This is where I'm at as well. It's entirely possible that we're too sensitive to every mistake because of having a dedicated guy making a lot of money. But the other side of that coin is it seems like we should be decently above average if we're making that kind of investment. Especially when we have an All-American punt returner and a pretty good kicker to work with. But we seem to be below average in too many areas, not the least of which is organization.
It's not justifying having one guy who only does that and barely recruits. Not trying to diminish the role of special teams but it is "only" 15-20 plays per game. We could have a guy who is coaching a position that is on the field for 80 or so plays per game and recruiting 3-4 guys per year instead of 1.
i got in a debate with Mckewon on twitter last week about the notion that he also thinks fans are a little over sensitive to the mistakes bein made cuz his salary is in a bright light. I call bullsh#t. Mckewon's self riteousness of pointing out the obvious of what everyone already knows irks me a little. but to say ppl are just dissatisfied with Read cuz of his salary and that it's really not that bad was a total insult to people who know football, who are able to see the real problems. EVERY SINGLE GAME there's something as a result of total lack of preparation. He could be making 50,000 right now, and this fanbase would still be pissed cuz most of us know football. We can see the ridiculous time spent on some crapshot extra point, waste of time, gimmick, but yet in game 11, we STILL cant get 11 guys on the field. Sub penalty keeps us from getting off the field to start Minny game, allowing them to continue drive for a game opening TD. A problem that's been there week in week out. And like i said to Mckewon, we're at a point that mind games and pure incompetence has just spread throughout all ST personnel. negative punts. letting guys come clean on field goals to block it. it's a mental block now. No wonder we went for it on 4th inside the 15 against minny when a short fg gives us the lead. Riley sees what's going on. There's no trust in anything special teams right now.
The whole unit across the board is an insult to pure football right now. The salary is completely irrelevant.
"Junior high stuff"
Exactly Coach Riley. Exactly.
I still pretty much agree with you. My only point was I think the mistakes get magnified because of that. Not saying it isn't deserved, just that they get magnified maybe a little more than they should. For example, it really does seem like the 12-men penalty against Minny wasn't really Reed's fault. But he gets the blame because of all the other screw ups. And it's Riley's call when to keep the defense out on the field instead of the punt return unit which has been part of the reason we haven't had many chances for a return.
I'm not trying to get Reed off the hook. I don't think we're getting much return on that investment (no pun intended). But I also think there are parts of why the special teams have been poor that aren't directly Reed's fault. He's responsible for most of it, just not all of it.