Spring Offers Limited Preview of Special Teams
3 comments so far
April 2, 2007 by
While Marcus Mendoza may emerge in 2007 as a force on special teams, many of his compatriots on those units have yet to arrive on campus.
Kicker Jake Wesch will go into fall as the top kicker, but the arrival of Adi Kunalic could easily bump him back to second string. Callahan didn't show a lot of confidence in his kickers a year ago, so that would signal an inclination toward using a new player.
The coverage teams in the Callahan era have had a lot of true freshman. The coaches have not been shy about burning redshirts when they see guys that can contribute early on special teams. In this era, when kids have such a quick trigger on transfering, it makes sense. It gets guys on the field sooner (but not too soon) and they are able to contribute right away.
So it will be hard to get a real feel for what the special teams will look like in 2007 from watching what happens this spring. Not to mention that the top units will have to play against reserves. I'll boldly predict that we'll see more field goal attempts and more return yards in 2007 though. That's hardly going out on a limb, but it will be nice to see in any case.
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Jeremy in MPLS Apr 03 07
I understand he's ridiculously fast, but I don't understand why everybody is so ready to crown Mendoza as the second coming of Johnny the Jet. He's rather slight and rather young. The weight of expectation perhaps could out-heft the girth of his frame!
I agree that Kunalic NEEDS to make an impact. We need more consistent scoring in the red zone. The fourth-down failures are excruciating.
Steve Apr 03 07
Jeremy,
I suspect some of the excitement around Mendoza stems from the utter frustration with the lack of production in the return game. It wasn't that long ago that guys like DeJuan Groce, Bobby Newcombe or Tyrone Hughes were gaining big chunks of yards in the return game.
But also, think about what it means to be the fastest guy on the team. How many players have held that title and NOT been contributors?
Jeremy in MPLS Apr 03 07
True enough.
I would say Tierre Green, but though he never made headlines with any position, his versatility alone has allowed him to be a contributor.