Does it bother anyone else when Rex returns punts?

Rex doesn't return punts. He fair catches them. Does it bother you that Rex comes out of the backfield to catch passes? A LB or Safety could easily take his head off. At least with this the players are supposed to actually not hit him when he fair catches it. And, it doesn't take a ton of energy to fair catch a ball after you've been sitting on the bench for the last 3 plays (optimistic 3 and out plug)

 
I can understand the concern of the OP. In 1984 Nebraska had Jeff Smith leading the nation in rushing and they also had him returning kicks. I am fairly certain he injured his ankle returning a kick against UCLA. He was never the same player and didn't play the following week when NU was upset by Syracuse on the road.

 
AustinHuskr said:
VA Husker Fan said:
Again--for you new people, PLEASE use a descriptive thread title so we know what the topic is about.
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BTW, do you like the new people on here?

Just asking.
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I have no problem with the new people. New blood is fine. It's just the 2nd time in a day that there was a totally vague thread title (fixed now) and that drives me crazy, so I am hoping to head that off, especially if that was the norm on HP. Other people do it here too once in awhile.

 
I don't get the concern for injury. One guy in about every 10 seasons gets clobbered on a fair catch, and we're supposed to protect Rex? He's got good hands, that's why he's back there on those plays, to make sure we don't turn it back over deep in our territory.

Maybe we should keep Rex out on 1st and 2nd down too, because he might get hurt on those carries, and he's really most valuable getting us a first down?!?

 
Taylor Martinez does not handle the ball enough, he should also be returning punts, returning kickoffs, and in addition handle all kicking duties.

Seriously, I would rather not see Rex returning punts. Despite a sub-par game against MSU I think Abdullah has done a great job.

 
VA Husker Fan said:
I don't get the concern for injury. One guy in about every 10 seasons gets clobbered on a fair catch, and we're supposed to protect Rex? He's got good hands, that's why he's back there on those plays, to make sure we don't turn it back over deep in our territory.

Maybe we should keep Rex out on 1st and 2nd down too, because he might get hurt on those carries, and he's really most valuable getting us a first down?!?
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To everyone poking fun at this topic...you'd all be standing there, jaw dropped, hands on your head if you saw him get hurt on a punt return! Then you'd all be crying about how it's dumb to have him back there and how these coaches need to get there heads out of their.....

Don't be hypocrites and act like if we lost Rex on a meaningless punt return/fair catch, that our team would be fine and you wouldn't be upset. If something like that did happen, every husker message board would be going berserk!!

He's way too valuable at RB and we need all the carries out of him we can get. I'm not saying to coddle him and run him once every drive....but the point is not to give that 1 extra chance for the opposing team to take a cheap shot on a defenseless player.

If you think this happens once every 10 seasons, you're naive...

 
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HuskerBenny said:
VA Husker Fan said:
I don't get the concern for injury. One guy in about every 10 seasons gets clobbered on a fair catch, and we're supposed to protect Rex? He's got good hands, that's why he's back there on those plays, to make sure we don't turn it back over deep in our territory.

Maybe we should keep Rex out on 1st and 2nd down too, because he might get hurt on those carries, and he's really most valuable getting us a first down?!?
Click to expand...
To everyone poking fun at this topic...you'd all be standing there, jaw dropped, hands on your head if you saw him get hurt on a punt return! Then you'd all be crying about how it's dumb to have him back there and how these coaches need to get there heads out of their.....

Don't be hypocrites and act like if we lost Rex on a meaningless punt return/fair catch, that our team would be fine and you wouldn't be upset. If something like that did happen, every husker message board would be going berserk!!

He's way too valuable at RB and we need all the carries out of him we can get. I'm not saying to coddle him and run him once every drive....but the point is not to give that 1 extra chance for the opposing team to take a cheap shot on a defenseless player.

If you think this happens once every 10 seasons, you're naive...
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it's a game of probabilities. in the situations he is used, first he is there to call fair catch, second it is more likely for someone else to fumble than it is that he will get injured.

 
sd said:
HuskerBenny said:
VA Husker Fan said:
I don't get the concern for injury. One guy in about every 10 seasons gets clobbered on a fair catch, and we're supposed to protect Rex? He's got good hands, that's why he's back there on those plays, to make sure we don't turn it back over deep in our territory.

Maybe we should keep Rex out on 1st and 2nd down too, because he might get hurt on those carries, and he's really most valuable getting us a first down?!?
Click to expand...
To everyone poking fun at this topic...you'd all be standing there, jaw dropped, hands on your head if you saw him get hurt on a punt return! Then you'd all be crying about how it's dumb to have him back there and how these coaches need to get there heads out of their.....

