WR Bryan Walters signs with Jaguars

[netskier]

I am slightly unhappy he is gone because the Hawks lose depth at his position, and he loses a spot on a really great team, a superbowl contender.

However, I am somewhat more happy because I think this move indicates that they are implementing a plan to improve the return game, as also indicated by Falwell's retention.

So it is a net positive.

 

[netskier]

Typo. Farwell....

 

[Chapow]

Lots of exaggerating going on in this thread, especially about the amount of fair catches.

He averaged 7.7 yds per punt return, good for 17th in the league. Not great, but not bad either.

Half a dozen guys in the top 20 had more fair catches than Walters with a similar number of chances.

He also had more returns than fair catches.

He was far from terrible as a punt returner. We could do a lot worse.

 

[Hawkstorian]

he made so many good plays for this team when they needed it the most...good luck in jax!

I can't think of an example.

 

[kobebryant]

From what I've read he was the best multi sport athlete on the team.

Often won the team's basketball and golf competitions.

So, there's that. Best of luck though, local kid with a Super Bowl ring.

 

[bjornanderson21]

I went to Juanita just a few years ahead of him so I even have a reason to cheer for him.....but I don't.

The guy IS sure-handed and has taken a lot of punts without making bone-headed moves, so he deserves credit for that. But he is not capable of making a play. If he can pick up 4 yards because that's what is available easily, then he will do it. If he can get 8 yards easily then he will do it. There is value in that.

But....on a team that is trying to win the Super Bowl every year there is just no reason to settle for that. Why try to build a winning team WITHOUT taking care of every facet of the game? If the Hawks had brought in other PRs and Walters beat them for the job, fine. But the Hawks trotted out Earl Thomas and Baldwin was it? On a team that has been helped tremendously by competition why would the Hawks allow themselves to have such a lousy competition?

Unfortunately for Walters, he only had a spot on the team for as long as Pete and John neglected PR and to some extent WR. I wish him luck, but if Walters is your PR then you went wrong somewhere.

 

[mistaowen]

I went to Juanita just a few years ahead of him so I even have a reason to cheer for him.....but I don't.

The guy IS sure-handed and has taken a lot of punts without making bone-headed moves, so he deserves credit for that. But he is not capable of making a play. If he can pick up 4 yards because that's what is available easily, then he will do it. If he can get 8 yards easily then he will do it. There is value in that.

But....on a team that is trying to win the Super Bowl every year there is just no reason to settle for that. Why try to build a winning team WITHOUT taking care of every facet of the game? If the Hawks had brought in other PRs and Walters beat them for the job, fine. But the Hawks trotted out Earl Thomas and Baldwin was it? On a team that has been helped tremendously by competition why would the Hawks allow themselves to have such a lousy competition?

Unfortunately for Walters, he only had a spot on the team for as long as Pete and John neglected PR and to some extent WR. I wish him luck, but if Walters is your PR then you went wrong somewhere.

Who is better, him or Percy?

 

[dopeboy206]

I am slightly unhappy he is gone because the Hawks lose depth at his position, and he loses a spot on a really great team, a superbowl contender.

However, I am somewhat more happy because I think this move indicates that they are implementing a plan to improve the return game, as also indicated by Falwell's retention.

So it is a net positive.

Really can't believe you typed that. He was a waste of roster spot because all he did was fair catches the ball.

 

[netskier]

He was on and off the practice squad and the team all last season. He competed for his job against all comers, and won. Why do you hold that against him? Isn't competition the essence of Pete's philosophy?

Blame the coaches for selecting him, but not him for competing for his job.

 

[bjornanderson21]

Hey I have no problem w/ Walters. he is who he is and did exactly what the coaches asked of him which was to not turn the ball over. Kudos to him.

That doesn't mean that we can't hope to have a more explosive returner who can get a big return once in a while and help change field position. Tate was a huge weapon doing that and it would nice to find someone like him.

I don't think anyone is bashing Walters, he is a limited player who did a nice job in his role with the team. I wish him the best.

Two years ago (for Tate) they had effective blocking for the return game. Last year their return blocking was deficient.

That was the deciding difference between 2013 and 2014 .... those other 10 guys on the field.

