in the critical 3rd phase of the football aka specisl teams.....our kick and punt returner specialist Alex Erickson isnt helping out our starting field position at all.
his longest return is a paltry 28 yds. hes averaging a blistering 4.0.on punt returns.
hes not even targeted when he gets reps on offense.
i dont understand how he secures a spot on this team.
Kermit Whitfield could do better than Erickson trust me.

(09-25-2018, 12:17 AM)impactplaya Wrote: in the critical 3rd phase of the football aka specisl teams.....our kick and punt returner specialist Alex Erickson isnt helping out our starting field position at all.
his longest return  is a paltry 28 yds. hes averaging a blistering 4.0.on punt returns.
hes not even targeted when he gets reps on offense.
i dont understand how he secures a spot on this team.
Kermit Whitfield could do better than Erickson trust me.

I'm starting to think the same thing. I always have liked the kid but the more he plays the worse he gets!

i watched DeShaun Jackson return one 83 yds and was thinking....." we will never see that this year"
we need someone that can flip.field position in a hurry.
our CBs have ZERO interceptions this year.
we cant continously start inside the 25 yd line

(09-25-2018, 12:17 AM)impactplaya Wrote: in the critical 3rd phase of the football aka specisl teams.....our kick and punt returner specialist Alex Erickson isnt helping out our starting field position at all.
his longest return  is a paltry 28 yds. hes averaging a blistering 4.0.on punt returns.
hes not even targeted when he gets reps on offense.
i dont understand how he secures a spot on this team.
Kermit Whitfield could do better than Erickson trust me.

If I was head coach, I would put Ross back there until he loses that dear in the headlights look. BOYD or Gio for punt returns but that's if your all in on winning by any means necessary.

Part of it seems to be there havent really been many good punts to return because our defense is giving up so many yards

My biggest knock on Erickson, dating back quite some time, has been his ineffectiveness as a returner. As a receiver, he's proved his worth on the team, yet continues to waffle as a return man. Too bad Ross doesn't have good hands. His close area quickness, and rapid acceleration would be about as exciting to watch as Adam Jones was in his prime.

Maybe you all should of not ran Adam Jones out of town so fast. He could of been a solid depth as the 4th or 5th CB and a returner.

That being said Erickson was a college QB he would best be used at WR finding holes in defenses. He made the team thru special teams returning kicks but that should not define his whole career on the Bengals the way Tate was. Erickson has earned a real shot at WR by taking big hits and holding onto the ball and catching everything that comes his way. On any other team he would be given more time and targets.


We have a lot better options at returning punts and kicks then a converted college QB I would hope so anyway.

(09-25-2018, 09:20 AM)BengalsBong Wrote: Maybe you all should of not ran Adam Jones out of town so fast. He could of been a solid depth as the 4th or 5th CB and a returner.

That being said Erickson was a college QB  he would best be used at WR finding holes in defenses. He made the team thru special teams returning kicks but that should not define his whole career on the Bengals the way Tate was. Erickson has earned a real shot at WR by taking big hits and holding onto the ball and catching everything that comes his way. On any other team he would be given more time and targets.


We have a lot better options at returning punts and kicks then a converted college QB I would hope so anyway.

Wow, I had no idea we (the fans) had the power to get someone released (run out of town).

(09-25-2018, 09:36 AM)Fullrock Wrote: Wow, I had no idea we (the fans) had the power to get someone released (run out of town).

Well you do when you buy into the media hype and start trashing your players calling them thugs and pointing the fingers at them for losses. Adam was here since 2010 and had one misdemeanor. Most of you throwing stones has had more charges in the last 8 years but since the media tag our team as a bunch of thugs with their fake news you buy into it. You point the finger at him and Burfict for the playoff loss but in reality if neither of them was on the field we still would of got flagged for some  reason because we was beating the Steelers and the refs NFL and ESPN could not have that. So they would have thrown a flag on another player to make us lose that game. Jones was just telling a coach to get off the field which the Steelers coach should of been flagged for but again the refs was in some ones pocket. Again don't let the media decide what you think.

Shawn Williams knocked the ball out of a guys hand that shoved him then the guy shoved Shawn again. If the refs saw the ball being slapped out of the guys hand then they saw the second shove. But no flag for putting your hands on someone that's ok. What kind of messages are they sending to the million of kids watching the game its ok to shove people? But we already had a thread about our thug player Shawn. The hit in Indy was a bad play on Shawns part only because it broke the rules but if the was Tyrod or Andy getting hit their would of been no ejection maybe not even flagged.

The job of Kick Returner is kind of a charade at this point, since it's so hard to get past the 25 yard line that the touchback is taken basically whenever you're given the chance. Looking at stats, Cincinnati is actually averaging the 4th most yards per kick return this season...at 28.7.

That's 3.7 more yards than a touch back yields. And that may not even be correct because those return numbers take the number of yards into the end zone the receiver is. So, realistically, that's probably closer to an average starting position on those returns as a 26 or 27 yard line.

Over the course of the entire 2017 NFL season, the league leader in yards per return was Atlanta...with 26.2 yards per return. So the kick return in the NFL is essentially dead.

