ET the Punt Returner

Why is this so bad? Everyone bemoans that he might get hurt. Did everyone feel the same way about Golden Tate? When was the last time we had a punt returner injured on a return? Or any other team for that matter. I personally can not remember (I am sure I will be corrected if anytime recently). I know we see Lockett the rocket tearing up people but the may get dinged but I don't think even he has knocked anyone out of a game. (once again I could be wrong ). He did have a rough outing the first game out but does anyone here think he will not improve? After all this is ET. Probably the most intense guy on the team and will probably study this to death to correct it.
Now I do have a question for the many more informed than myself. Does Sherman normally play on punt returns? It was definitely his fault ET fumbled. If not normally on the punt return team why was he there? Just curious.

I've wondered the same thing. Everyone, including national commentators, seem to think it's totally idiotic for Earl to return punts. But I can't think of anyone getting injured on punt returns. Maybe the concern is general wear and tear?

Didn't Deion Sanders return punts and/or kicks?

Though... He will get injured if he keeps making catches in traffic without signaling for a fair catch. He's lucky he didn't get smeared on either one of those first two.

Big Red is too big to play DE
Sherman and Browner are too tall to play CB
Bam Bam is too big too be a safety
Wilson is too short to play QB

Whats next

well Earl Thomas is too important to return kicks.

Unless he's that much better returning punts than the 2nd best returner why take the risk?I quite frankly don't think he is any better than other options.

I think the fear is that Thomas is the best safety in the game and is crucial to the Seahawks defence. No disrespect to Jerrod Johnson but he isn't a patch on Thomas. Golden Tate was a good receiver but if he went down you had guys ready to fill in.

What Risk? Is there proof that returning punts is more dangerous than an extra point? I could be wrong (wouldn't be the first or last time) but I would like to see proof of the increased danger. Plus lets keep this guy happy. He deserves it.

Every play on a football field can be dangerous. Increasing plays on a field increases the danger overall. However, by that logic we should sit ET and lock him in a padded room. I hope he makes big plays with the return game.

Any risk Earl incurs when taking snaps on defense is worth it because he is a such a hugely valuable part of the defense. Even then, I'm sure most of us would not mind seeing Jerrod Johnson get some experience in the 4th quarter of blowouts or in other situations that have low return.

If most people thought that Earl provided the same marginal value for punt returns that he does as a free safety then this would not be a topic. The issue is when people view other options such as Walters as roughly comparable, and if that was the case then a pure value argument would say the highest bang for the buck with Earl was him taking snaps only as a free safety.

What makes this messy is the locker room intangible angle that Pete manages so excellently. His philosophy about open competition has served the team very well and preventing Earl from taking on a role that he may have won in practice, however narrowly, could cause problems for that philosophy. What makes sense on paper is not always the best strategy when you are dealing with human emotions and trying to manage the team's mentalilty.

The only risk is that he's clearly willing to sacrifice ball security for the chance for a big play. Which if we're as good as I think we are, are the kinds of mistakes we should be able to overcome as long as they don't happen too frequently.

The Vikings punt returner got hurt last week. I remember when Reggie Bush broke his leg returning a punt. Of course, you have Jacoby Jones freak knee injury on the punt last year. The Packers had to struggle to find a returner against us because Davante Adams hurt himself on a punt return three weeks earlier. Dez Bryant hurt himself on a punt return in 2011 and didn't return to the game. Randall Cobb missed time in 2012 after being injured on a punt return. Marc Mariani nastily broke his leg on a punt return in 2012 and hasn't really been heard from since. Tandon Doss of the Jags got hurt returning a punt in the preseason a few weeks ago.

ET is arguably the fulcrum of the D. He’s the consensus #1 FS in the league. It’s one thing to close on the ball and make tackles. It’s quite another to make the split-second decision to fair catch or play it. You want a guy like Lockette closing on ET?

As others have said: Risk/Reward.

Jason Sehorn.

And I’d take Walters anyway.

Unless he dramatically improves back there from last thursday, I would rather see Walters or someone else. Dude makes me cringe every time he camps under the ball. Hope the coaches did their jobs and let him know fair catching is allowed and exceptable. I actually think he could do good, but he's got to get smarter about picking his battles..

Tical21":q7179go8 said:

The Vikings punt returner got hurt last week. I remember when Reggie Bush broke his leg returning a punt. Of course, you have Jacoby Jones freak knee injury on the punt last year. The Packers had to struggle to find a returner against us because Davante Adams hurt himself on a punt return three weeks earlier. Dez Bryant hurt himself on a punt return in 2011 and didn't return to the game. Randall Cobb missed time in 2012 after being injured on a punt return. Marc Mariani nastily broke his leg on a punt return in 2012 and hasn't really been heard from since. Tandon Doss of the Jags got hurt returning a punt in the preseason a few weeks ago.

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OK now I stand corrected. There is more risk involved. But is that increase risk enough to warrant keeping him out??? I think Pete can figure this out better than us. This brings me to another thing about this team I like. They don't play scared of getting hurt. It like playing not to lose instead of winning. I think this actually prevents injury in some twisted way.

Year of The Hawk":1ol75bpb said:

Tical21":1ol75bpb said:

The Vikings punt returner got hurt last week. I remember when Reggie Bush broke his leg returning a punt. Of course, you have Jacoby Jones freak knee injury on the punt last year. The Packers had to struggle to find a returner against us because Davante Adams hurt himself on a punt return three weeks earlier. Dez Bryant hurt himself on a punt return in 2011 and didn't return to the game. Randall Cobb missed time in 2012 after being injured on a punt return. Marc Mariani nastily broke his leg on a punt return in 2012 and hasn't really been heard from since. Tandon Doss of the Jags got hurt returning a punt in the preseason a few weeks ago.

