PR Update: Walters to be main PR going forward.

[northseahawk]

Now can we get Sherman off the punt return team as well Plz!!!

I am sure there is another person on the team who can block and slow down a guy for 2 seconds and not risk your 14 mill dollar shutdown corner to an injury for that purpose.

 

[jdemps]

This is purely my observation... so take it with a grain of salt. But when watching that game you could visibly see that first punt, and then the fumble got in Earls head and he was just not as dynamic in his normal roll the rest of the game. Re-watch the game after that with a focus on Earl and he is just not the ball-hawking force of nature he normally is after that fumble.

I noticed he seemed to not be as visible in run support in a way that he normally is. Not sure if it was our other guys balling (Bam bam and BWags) or if he was in a funk.

Personally, I want Earl to take all the time he would've invested watching tape for an opponents kickoff team or in PR practice and reapply time and energy toward the opposing QB and their offense. We've got PCreek and Peypey up next and I want Thomas in those guys heads instead of working out how to take one to the house. Love his attitude but prefer him focused on defense.

 

[dumbrabbit]

I nominate Pete Carroll himself to be the main punt returner going forward.

 

[Tical21]

Pete must have read my post in the other thread about all the punt returner injuries.

 

[SeatownJay]

Happy to hear this.. still puzzled as to why Paul Richardson isn't getting a shot though.

My guess is Pete wants Richardson concentrating solely on learning the WR position in this offense without having the added pressure and time commitment of punt returning.

 

[kearly]

Pete must have read my post in the other thread about all the punt returner injuries.

That was a very good post, but I think this had a lot more to do with Thomas being terrible and inexperienced as a punt returner than Pete being a worry-wart.

As soon as I saw that fumble I pretty much knew that would be it for Thomas, at least until his replacement proves to be worse.

What a colossal downgrade our punt return game has had this year.

 

[MissoulaHawkFan]

Now can we get Sherman off the punt return team as well Plz!!!

I am sure there is another person on the team who can block and slow down a guy for 2 seconds and not risk your 14 mill dollar shutdown corner to an injury for that purpose.

You do realize that Sherman has been on the punt return team blocking the gunners for a couple years now, right?

 

[Tokadub]

This is purely my observation... so take it with a grain of salt. But when watching that game you could visibly see that first punt, and then the fumble got in Earls head and he was just not as dynamic in his normal roll the rest of the game. Re-watch the game after that with a focus on Earl and he is just not the ball-hawking force of nature he normally is after that fumble. The team cannot afford to have its best defender standing back there wondering what might have been, instead of being totally focused on ruining Aaron Roger's day from a defensive standpoint. I believe the coaching staff quickly realized this and now have made the change. I feel bad for him, but perhaps he'll get another shot later in the season when things are a little more sorted.

I agree with this, it did appear that ET was very upset about his punt return fumble. I do think having to do punt returns could distract him quite significantly if he has a bad day, he is such a perfectionist that I don't think he could just wipe a fumble out of his mind within the same game.

When he failed to catch the interception he just broke down on his knees and appeared to scream angrily into the heavens, he was obviously really pissed at himself and I think his punt return blunder did mentally affect his defensive presence.

I don't really agree that they should take him off of it after 1 game, but as long as we aren't playing in a really close game Walters should do alright. I think ET has much more potential than Walters if he was given time to get comfortable back there. I don't think Walters will have as many explosive returns, and I'm still concerned he'll fumble himself.

All in all I'm ok with this decision against SD if Walters really does get all the punt returns because I think we should be able to beat them pretty easily either way. But if Walters fumbles or has just no good runs I would be OK to give Earl some more attempts.

 

[HawkWow]

I like this move...even if it ends up being a bit lateral. Not overly confident in Walters decision making, either, but hopefully that can be attributed to him just trying to make an impression... and the team.

 

[Tokadub]

Pete must have read my post in the other thread about all the punt returner injuries.

That was a very good post, but I think this had a lot more to do with Thomas being terrible and inexperienced as a punt returner than Pete being a worry-wart.

As soon as I saw that fumble I pretty much knew that would be it for Thomas, at least until his replacement proves to be worse.

What a colossal downgrade our punt return game has had this year.

The funny thing is that Detroit doesn't seem to be even using Tate for punt returns yet. The guy they have now has a nice return yard average but not many attempts, I'm guessing it's his job to lose if he can keep up his production.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Fully approve. Let the expendable WR5 absorb the high-speed hits of the return game, and not the power core of our defense.

 

[fenderbender123]

Why was the fumble ET's fault? Here's how I saw it:

He didn't call fair catch and fumbled. If he did call fair catch, he still would have fumbled because a fair catch is only valid if you..well..catch the ball. Also, it's not reasonable to expect him to move away from the ball because no PR should be expecting a guy to run into him and interfere with making the catch since that's a penalty. Now, it wasn't a penalty on that play because the refs likely saw Sherman as the person who blocked the guy into ET (won't argue with that), but still a PR should also not be expecting his teammate to block somebody into him, especially since it happens at the last second when you're looking up trying to catch the ball. There's almost nothing a PR can do when that happens.

