Monday Notes: Jahvid Best Returns Kicks In Recent OTA
by Sean Yuille on Jun 7, 2010 1:58 PM EDT
in Detroit Lions Notes
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Print- I really didn't think Jahvid Best would get too much work on returns just because of the injury concern associated with special teams, but lo and behold, he was taking back kickoffs at last Thursday's OTA. When asked about the injury risk, Jim Schwartz had this to say:
"It really depends on his offensive role," Schwartz said. "It's really not so much an issue of fear of injury. You can say that about every position on the field, kickers included. There's a chance that you can get hurt on every single play. You can't let that dictate a guy's playing time and everything else.
I still am concerned about the injury risk, but I have to agree with Schwartz. Players can get injured any time they step on the field. Being overly-cautious can do more harm than good if you don't let Best do what he does best (damn, there's that pun again), which is run fast and avoid defenders, a perfect skill set for a returner.
"I think the biggest thing is what his role is on offense, who else is returning, and doing what's best for the team in that regard, not worrying about injury." - Speaking of Best, Tom Kowalski believes with absolute certainty that the former Cal Bear will be the Lions' starting running back this coming season.
- In his weekly column with the Free Press, Lions offensive tackle Jon Jansen talked about the fight that happened during OTAs last month. Here's a snippet of Jansen's take on what happened:
You may have heard the reports about the fight, but it was no different than any other fight that happens between teammates at practice. An event happens that ignites a fire, and before you know it, you're grabbing face masks, throwing jabs and rolling around on the ground with another dude. It's actually pretty funny when you get a chance to take a step back and think about what happened.
All accounts of the fight are that it was nothing serious. Jim Schwartz called it a wrestling match, and based on Jansen's take, I'd say that's probably accurate. - Reggie Torbor, who I know some of you mentioned as someone the Lions should look at, signed with the Bills.
- Australian rugby star Greg Inglis was apparently garnering interest from the Seahawks but reportedly turned them down. Mike Florio speculates that Inglis is just hoping to get leverage for his dealings with his rugby club, but neither Florio nor I are rugby experts, so I will defer to our very own Australian Hyperion Ecta on this one.
- Daunte Culpepper is officially a Mountain Lion. Yes, that sounds as funny as you think it does.
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ya, but..
There’s gotta b a higher probability of gettin hurt on KO/P, The Tim browns of the world are few & far between
I still don't want Best returning kicks or punts
Aaron Brown/D Williams/Dede Dorsey are all almost as fast as Best and way less crucial to the offense.
by WestsideLionsFan on Jun 7, 2010 2:19 PM EDT reply actions
Barry Sanders...
he was a litte bit fast too and a master of making tacklers miss. Do not recall seeing him return any punts or kicks.
I wish we had a guy like Mel Gray like they did on those early 90s teams
by WestsideLionsFan on Jun 7, 2010 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions
The best Saint to ever play for the Lions.
And i beleave he was a Saint before he was a Lion.
How many lumps you want Doc?
Best is no Barry
Though i agree that Best maybe better suited running the ball out of the back field instead of KR, i think Jim knows what he’s doing. As fast and skilled as Best is Jim is just trying to get him as many touches as possible, unlike Brown, Williams, or Dorsey Best has the ability to take it to the house everytime he touches the ball. He isn’t the first to take on a role like this and won’t be the last, Darren Sproles, DeSean Jackson, Devin Hester, and Felix Jones all do the same and all are pro bowl players.
Dorsey has that kind of big play ability
If you get a chance watch hard knocks from last year and watch some of his runs. That guy is a big play waiting to happen.
by WestsideLionsFan on Jun 7, 2010 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions
I have been trying to catch that...
Dorsey maybe the guy for the job but right now Jim is getting the kids feet wet, he is basically exploring every position that Best would or could excel in and letting him get a taste.
I agree, also....
I believe he will return kicks, just not every time. Something to through the other team off or git a big play here and there. If the return team does not do its job, we might see him back there more.
But....
he was also cut by the Bengals. They won’t keep Dorsey if he is not THE answer to return kicks. They’ll have Best, Smith, Morris and Brown on the roster already at RB. Unless he is absolutely lights out at returning during the preseason, he will be a roster casualty.
injury is a concern
But I would wager that Schwartz is more interested in keeping Best fresh. Having to return a kick and then immediately be the feature back is more than other guys have to deal with.
not my point
i wasn’t in any way trying to compare best to barry. just stating that because someone is fast and can break tackles does not mean its a good idea to put them in as return man. best is a first round talent. not a good idea to put your first round investment in harms way more than you have to. that would be almost as bad as drafting a QB first overall, paying him $72 million dollars and then doing very little to protect that investment. No one would do that right? Oh shit…
Yea football is a rough game. people have the potential to get hurt on every play. but why would you up the those chances by having him return kicks and punts? your not telling me the lions moved back into the first round to draft a return specialist.