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OK now I stand corrected. There is more risk involved. But is that increase risk enough to warrant keeping him out??? I think Pete can figure this out better than us. This brings me to another thing about this team I like. They don't play scared of getting hurt. It like playing not to lose instead of winning. I think this actually prevents injury in some twisted way.

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I agree hesitation will get you injured. I'm still going to cringe every time I see ET3 back there, but this is kind of the culture Carroll has instilled into the team.

Year of The Hawk":242v9fuo said:

Why is this so bad? Everyone bemoans that he might get hurt. Did everyone feel the same way about Golden Tate? When was the last time we had a punt returner injured on a return? Or any other team for that matter. I personally can not remember (I am sure I will be corrected if anytime recently). I know we see Lockett the rocket tearing up people but the may get dinged but I don't think even he has knocked anyone out of a game. (once again I could be wrong ). He did have a rough outing the first game out but does anyone here think he will not improve? After all this is ET. Probably the most intense guy on the team and will probably study this to death to correct it.
Now I do have a question for the many more informed than myself. Does Sherman normally play on punt returns? It was definitely his fault ET fumbled. If not normally on the punt return team why was he there? Just curious.

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1. It was not Sherman's fault Earl fumbled. Earl should have fair caught that ball from the get go, as well as the first punt.......but he "only knows how to make plays." Which is what worries me, Earl needs to have some self restraint and pick his spots like a good PR does.......not jeopardize the game for his own glory.

2. We have 3-4 other explosive players that aren't arguably the #1 most important defensive player in the league who also could be developed into good PR's. Doug, Percy, C-Mike, Turbin, Richardson, Walters to name a few.

Why Earl? I thought it was because Pete trusts Earl more than these others, but a couple more Rambo punt returns from Earl and that's going to be gone.

[/quote]

1. It was not Sherman's fault Earl fumbled. Earl should have fair caught that ball from the get go, as well as the first punt.......but he "only knows how to make plays." Which is what worries me, Earl needs to have some self restraint and pick his spots like a good PR does.......not jeopardize the game for his own glory.

2. We have 3-4 other explosive players that aren't arguably the #1 most important defensive player in the league who also could be developed into good PR's. Doug, Percy, C-Mike, Turbin, Richardson, Walters to name a few.

Why Earl? I thought it was because Pete trusts Earl more than these others, but a couple more Rambo punt returns from Earl and that's going to be gone.[/quote]


I did not see the first punt so I can't comment on that one. I beg to differ on the fumble punt. Even if you call a fair catch you can still fumble the ball. The fact that a player was blocked into him is why he fumbled. This was not Earls fault on this play. Watch again and tell me why a fair catch would have changed anything.

Your point number two is a good point. I did not see them in practice returning punts so I cant see how they did. You did name Percy to this list. Would risk loosing him be acceptable? I think he is vital to our offense.

Point three. I agree. Pete does not put up with failure in any position.


I guess the real question is how valuable is Earl to our defense. I believe he is immensely valuable. But I also don't think our defense would fall apart. That takes away from what the rest of our defense does. How do you think him being out would translate to win/loses? I don't have the answer but just something to think about.

P.S. Does anyone know if Sherm is normally on punt return team?

That's the bottom line with me, is the reward of Earl returning punts outweigh the risk of him getting injured?

To me the answer is no, and it's especially no if he's going to be careless with the ball. To me this is Pete being Pete, getting too clever for his own good. "Oh we don't worry about injuries, next man up, blah blah blah."

Well golden Pete is going to get BBQ'd if Earl gets hurt, which is what I'm saying.......upside DOES NOT outweigh the downside.

This team is talented however that doesn't mean we can afford a grip of mistakes fielding punts.

I'm quite sure Earl will not let that happen again.

I'm fearful of injury but as has been pointed out, he is a guided missile on every snap.

Year of The Hawk":1mt612x7 said:

I beg to differ on the fumble punt. Even if you call a fair catch you can still fumble the ball. The fact that a player was blocked into him is why he fumbled. This was not Earls fault on this play. Watch again and tell me why a fair catch would have changed anything.

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If Earl signals a fair catch, then Sherman isn't forced to block a guy literally a yard away from him. Once the fair catch is signaled, the defender cannot interfere with the returner's ability to catch the ball. Thus, if the fair catch was signaled, GB's gunner wouldn't have come as close to Earl for fear of penalty. Furthermore, Sherman's block is basically the only thing that stopped Earl from getting completely leveled on that play as the gunner was running at a straight line toward Earl. A fair catch signal would've forced the gunner to pull up sooner, and Sherman wouldn't have had to continue blocking up until the last second.

re: the whole "is there evidence that injuries happen more during punt returns"...

On defense Earl is the headhunter. On PR, Earl is being headhunted. This is obvious, but I feel I have to say it out loud since the question has been voiced.

Even if other PRs don't get hurt much, Earl will have a target on him like Percy had vs. NO in the playoffs last year, because you knock that guy out and you cripple our D.

Does Earl look natural out there at the position? Is his decision making and play fluid so far? Even if you thought Earl wasn't an injury risk before, watching him do it last week surely changed that perception. Sure he can get "better", he can improve from god-awful risking a loss to "okay" but why in God's name would you risk him out there just for that?

In some cases groupthink leads to erroneous conclusions. In this case, everyone thinks it's stupid because it's stupid.