You're wrong. You're going by total yards which isn't quite an accurate measure because ****ty teams get scored on more and thus have more kickoff returns and more kickoff return yards. For example, in 2003 we were 4th in total yards but 18th in return average because we had one of the worst defenses in the league that year. Return average is a much more accurate statistic. Here's how we ranked in that category each year. Spoilered for length. Spoiler 2002: 29th 2003: 18th 2004: 20th 2005: 2nd 2006: 16th 2007: 2nd 2008: 26th 2009: 16th 2010: 27th 2011: 7th Now, we did have some good years. Thank you Jerome Mathis (2005) and Andre Davis (2007). We did well last year too. A large part of that was that our defense was amazing and we only had 29 kickoff returns all year. With so few returns, the 13 that Manning had (where he averaged 27.4 yards per return) and the 5 by Demps (33.8) compensated for the relatively weak effort by McMannis (20.8). But overall, justtxyank is right. We had a few really good years, but the other 7 years have been in the bottom half of the league. If you think kickoff coverage has been in the top 10 consistently, you must've been reading the chart wrong, either because you're looking at total yards or you're not flipping the ranking (because most sites will put most yards first which is the opposite of what we're trying to measure) or some combination of the two. Here's how we rank in opponents return average. Spoiler 2002: 20th 2003: 23rd 2004: 24th 2005: 14th 2006: 25th 2007: 21st 2008: 11th 2009: 14th 2010: 25th 2011: 7th Let's look at Punt return averages. Spoiler 2002: 16th 2003: 29th 2004: 19th 2005: 22nd 2006: 6th 2007: 18th 2008: 3rd 2009: 10th 2010: 29th 2011: 15th Again, a couple of good years in there but mostly mediocrity. And how about punt return coverage? Spoiler 2002: 4th 2003: 16th 2004: 19th 2005: 6th 2006: 13th 2007: 12th 2008: 26th 2009: 2nd 2010: 10th 2011: 15th There are some bad years in there but overall, this seems like one of the stronger aspects of our special teams. Borderline top 3rd in the league on average. I don't want to go looking up more stats, but we all know our punting has typically below average and our kickers have been average to above average at best. But it's hard to credit or blame the ST coach too much in those areas because those are largely personnel issues which are out of his control. Overall, it looks pretty clear to me that our special teams as a whole have been well below average over the last 10 years. I doubt anything will be done about it. Kubiak seems content. Kubes was fine with the defense until Uncle Bob got fed up enough to force his hand with the Wade hire. It'd probably take something similar to replace Marciano but that's unlikely.
Some people thought Holliday had the job wrapped up in the first preseason game. But if you watched the 4th game and saw how Trindon got pulled after his punt return TD, it was apparent that Kubes had concerns and was still on the fence. I had written at the time to not get too excited about Holliday for 2 reasons. One was that in the preseason, returners are pretty much told to return everything and that he'd be taking more fair catching/downing it in the endzone during the regular season. The other was that in preseason, special teams are normally filled with a lot of fringe guys trying to make the team any way they can. A lot of those guys get cut and the quality of the players playing special teams goes up in the regular season. I remember last year. Our kickoff returns were awful in the preseason. They were saving Manning for the regular season and were putting Keo, Demps, McMannis, and Townsel back there and they were averaging around 15 yards a return. Then came the regular season and our kickoff returns looked fine. Better than fine, they were good with the scrubs having been cut and Manning taking over as the returner. After one game, this year looks like the exact opposite. We got good returns in the preseason and we averaged 15 yards a return. Holliday has a leash, but it's not much of one. If he plays against Jacksonville the way he played against Miami, it's not a stretch at all that he gets cut. Kubiak did seem hesitant and needed a lot of convincing to give Trindon a roster spot. I don't doubt Kubes would have a quick hook should Trindon continue to struggle.
Obviously, Holliday did not play well. However, I think he bounces back this weekend with a nice return game since he will be away from the home crowd. It's a possibility that he had jitters and a road game should fix that.
Trindon Holliday...... DROP. We already saw what having a moron punt returner from Louisiana did for us last year....
Hhhhmmm I think he sticks for the season now. . . though after last week I was skeptical barring some truly deep boneheadedness . .. he will at least make the season Rocket River
Still had a mixed bag today... one good return, one muff, one where he didn't communicate where the ball was and it hit one of the other ST guys in the head, and several non-spectacular decisions to take it out of the endzone to around the 20. The muff and the ball hit in head were potential turnovers. Those still outweigh the one good return.
I agree, I am thinking if he doesn't keep on improving or regresses more during a loss, he will be gone the minute they need to cut someone. It is a shame because he has potential but the mistakes whether a fault of his size or mental make up are killing us at times in field positioning.
We don't need to cut him right now and Kubiak and coach Marciano want to give the man chance to earn a steady place in the league. Unless he makes a horrible game mistake that costs the game he will be keep his position.
I think Holliday is a game changer, but the ghost of Steve Slaton (trying to catch on with the bears) just seems to haunt.
He's a game changer alright... its just that he is just as likely to commit a mistake that changes the game for the OTHER team.