I think its more of the threat
that he can go 100 yds at any point, wouldn’t be surprised if he did do KR but wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t. Jim is testing the waters he knows that Best is a speedy back who is shifty in open and tight spaces, your gonna see alot of Best theres know way Detroit moved back into the first to get him just to split time w Smith.
because that would be as dumb as...
passing on michael oher to take a TE in the first round. No one would do that right? Oh shit….
Pettigrew is going to be a beast
Oher has allready reached his ceiling, ’Grew is just getting warmed up
In life, a man is either the hammer or the anvil. Ndamukong Suh is both
Jazzy
How can you say that a Tackle has already hit his ceiling when he is not even 25 yet? It was a matter of our new front office wanting to put some young talent around our franchise QB that had NO WEAPONS at that point. Other than Megatron.
How many lumps you want Doc?
Just watched "The Blind Side" tonight... funny you should talk about Oher.
Good movie… good kid. Hope he does well. Not sure I agree with Jazzy that Oher has hit his ceiling. I think it’s pretty high.
And on a side note… DAMN is Sandra Bullock hot! How that idiot Jesse Jame ever cheated on her is beyond me.
no way
no way oher has hit his ceilling but either has grew in my eyes its a toss up between the too i wudnt have minded getting oher but i deffinatly dont mind that we drafted grew.
v/r,
JAB
Yeah... two great looking prospects that have great potential and good years...
ahead of them. Can’t really go wrong with either…
but hey they did make a movie about...
brandon pettigrew right? Oh shit……
We need more movie stars!
Lets get Brian from Brian’s song. That was a great football movie. He must be a great player. Or maybe Rudy. They made a movie about him.
In hindsight we probably should have grabbed Oher. I wanted to at the time, too. However, lots of great players are drafted late. I guess that means all the teams are stupid because how could great players get drafted in the 4th round? Also, don’t discount that Oher has some other pretty good OLinemen to help him out in Baltimore. There is no way a rookie would be able to come onto the Detroit line and have the year he did.
I heard that movie sucked
just because Sandra Bullock is acting like the MILF of all MILFs doesn’t mean we should’ve taken the guy
In life, a man is either the hammer or the anvil. Ndamukong Suh is both
hey she is my new favorite milf be easy on her
O.J. Atogwe and louis Delmas best safety duo in the league
by DetroitLions 4 life on Jun 7, 2010 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Definatly Sexy with class
morning noon and night…breakfast lunch and dinner ;)
Louis Delmas is gonna lay the MAC down on your candyass
Follett and Suh IN YO FACE!!!
picture worked early damn(try a diffrent one)
Louis Delmas is gonna lay the MAC down on your candyass
Follett and Suh IN YO FACE!!!
I'm quite taken with Sandra, too
but I really liked the Pettigrew pick
it’s not a bad pick bec ause he got hurt in his rookie season
Matthew Stafford got hurt in HIS rookie season, but I’m still glad we didn’t pick Sanchez
That movie had ery little to do about football and a lot to do about him making it in football in spite of everything off the field that was wrong in his life
Its a freaking movie, its Drama, not sports. As of all your comparisons about the left tackle, not protecting Stafford etc. all I can say is that it is clear that you think you know what is best. However it is also abundantly clear that you are no more infallible than anyone else. Saying that Michael Oher is a better player, prospect, pick, or fit for the Lions than Brandon Pettigrew is pretty off base. For one we have Jeff Backus at left tackle and he has started there for a long time. You may think he is not capable but here is the facts. When you compare Jeff Backus performance to the best in the league at his position (Joe Thomas?) how much drop off is there? Now consider that the Lions did not know what they had in Will Heller last year, Scott Linehan had never utilized him in the passing game like he did last year. So our best tight ends were who? Casy Fitzsimmons? Well compare him to the best TE in the league right now (Jason Whitten? Todd Heap?). When you look at the drop off from our LT versus best in league, and our TE versus best in league the TE position going into last year was a much greater need.
Furthermore no one, and I mean NO ONE had Michael Oher rated as their number one tackle in the draft. No one thought, nor currently thinks Oher will ever be the best left tackle in the league. On the other hand Pettigrew has the potential to be the best in the league, he was rated as the number one tight end in the draft and has the potential to be the best all around tight end in the league hands down. Therefor it is pretty clear to me that Pettigrew has a higher ceiling than Oher, and he also improved our team more by filling a position of greater need than LT. Now who would look at it in terms like that, probably a head coach and not a fan, oh shit….
I am going to give schwartz the benefit of the doubt.
that they were just having some fun in practice though.
If there is a chance that we can win some games, then use him in every possible situation
I think Schwartz knows what he’s doing. We need to win ball games. If Best is rushing for 100 y/g out of the back field and catching passes for 50 y/g , then he shouldn’t be returning kicks. If not, he needs to be used as much as possible to give us the “Best” chance to win the game regardless of the situation.
Do you really want to see our first round pick on the sideline of a game where we have 100 yards total offense and can’t cross mid-field?
