A little birdy told me that CLM might lift the redshirt off young John Williams from Breaux Bridge and have him return punts as early as next week vs. Tulane. Kid's got a reputation for having great hands and blazing speed. Let's see it! http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticl...64&DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=785356&Q_SEASON=2007
Every player has a bad night now and then. Mitchell may turn out to be a fine player yet. We can bitch and moan about his drops and muffs, but it doesn't mean he can't get better.
I'm not calling Mitchell a bad player. He's good enough to be the third receiver on what I believe is the best team in the nation, so he can't be bad. I don't think Chevis Jackson is a bad player, either. He's probably one of the top five corners in the nation. I can objectively say, though, that Chevis should not have been returning punts last year. He was clearly uncomfortable doing so, and his muff vs. Florida, I think, turned the game completely around. And I can say that Mitchell, whatever his talents, shouldn't be returning punts this year.
I believe it. It matches all the info about his progress I recieved during the Spring from a few of those birdies. He was high on the chart then and I wouldnt be surprised at all if this happens. However, I am not sure what his actual feeling is about getting the RS taken.
I will admit that I am less than pleased with our punt returns to date but I also understand how difficult a proposition it really is. How many of you ever returned punts? I did in High school and it is one of the scariest, most difficult things to do in a game. Having great hands and blazing speed is nice , but is only a fraction of a success story. Primarily it takes complete confidence in your blockers so you can keep your head pointed up towards the ball which is wobbling, spiraling, changing directions with wind, rain, instead of looking where your instincts tell you to - namely at the thundering herd that is about to plant your butt in turf. The ball is much harder to judge in flight than a baseball, add to that, the center fielder doesn't get close lined after catching a baseball. You add outside factors like night lights, rain, crowd noise, or simply someone missing a block on the previous kick, and it can be downright terrifying. The best returners seem to run with no fear at all, and somehow are able to tune all this out. It takes a very talented special teams effort to be successful on punt returns, and we have been a bit spoiled in the last several years. It certainly is an area that I agree we need to work on, and I feel certain it is a topic of discussion amongst our coaching staff. When you consider how many ridiculously talented athletes we have on this team, it is just a matter of time before they figure out who the kid is that strikes a balance between ability and having no fear.
