i say it again, you put your best players in a position to make plays. Wilson will see limited opportunities on defense, as compared to his starting role. So he has less opportunities to make plays. Getting him the ball on punt returns, where he might have been the nations top punt returner last year or at least in the argument, gives him a chance to make more plays for us. Or simply, he is the best man for the job, and if the best man should play the spot, then wilson deserves the job.
Wilson was a phenomenal punt returner with Boise State. This is going to help the Jets out on special teams a great deal.
Dont think i ever heard of him training with the special teams though. Know he didnt during pre-season. Did he practice with them. At least in on the meetings i hope.
Wilson will have plenty of opportunities. Teams are in sub packages more than 50% of the time generally and at the end of last season we saw the Pats and Colts determine that the best way to neutralize the Jets' exotic blitzes (and to take advantage of the relatively weak fourth-sixth defensive backs) was to run spread type offenses.
I don't remember Cotchery doing too much ST work in his first couple of years when Herm had him back returning punts. I could be wrong though. Wilson has a great deal of experience in general with returning punts and the way he seemed to pick up Rex's defense leads me to believe that he could probably pick up Westhoff's return schemes without too much trouble.
Aundrae Allison got hurt last year on a kick return too. Kick returners are at greater risk of getting injured than punt returners. Punt returners always have the option of fair catching the ball.
Hope I'm wrong but I don't think the punt returning prowess that Wilson shown at Boise will translate well to the NFL. I think the competition he faced had more to do with him being the #1 punt returner in the nation than his talent. I think Mcknight, with his elsusiveness, is the more natural punt returner. Too bad the coaching staff doesn't trust him right now.
Can you blame them for not having complete faith? I think the guy shows promise for sure, but he hasn't shown consistency. Until he wraps the ball up and conditions himself properly for NFL football, Wilson is our man. I do agree that the competition Wilson faced during his collegiate career made him look like superman, but his speed and agility are definitely impressive.
Dead on. With the way the Jets use db's and safeties to blitz...having a nickel on the field is comparable to most teams blitzing linebackers. He will be used a lot. As far as fear of injury, Christ, he will be returning punts. We have used our starting safety and starting receivers in the past...cant keep the kid in a bubble.
Found something else to complain about I see... nice going guys. He'll do fine as a PR. He has the vision. The Jets ST is one of the best in the league. If you get an 8 yard return on average for the year that's pretty good. We aren't asking the kid to hit 4 HRs a season. We are asking him to get the punt out of shit position if possible.
This. Jim Leonhard, the brain of the defense, was the PR. Cotchery, the most trusted WR, was the PR. I don't get the fear in some.
Exactly ND. Perhaps its the Revis affect. Carryover. If he gets really good as a punt returner, he might hold out in 3 years. Doesnt take much to create paranoia for a Jet fan. Understand the concern about a important part of the defense. The thread starter is correct...Revis, AC and Wilson are all huge in Rex's gameplan....but we cant stick our 3rd string defensive end back there to field punts.
Dominic Hixon. Hes out this entire season for the Giants from a punt return. Vikings CB broke his leg on a punt return not last year but the year before. WR 49ers drafted this year is going to miss several weeks due to injury on a punt return. But hell only 2 injuries this preseason alone, its not like punt returners ever get injured anyway
Players get hurt playing corner, maybe we shouldn't play Wilson at all, and just gawk at his potential, right?
Yeah thats exactly it. You gotta decided whether avging another 5-6 yards on punt returns is worth risking the ability to cover #3 and #4 receivers on one of the many teams completely built around passing the ball. Sometimes its simply better to make sure a guy is healthy enough to do his primary role. And being that McKnight is going to have plenty of free time on his hands not taking snaps, and he is going to occupy a roster spot anyway, and fills absolutely no primary role whatsoever maybe it would be better to get him to focus on being a punt returner so that he could actually contribute. But then again im sure Peyton Manning will gladly support Wilson returning punts