Ummm....I think the biggest factor is we went from TATE to Walters.

That's like going from Wilson to Tjack.

 

[bjornanderson21]

He was on and off the practice squad and the team all last season. He competed for his job against all comers, and won. Why do you hold that against him? Isn't competition the essence of Pete's philosophy?

Blame the coaches for selecting him, but not him for competing for his job.

The problem is that the Hawks put together a horrible competition.

Think about it this way: if a team lets the 3 worst QBs in the nfl compete for the starting job then it means one of the 3 worst QBs will WIN that job.

Earl and Baldwin suck at returns, and Walters is mediocre. So a mediocre PR beat out two non-PR who can't return punts.

The Hawks had no plan for PR. They made the worst move in Seahawks history by trading for Harvin who was garbage, and they let Tate go to Detoilet. The Hawks were so horribly unprepared that they basically had to give the job to whoever can CATCH a punt, regardless of whether he can do anything after catching it.

In a REAL competition (with others who have done that job before) Walters would lose.

 

[Swedishhawkfan]

Is there an easier way to get paid in the NFL than to fair catch a ball 80-90% of the time? Dude is ballin'. Good luck to him.

Honestly I have always been mystified how anyone is capable of fair catching. First you need to somehow look at the ball high in the air to get where it is about to land, and then make a judgement on if you can return it or not at the same time as looking at the ball. Crazy imo how so many players can do this with ease

 

[Seafan]

How many punts would you attempt to return when you regularly have two gunners standing right in front of you waiting to shake your hand before the ball has even finishing coming down? Walters did what he was asked, didn't make any mistakes, broke off a few nice returns here and there, was a reliable albeit rarely-used slot receiver, and a great teammate/scout team guy. He doesn't deserve the snarks he's gotten in this thread, and he'll bring a lot more to the Jags program than any gross punt return yardage stats will suggest.

Agreed. Glad he was here. Reliability can't be overstated. With that, Daniels has some huge shoes to fill.

 

[Siouxhawk]

I went to Juanita just a few years ahead of him so I even have a reason to cheer for him.....but I don't.

The guy IS sure-handed and has taken a lot of punts without making bone-headed moves, so he deserves credit for that. But he is not capable of making a play. If he can pick up 4 yards because that's what is available easily, then he will do it. If he can get 8 yards easily then he will do it. There is value in that.

But....on a team that is trying to win the Super Bowl every year there is just no reason to settle for that. Why try to build a winning team WITHOUT taking care of every facet of the game? If the Hawks had brought in other PRs and Walters beat them for the job, fine. But the Hawks trotted out Earl Thomas and Baldwin was it? On a team that has been helped tremendously by competition why would the Hawks allow themselves to have such a lousy competition?

Unfortunately for Walters, he only had a spot on the team for as long as Pete and John neglected PR and to some extent WR. I wish him luck, but if Walters is your PR then you went wrong somewhere.

There goes your all-class reunion invitation

 

[Jville]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/bwalt19/status/576817470201143296[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/bwalt19/status/576817507308216320[/tweet]

 

[original poster]

Wish him nothing but success in the future.

(Almost) anyone that wears a seahawks uniform should be respected by the fan base imo, tough crowd indeed!

 

[Largent80]

Here it is....If you watched ST very much, you saw a serious drop off from the previous season.

We hardly ever started an offensive drive in good shape because our blocking was atrocious.

Can't pin that on Walters. I think even the best returners would have similar results.

that being said, Walters offered up very little outside of his contributions.

 

[drdiags]

ST was bad last year. Maybe a little longer, considering the blocked/botched FGs in Indy and against the Titans 2 seasons ago. The blocking is suspect on all the teams and the Rams are our daddy when it comes to ST play.

Leon/Tate/Richardson and Baldwin could have you slapping your head sometimes, and Walters may not be dynamic but it wasn't him putting the ball on the ground against the Packers in the NFCCG.

Best of luck to B Walters. He got to play for his hometown team, hopefully took the criticism in stride if he ever decides to return to live after his career is over. I would rather have the guy fair catch than fumbling trying to get a couple of useless yards mid-field.