As for his job of Punt Returner, he's only had 2 returns so far this year because punters are kicking it shorter now to prevent returns. Especially since the main goal is to just get it inside the 20 yard line. So if you're punting it from your own 40, you only need that ball to go about 45 yards (which, coincidentally, is right around the average for punters nowadays). Nearly every punt the two gunners get to the return man before the ball does. If he tries to return those, all he'll do is get blown up as soon as the ball touches his hands. That risks fumbles and turnovers and we don't need that.

Now, there will be the occasion where a kick does not reach the end zone or a punter is pinned and just needs to kick that thing as far as he can. Those are the only cases where a return man is even really relevant.

If your return man fields the ball cleanly and doesn't allow the ball to bounce unnecessarily (like Tate used to always attempt to let the ball bounce into the end zone, and a guy would stop it at the 5, rather than just catching it at the 10), you're doing just fine at the position.

It's like the long snapper. It isn't a hard job, but it's just nuanced enough that it's worth a roster slot to ensure its done properly.

There are much bigger things to worry about with this team than Erickson. He's doing his job.

(09-25-2018, 10:29 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote:  So the kick return in the NFL is essentially dead.

 

Which blows my mind a little.

Part of the excitement was guys like Devin Hester and Bryan Mitchell and Dante Hall. You watched their games just to see if they were going to run one back 80+ yards. Even guys who didn't make it into the end zone as often made it fun just to see someone break free for 40 or 50 yards before someone pushed them out.

Now, it's either going out the back or the returner gets swarmed almost as soon as he touches the ball. 

The NFL might as well continue to water it down and just do away with kicks. Just start kicks at the 20, punts at the 30.

(09-25-2018, 10:21 AM)BengalsBong Wrote: Well you do when you buy into the media hype and start trashing your players calling them thugs and pointing the fingers at them for losses. Adam was here since 2010 and had one misdemeanor. Most of you throwing stones has had more charges in the last 8 years but since the media tag our team as a bunch of thugs with their fake news you buy into it. You point the finger at him and Burfict for the playoff loss but in reality if neither of them was on the field we still would of got flagged for some  reason because we was beating the Steelers and the refs NFL and ESPN could not have that. So they would have thrown a flag on another player to make us lose that game. Jones was just telling a coach to get off the field which the Steelers coach should of been flagged for but again the refs was in some ones pocket. Again don't let the media decide what you think.

Media hype? It's on video and in the police report, bro. He pushed a security guard, resisted arrest, head butted and kicked an officer, spit on a jail nurse and deputy, and had to be placed in a restraint chair. Not to mention the multiple profanity-laced social media tirades during his time here. His act was old and his play wasn't good enough anymore to keep him on the roster, which is why he was cut. It had zero to do with any fans "running him out of town."

Erickson has always been good. Better than Tate, not as explosive as Adam Jones, but reliable as our 3rd Receiver and clutch. He should take over Ross's spot. If the OC can create plays for him, he will be more relevant to our successful offense.

He should be targeted on offense instead of a certain someone. We dont run a vertical offense and he fits a Dalton'esque offense.

In terms of punt returns, I wouldn't mind seeing them mixing it up back there, though I suspect Marvin trusts him in not muffling the catch. But if its a situation they need a spark, I would put Philips back there.

(09-25-2018, 12:17 AM)impactplaya Wrote: in the critical 3rd phase of the football aka specisl teams.....our kick and punt returner specialist Alex Erickson isnt helping out our starting field position at all.
his longest return  is a paltry 28 yds. hes averaging a blistering 4.0.on punt returns.
hes not even targeted when he gets reps on offense.
i dont understand how he secures a spot on this team.
Kermit Whitfield could do better than Erickson trust me.

You do realize the other 10 guys have to block for the returner, right? If seen very few kicks where he catches it and opposing players are not already on him. As for Kermit being better than Erickson, you just lost any credibility...... (and I like Kermit)

(09-25-2018, 11:34 AM)Fullrock Wrote: Media hype? It's on video and in the police report, bro. He pushed a security guard, resisted arrest, head butted and kicked an officer, spit on a jail nurse and deputy, and had to be placed in a restraint chair. Not to mention the multiple profanity-laced social media tirades during his time here. His act was old and his play wasn't good enough anymore to keep him on the roster, which is why he was cut. It had zero to do with any fans "running him out of town."

And after all that he was only charged with a misdemeanor seems a lil odd

(09-25-2018, 12:00 PM)Sled21 Wrote: You do realize the other 10 guys have to block for the returner, right? If seen very few kicks where he catches it and opposing players are not already on him. As for Kermit being better than Erickson, you just lost any credibility...... (and I like Kermit)

Agreed.

And to add to that, the defense has only forced 8 punts in 3 games now. Which is a testament to what some folks have been saying about them needing to improve on 3rd downs. 

Erickson is the least of our worries. Now we are just reaching for anything to ***** about? I think the "get back coach" on the sidelines did a terrible job, let's run him out of town... Jesus people, chill out!

(09-25-2018, 12:01 PM)BengalsBong Wrote: And after all that he was only charged with a misdemeanor seems a lil odd

Yes, because professional athletes and celebrities never get away with stuff normal people get in much more trouble for.