I thought I'd take a look at how we are doing nationally in STs after four weeks. Football Outsiders doesn't do their adjusted rankings until after the 7th game, so I'll update later on. Also, the ACC rankings don't make much sense yet since there have been so few ACC games.
Summary
- Good punt returns when we return
- Good leg on Butker for KOs
- Good leg on Rodwell punting
- Great kick blocking
- Bad KO coverage
- Hideous FG kicking
Phase 1: Returns of Kickoffs and punts.
KO return: 2014 GT 44th @ 22.8 yards avg, 2013 52nd @ 22.01 yards avg
Punt return:
2014 GT 6th @ 25.3 yards avg, 2013 58th @ 8.32 yards avg
We only returned punts 3 times so far this year, but when we have it has been good. Last year we only returned 13 for the season so the strategy remains ball possession over offensive play.
Phase 2: GT Kickoffs and punts.
KOs:
2014 GT 6th @ 75% touch back, 1 out of bounds; 2013 38th @ 40% touch back, 4 out of bounds
KO returns by opponent:
2014 121st @ 26.20 yards avg; 2013 71st @ 21.51 yards avg
Punts:
2014 GT 34th @ 43.83 yards avg, 2013 38th @ 42.27 yards avg
Punt returns by opponent: 2014 46th @5.17 yards avg; 2013 76th @ 8.94 yards avg
The only logical KO play is for Butker to try for a touchback every time. He has gotten a lot better and the return defense is not very good. If I had a good KO returner, I'd probably coach returning even if 5 yards deep in the end zone. We are going to see better returners as the year goes on.
Rodwell is doing just fine punting. I don't remember any shanks and a lot of punts to about the 10 (which limited his yardage). The punt return average is down a bit, maybe due to hang time and maybe due to the quality of the opponent.
Phase 3: GT Field goals and extra points
FGs: 2014 96th at 4 of 7.
EPs: 2014 100%
FGs fricking dismal at 4 of 7. May need a new FG kicker in close at an angle if Butker can't fix his head. I hear people talking about how easy it should be to correct, but it must not be easy to correct or it would have been fixed. These guys know 5000 times more about the mechanics of kicking than the layman. That may be the problem too; they think.
Phase 4: Opponent field goals and extra points
FGs by opponent: 2014 66th @75%. (6 of 8). But this stat doesn't break out blocks.
Blocked kicks: 2014 2nd (tied) @ 3 blocks. 2013 5th(tied) @ 5 blocks for the year.
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