The other team needs to feel threatened that we may take it to the house or at least that we’ll have good field position every kickoff. If we have no threats, the’ll just kick off and leave us pinned somewhere between the goalline and the 20. 3 and out and play the field position game.
Schwartz, use your weapons NOW. Give me something to look forward to on Sunday while watching the game! Best could get hurt getting out of bed or running a sweep. Use the kid. Make opposing coaches respect our defense, offense AND special teams.
Go Lions!
best tight end in draft..
who may never be the same player again after two surgeries on the same knee. who had a huge injury red flag< the fourth best tackle in the draft who is still better than Gosder Cherilus. And also that fourth best doesnt mean a lot since last years draft was super deep at tackle.
oh well maybe it is the other knee...lol
but thats better to have two bum knees?
anyhow...
i am not going to argue about it. i would still have rather had oher than pettigrew. i bet i am not alone in that.
I somewhat agree...
but only because this year’s draft was so deep with TEs we should have been a little more strategic in our thinking and planned to draft a TE this year as opposed to last.
Not, second guessing the FO, because Grew may workout to have a better career and hindsight is always 20/20. But, I just think that someone needs to be on the staff looking at the 2012 draft when planning the 2011 for example.
So you 2 wanted too put a rookie QB out on the field
With 1 threat at the skilled positions who was triple teamed and has already shown he can’t play for an entire season. Yeah that’s a great move guys. I was pissed off as well when we took Grew over a LT last year as well, but after seeing what Grew has the potential to do with his body, I am happy as hell that we took him over Oher who did have a red-flag about his ability to learn. i wanted to see more big plays out of the TE position last year but let’s face it most rookie’s just don’t come into the NFL and explode on the scene.
How many lumps you want Doc?
You really dont know what you have a year ahead of time.
There is just too much development that goes on during a players senior and junior season to be able to have much accuracy projecting them into the draft as a junior or sophomore. You can get a rough idea but injuries happen, some players fizzle out, others take a giant leap in development. I agree that you can weight in somewhat the depth of the next draft but by no means should it dictate who you take. For instance Pettigrew would have still been rated as the best tight end in this years draft too. It is very rare to find a tight end of his skill set, He is an excellent run and pass blocker and he is an excellent catcher, his only non elite factor is speed. Gronkowski from this year is not the blocker that Pettigrew is, and probably never will be, they are about the same in catching ability, and Gronkowski has a bit more speed. So not really the same tight end at all. In fact very few in the NFL have the skill set that Pettigrew has.
some people are just haters (for whatever personal reasons they may have)
some people don’t appreciate tight ends
and some folks just don’t have any faith
I usually agree with you 32.
You seem to know the game. Even if you are a litte grumpy sometimes…lets just agree to disagree on this one.
Dude, learn how to reply to the post you are responding to
Click the reply button right under the comment you want to respond to.
Injury, Shminjury
I wonder what those Eagles fans think about Desean Jackass Jackson returning kicks for them? Something tells me (even though their #1 WR is at risk of getting hurt returning) that they’re ok with all of those extra TDs.
No worries here. If he’s got the skill to return….let him fly.
Like to see williams or brown
work out a KR this year even though last season niether one of them were able to do much.
Louis Delmas is gonna lay the MAC down on your candyass
Follett and Suh IN YO FACE!!!
i think brown can get it down
O.J. Atogwe and louis Delmas best safety duo in the league
by DetroitLions 4 life on Jun 7, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I think either could be productive
if they could get some solid blocking around them. Can’t make everyone miss
Louis Delmas is gonna lay the MAC down on your candyass
Follett and Suh IN YO FACE!!!
OK, here's the lowdown on Inglis....
Inglis is a very talented athlete. He’s got great strength and size, and can run quite fast for his size, although, he isn’t blistering. His greatest strength is his ability to break tackles, but in my opinion, he’s be hard pressed to find a position in the NFL. He’s best chance is probably at LB, where his size, speed and aggression can be used effectively. He also wouldn’t have any problems with fatigue or stamina since he’s used to playing offence and defence for 80 mins.
I’m not surprised that NFL teams are interested in athletes such as Inglis, but I would but surprised to see him make the trip to the US. I think he’ll use this interest to raise the deals of other codes such as Rugby Union, AFL (Aussie Rules) or even to stay in Rugby League.
You guys probably didn’t care that much about it, but it’s nice to talk about Rugby League sometimes.
"Zack Follett: he will hurt your mind." - Pride Leader, Sean Yuille, wielder of the Ban Hammer.
2010 Wests Tigers : Current record - 7-5 : Current Position - 5th : Last game - Defeated the Canterbury Bulldogs 19 - 12
good to know, many thanks
I actually love watching rugby, but there’s no way to do it with only basic cable here in the states. oh well. NBC broadcast the college 7s championship this past week, so I did get to have my rugby fix for the time being. it’s an awesome sport to watch.
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