan. However, it appears that his punts of late have not had the boom in them as the beginning of the year and years past. Today he averaged 37.2 and his long was 44. For him a long of 44 on 9 punts is pretty low. This is just speculation but is he purposely shorting the punts so there is no return? Frankly I could care less about the 20 or so total return yards this year at this point and want the old Ryan back booming a few 55+ yarders.

 

[seabowl]

Looked it up and was pretty surprised. Ryan ranks 29th in gross yards and 23rd in net. This is a lot worse than I thought it would be.

 

[Bigpumpkin]

Based on his performance today....I'm not surprised!

 

[SoHo9erFan]

he's doing well pinning teams inside the 20, which might explain the pedestrian #s

 

[seabowl]

he's doing well pinning teams inside the 20, which might explain the pedestrian #s

Not a great as you would think. Tied for..... 17th.

 

[Chrome_Seahawk]

Guys, this is by scheme - they are intentionally booming them high and short and thus allowing our gunners to get down the field so the player has to call a fair catch or they end up with short gains. All you have to do is look at some of Golden's big returns this year to figure out why they do this - it isn't a great idea to out-kick your coverage.

 

[seabowl]

Guys, this is by scheme - they are intentionally booming them high and short and thus allowing our gunners to get down the field so the player has to call a fair catch or they end up with short gains. All you have to do is look at some of Golden's big returns this year to figure out why they do this - it isn't a great idea to out-kick your coverage.

He is ranked 23rd in net yards. That is hovering in the bottom 25% of punters. If they are doing it intentionally, it ain't working.

 

[AgentDib]

Ryan punted 9 times for 323 net yards, or an average of 35.8 yards per punt. That included 13 return yards.

Zastudil punted 5 times for 200 net yards, or an average of 40.0 yards per punt. That included 47 return yards.

We lost the punting battle and field position today in spite of Golden Tate's two good returns. We are essentially letting our opponents have a medium sized return on every single punt in order to reduce the chance of them getting the occasional longer return and it is not worth it.

 

[chris98251]

Yeah I heard that he changed his style to reflect hang time and less yards. Again the conservitive approach limiting return attempts and big plays hitting you.

 

[Hawken-Dazs]

It's all scheme. It's not "getting in his head."

 

[HawkWow]

Ryan punted 9 times for 323 net yards, or an average of 35.8 yards per punt. That included 13 return yards.

Zastudil punted 5 times for 200 net yards, or an average of 40.0 yards per punt. That included 47 return yards.

We lost the punting battle and field position today in spite of Golden Tate's two good returns. We are essentially letting our opponents have a medium sized return on every single punt in order to reduce the chance of them getting the occasional longer return and it is not worth it.

If Ryan is punting the ball 36 yds and the opponent is having great field position after no return, I'd suggest our 3 and outs are more to blame than Ryan's punting.

 

[AgentDib]

If Ryan is punting the ball 36 yds and the opponent is having great field position after no return, I'd suggest our 3 and outs are more to blame than Ryan's punting.

36 yards net is good for 31st place in the NFL this season. For comparison, our opponent next week (Rams) is averaging 45 yards net per punt. That isn't a good comparison for us.

Of course the punting issues have been nowhere near as important as our offensive issues, but there are lots of other threads talking about why our offense is struggling.

 

[m0ng0]

CUT HIM ! Ryan does we he is told to do and he does it quite well, get a grip people.

 

[AgentDib]

CUT HIM !

... is what nobody in this thread thinks. If you are looking to disagree with other things that nobody thinks, may I recommend a stance against giving cigarettes to kids.

 

[m0ng0]

would you prefer he out punt the coverage and potentially give up a big return?

 

[THUGCAPS]

It's part of the gameplan. You don't want to give Patrick Peterson any space with the ball.

 

[HawkWow]

If Ryan is punting the ball 36 yds and the opponent is having great field position after no return, I'd suggest our 3 and outs are more to blame than Ryan's punting.

36 yards net is good for 31st place in the NFL this season. For comparison, our opponent next week (Rams) is averaging 45 yards net per punt. That isn't a good comparison for us.

Of course the punting issues have been nowhere near as important as our offensive issues, but there are lots of other threads talking about why our offense is struggling.

How good would 36 yds be if Ryan was punting from the opponents 45?

Typically, we get a couple first downs before we are forced to punt...Ryan is asked to drop the ball inside the 20 more frequently than he is asked to boom a punt. I hope that doesn't change anytime soon.

There can't be many gauges more worthless than ranking punters based on distance. Ryan is one of the best punters in the game and we are fortunate to have him.

 

[AgentDib]

would you prefer he out punt the coverage and potentially give up a big return?

If it increases our NET yardage (initial distance + return) then yes. Taking a risk is part of life; would you pay $20,000 per year for comprehensive auto insurance? Every time we throw the ball we are taking a risk but it is still worth it because yards per attempt are usually roughly double yard per carry. It is absolutely worth risking the occasional return if we can increase our NET yardage and put the field position in our favor, especially when our offense is struggling like it has recently.

Ryan is one of the best punters in the game and we are fortunate to have him.

Which is exactly why a strategy that leads to a net of 36 yards after 9 punts is a concerning strategy. I think we have the personnel to be a lot better than that.

 

[m0ng0]

with our defense its not worth the risk, I am happy to give a team an extra 5-10 yards and let our D handle things then I am punting it 10 yards longer and giving a return specialist a legit chance at taking it to the house. The coaching staff seems to agree

 

[HawkWow]

Jake Locker can throw the ball 70 yds, Peyton just 50. Which QB would you rather have? Peyton isn't expected to throw the ball 70 yds and it shouldn't be necessary for him to do so. Ryan isn't expected to punt us out of 3 and outs....and it shouldn't be necessary for him to do so.

Ryan is an ace at placing the ball and that is what we typically need / expect from our punter. If I were to list the problems with this team, and FO, Jon Ryan would be somewhere near the bottom of that list. I expect him to be named to the pro-bowl. An amazing accomplishment for a punter ranked 31st in the league. ; )