Other than that, I saw ET catch the other (2?) punts without any issues. The first one he looked just fine...aggressive but fielded the catch just fine. I think he would have fielded the fumbled one just fine too if somebody didn't run into him.

Somebody let me know if I'm missing something.

 

[HawkWow]

In a nutshell, Fenderbender, I think he lacks the appropriate mentality for the task. He's about the BIG play..every play, whether it's there or not. But at FS, he's right more times than wrong and that's what puts the money in his bank and wins us games. That's my opinion, anyway.

 

[253hawk]

On ET's fumble, Sherman just ran with the gunner and didn't slow up to put any resistance on him until he was within about 5 yards of Thomas. I'd bet Earl glanced at Sherman's position, gauged that he had plenty of time since Sherman wasn't being beaten and decided to field it (as most any PR would in that scenario.)

Sherman f'd up the block by initiating it too late.

 

[Tical21]

Why was the fumble ET's fault? Here's how I saw it:

He didn't call fair catch and fumbled. If he did call fair catch, he still would have fumbled because a fair catch is only valid if you..well..catch the ball. Also, it's not reasonable to expect him to move away from the ball because no PR should be expecting a guy to run into him and interfere with making the catch since that's a penalty. Now, it wasn't a penalty on that play because the refs likely saw Sherman as the person who blocked the guy into ET (won't argue with that), but still a PR should also not be expecting his teammate to block somebody into him, especially since it happens at the last second when you're looking up trying to catch the ball. There's almost nothing a PR can do when that happens.

Other than that, I saw ET catch the other (2?) punts without any issues. The first one he looked just fine...aggressive but fielded the catch just fine. I think he would have fielded the fumbled one just fine too if somebody didn't run into him.

Somebody let me know if I'm missing something.

Earl Thomas was not going to call a fair catch. Period. His first punt return back there. Even if it meant he was going to take a shot.

If you call a fair catch, you should have a 0% chance of getting hit within a half second of catching the ball. This fact alone makes the ball exponentially easier to catch.

If a punt returner gets into that much traffic, it is really easy to lose a tiny bit of focus that would normally go into catching the ball, and instead think just slightly about what is going on around you. Therefore, not calling a fair catch is incredibly risky.

 

[DavidSeven]

The gunner wouldn't have been in that position with that acceleration in the first place had Thomas called for a fair catch at the time he should've called it. There's too much risk of grazing the return man for a gunner to rush head-on toward the catcher.

Watch the hangtime on the punt. It's up there for too long to not call a fair catch. Earl got away with the first one, but that should also have been fair caught.

Look around the league, most of these guys are calling for the fair catch while tacklers are 20 yards away from them. That's because they have experience at it and can see what's developing down the field. They're not going to risk a TO in that position and rely solely on a one-on-one block.

I think Earl could probably get better at it with more practice, but that's not a luxury we have right now, and if it was taking away from his DB play, then going to Walters is wise move.

 

[MLT]

Waters had one mistake! Other then that he was solid returning punts! If he fumbles again in a critical situation maybe we cut him! Personally knowing were heavy on receivers if he gets cut I would like to see us bring in lamichael james! He can be used in a bunch of different ways besides PR! If Walters proves to be valuable then I'm sure he stays and does a helluva job!

 

[fenderbender123]

Good stuff to consider. Thanks for the responses.

 

[NFSeahawks]

Thank God.

 

[Bob_the_Destroyer]

Why was the fumble ET's fault? Here's how I saw it:

He didn't call fair catch and fumbled. If he did call fair catch, he still would have fumbled because a fair catch is only valid if you..well..catch the ball. Also, it's not reasonable to expect him to move away from the ball because no PR should be expecting a guy to run into him and interfere with making the catch since that's a penalty. Now, it wasn't a penalty on that play because the refs likely saw Sherman as the person who blocked the guy into ET (won't argue with that), but still a PR should also not be expecting his teammate to block somebody into him, especially since it happens at the last second when you're looking up trying to catch the ball. There's almost nothing a PR can do when that happens.

Other than that, I saw ET catch the other (2?) punts without any issues. The first one he looked just fine...aggressive but fielded the catch just fine. I think he would have fielded the fumbled one just fine too if somebody didn't run into him.

Somebody let me know if I'm missing something.

Earl Thomas was not going to call a fair catch. Period. His first punt return back there. Even if it meant he was going to take a shot.

If you call a fair catch, you should have a 0% chance of getting hit within a half second of catching the ball. This fact alone makes the ball exponentially easier to catch.

Here is the video of the play: http://www.seahawks.com/videos-phot...ffs-punt/418acbe3-7bfc-48cc-9c82-a021128e1e1b

It was not Earl Thomas' fault. It was Richard Sherman's fault.

Sherman blocked the defender into Thomas. The defender hit the ball at the same time Thomas touched it and knocked the ball away. The exact same thing would have happened to Walters or any other player who tried to make that catch.

As fenderbender123 said, it would have been the same situation if Thomas (or anyone else) had called fair catch.

Get your facts straight: EARL THOMAS WAS *NOT* AT FAULT. (Watch the video.)

Overall, I am pretty sure Earl would be better than Walters and probably better than Tate, but as Pete Carroll said, it has become too much of a distraction for him.

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