The Deep Ball

[Hoofhearted]

(11-05-2020, 03:29 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I think when you look up punt return stats you have to be careful in how you view them.  Some sites only list a smaller number due to qualifiers.  Some sites sort by total yards and some sort by average.

On Pro Football Reference, they default to a qualifyer of a minimum of 20 returns, and only 15 players met that mark in 2019.  Alex Erickson ranked 12th out of 15th in YPR.

When not using a qualifier, and accounting for all punt returners, he ranks 47th.

The number you're referring to, I believe, is total return yards, where he does rank 14th.  The problem with that is that he was actually 8th in attempts. 

Fwiw, here are his yearly ranks with PFR's qualifiers:

Alex Erickson

2016 - 18th out of 21
2017 - 20th out of 25
2018 -  9th out of 19
2019 - 12th out of 15
2020 -  6th out of 16

IMHO, he's just not good enough to take up on spot on PR skills alone.  We've 3 bottom of the barrel years, with one average year, and one slightly above average year, that has yet to be completed.

He's had ZERO TD's in 5 years of handing PR duties.  He's never even hit a 40 yard return.  His long's per season tell me he has very limited big play ability: 24, 29, 38, 17, and 22

A lot of people may point to reliabilty, and that even though he's not dynamic, he holds on to the ball.  Except, he put the ball on the ground 4 times last year.  I can't find the exact stat for PR alone, but i believe he was near the top in PR fumbles in 2019.

To each their own, I just think the guy is a complete waste of a spot.  And that fact we're paying him 2.5 million dollars only adds insult to injury.

Good point about qualifiers. Not just PR, but he also can come in a pinch for WR duties. He has 82 receptions, almost a thousand yards and a 61% catch %. He's an emergency WR option who plays ST. It's not an unforgivable use of a 55 man roster spot. Gotta remember he was also undrafted, so if anything he's slightly overachieved.