Today I will be talking about one of our most troublesome positions. Special teams.
We lost everybody on special teams this season. Lrigh Tiffin has to be replaced. P.J fitzgerald is gone. All-star returner Javier Arenas is gone. Those are some big shoes to fill.
I feel pretty confident about our return game this year. There’s no way it can match what Javy did, but it won’t be too bad. I’m assuming that Julio Jones will be our primary kick and punt returner. Either Trent Richardson or newbie Demarcus Millliner will likely be the backup.
Leigh Tiffin will be replaced by either Cade Foster or Jeremy Shelley. Shelley held his own in the Spring Scrimmage game, but it looks like Foster will get the nod. Ther’s something I absolutely love about Foster that has nothing to do with his kicking ability. He played middle linebacker in high school. So the stereotype of frail kickers does not apply. Returners will have a harder time getting past this kicker. Besides that, he has a very powerful leg, and kicked one into the end zone in spring scrimmage. I don’t know much about his field goal kicking abilities.
P.J. Fitzgerald will be replaced by true freshman Jake Williams. I haven’t gone back to look at his high school stats, but I’m a little worried about not seeing this guy yet. He will be thrust into the full college game his first year here. He’s our only option. Let’s hope he comes through.
And I thought I’d just throw this out, though most people don’t think about this part of special teams, I thought Dre Kirkpatrick was great on kickoff and punt coverage. He seemed to be around the ball every play. Look for him to stuff the return game this season.
Tomorrow’s segment will probably be the best. The secondary. Find out which player might miss the season tomorrow.