Don't be hypocrites and act like if we lost Rex on a meaningless punt return/fair catch, that our team would be fine and you wouldn't be upset. If something like that did happen, every husker message board would be going berserk!!

He's way too valuable at RB and we need all the carries out of him we can get. I'm not saying to coddle him and run him once every drive....but the point is not to give that 1 extra chance for the opposing team to take a cheap shot on a defenseless player.

If you think this happens once every 10 seasons, you're naive...
Click to expand...
it's a game of probabilities. in the situations he is used, first he is there to call fair catch, second it is more likely for someone else to fumble than it is that he will get injured.
Click to expand...
So you're saying that we don't have anyone with better hands than Rex? ..... nevermind....i've seen our WR's....no response necessary!! :facepalm:

 
HuskerBenny said:
VA Husker Fan said:
I don't get the concern for injury. One guy in about every 10 seasons gets clobbered on a fair catch, and we're supposed to protect Rex? He's got good hands, that's why he's back there on those plays, to make sure we don't turn it back over deep in our territory.

Maybe we should keep Rex out on 1st and 2nd down too, because he might get hurt on those carries, and he's really most valuable getting us a first down?!?
Click to expand...
To everyone poking fun at this topic...you'd all be standing there, jaw dropped, hands on your head if you saw him get hurt on a punt return! Then you'd all be crying about how it's dumb to have him back there and how these coaches need to get there heads out of their.....

Don't be hypocrites and act like if we lost Rex on a meaningless punt return/fair catch, that our team would be fine and you wouldn't be upset. If something like that did happen, every husker message board would be going berserk!!

He's way too valuable at RB and we need all the carries out of him we can get. I'm not saying to coddle him and run him once every drive....but the point is not to give that 1 extra chance for the opposing team to take a cheap shot on a defenseless player.

If you think this happens once every 10 seasons, you're naive...
Click to expand...
He fair catches the ball and NEVER returns it. That's all he's doing. The odds of him getting hit and injured compared to another guy fumbling...I'll take the injury risk. That's part of the game, you play odds. The coaches aren't stupid, they know the odds are MUCH higher for another guy to fumble than Rex to get injured on a fair catch. I can tell you they probably tell him never to return the punt.

 
HuskerBenny said:
sd said:
HuskerBenny said:
VA Husker Fan said:
I don't get the concern for injury. One guy in about every 10 seasons gets clobbered on a fair catch, and we're supposed to protect Rex? He's got good hands, that's why he's back there on those plays, to make sure we don't turn it back over deep in our territory.

Maybe we should keep Rex out on 1st and 2nd down too, because he might get hurt on those carries, and he's really most valuable getting us a first down?!?
Click to expand...
To everyone poking fun at this topic...you'd all be standing there, jaw dropped, hands on your head if you saw him get hurt on a punt return! Then you'd all be crying about how it's dumb to have him back there and how these coaches need to get there heads out of their.....

Don't be hypocrites and act like if we lost Rex on a meaningless punt return/fair catch, that our team would be fine and you wouldn't be upset. If something like that did happen, every husker message board would be going berserk!!

He's way too valuable at RB and we need all the carries out of him we can get. I'm not saying to coddle him and run him once every drive....but the point is not to give that 1 extra chance for the opposing team to take a cheap shot on a defenseless player.

If you think this happens once every 10 seasons, you're naive...
Click to expand...
it's a game of probabilities. in the situations he is used, first he is there to call fair catch, second it is more likely for someone else to fumble than it is that he will get injured.
Click to expand...
So you're saying that we don't have anyone with better hands than Rex? ..... nevermind....i've seen our WR's....no response necessary!! :facepalm:
Click to expand...
no one is more reliable than rex on this team. i see what your are saying. marlowe would probably be a good option. i will say, i am nervous whoever is back there, turnovers are usually our greatest threat for losing a game.

 
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i think the special teams play a little soft on the punt returns. if you haven't noticed we never go after a punt to block it, so the other team doesn't have to max protect and can swarm the returner. so just as long as we have someone back there that can make the right decisions and execute, you probably wont see anyone else.

 
Enhance89 said:
Welcome to the board.

What kind of chances are you talking about? You'll notice that Rex generally comes in to return punts when they need a tenured guy back there to just call a fair catch. Burkhead isn't a great return guy because he doesn't have great speed like Abdullah does, but he has a lot composure and he's a good safety net if you need a reliable player back there to just call a fair catch. That reliability isn't there with those other guys.

In essence, they're taking less of a chance having Burkhead back there.
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FWIW...coming out of high school, Rex ran a 4.46 40 yd. Abdullah was listed as running a 4.51.

Believe it or not, Burkhead just might be tough, white, AND fast.

 
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