Best Punt returner out of Maze, C. Jones, or Javier Arenas

BamaMark.

1st Team
Jun 21, 2012
535
183
62
Nah, he only had 17 career punt returns over his 3 years of football.

I think some of you guys remember Prothro as well as you do because of the catch and because of the saying "only the good die young."

Prothro wasn't even our main punt returner those years, that would have been Brandon Brooks.


Yeah, and that didn't make sense then and it doesn't make sense now. Prothro would probably be in this discussion if he would have been the main returner. Btw, Javy and Palmer were obviously both great, but I would take Palmer if forced to choose. Just so much fun to watch. And as good as the other two were/are they really don't belong in this conversation...
 

crimsonbleeder

All-American
Dec 1, 2002
2,703
3
0
Birmingham, AL
I love all three of these guys, but wonder who you think is the best out of all three of these guys so far under the Saban era? I personally like Maze, but also like the other guys too...so I can't decide.:D
Javy. The other two were fine, especially Maze's Yardage...but Javy just had that "knack" of making ppl miss and using his blockers and seeing lanes...he was a threat to take it home every time he got it. And, he rarely fumbled.
 

theballguy

Hall of Fame
Nov 5, 2012
6,268
1,083
187
Roll Tide Roll, Colorado USA
Shelley has been very under appreciated. He became the best kicker of the Saban era by his senior year.
Shelley was good but not close to great. Tiffin had range and accuracy. Shelley could kick the ones he should make (usually 35 yarders or less) but he was not a long threat by any means -- IIRC, Cade Foster was used for longer range kicks.

OP, Arenas was the best and it was not even close. I do wonder if the season was not underway, this thread would have been closed before it got rolling but I suppose we are desperate for football conversation.
 

Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
12,875
2
57
Ocean Springs, MS
Palmer was quicker and had more escape capability, but Javier could absolutely take one missed tackle and explode towards the end zone with his speed. They were both pretty darn good, as was, and is, Maze and Jones.
Overall I just think Javy was a little bit more consistent over his entire career. Of course, Christion Jones will hopefully make us all look like a bunch of dummy's when this next season is over!
But as of this moment, Javy still gets my vote.
My aunt worked with David's Mom, and I have a David Palmer autographed football, T-shirt, and Bama Program. I love them all. I write this only to show that I'm trying to be objective here, cause I loved the Deuce--I just think Javy was a bit better.
sip
 

TideMan09

Hall of Fame
Jan 17, 2009
12,187
1,156
187
Anniston, Alabama
I agree with y'all & Javy gets my vote as well..To be as small as he was, Javy was strong for his size, and was hard to bring down & you wasn't going to bring him down with arm tackles..His speed, agility to cut on a dime & not lose a step, combined with his strength, is a combo that just doesn't come around every year..I don't remember seeing Palmer play cause I was a baby when he was playing.In the videos I've seen Palmer wasn't as strong as Arenas & was brought get their hands on him..
 

NationalTitles18

TideFans Legend
May 25, 2003
29,633
34,721
362
Mountainous Northern California
Palmer was the most dynamic player I've seen regardless of position. And IIRC, besides punt returner he played 4 other positions during his career at Alabama, often several in the same game (QB, WR/Fl, RB, DB). Just one of the all-time great and one of the best punt returner.

From a production consistency standpoint there's no arguing that Arenas was the better PR. On a day-to-day basis he wins hands down. If I had one play and it was a PR and the game was on the line then there's one player I want to have the ball in his hands and that is David Palmer. How lucky am I (we) to have seen them both play live?!
 

CoachJeff

Suspended
Jan 21, 2014
3,596
3,654
187
Shelby County Alabama
From a production consistency standpoint there's no arguing that Arenas was the better PR. On a day-to-day basis he wins hands down. If I had one play and it was a PR and the game was on the line then there's one player I want to have the ball in his hands and that is David Palmer. How lucky am I (we) to have seen them both play live?!
Good point. I agree with Palmer for a one off return.
 

BamaMark.

1st Team
Jun 21, 2012
535
183
62
Palmer was the most dynamic player I've seen regardless of position. And IIRC, besides punt returner he played 4 other positions during his career at Alabama, often several in the same game (QB, WR/Fl, RB, DB). Just one of the all-time great and one of the best punt returner.

From a production consistency standpoint there's no arguing that Arenas was the better PR. On a day-to-day basis he wins hands down. If I had one play and it was a PR and the game was on the line then there's one player I want to have the ball in his hands and that is David Palmer. How lucky am I (we) to have seen them both play live?!
My thoughts exactly. Good post.
 

Rolltide_PA

1st Team
Jul 31, 2011
918
0
0
1 min left in 4th quarter i'd have either David Palmer or Freddie Milons back there...full season Arenas was the best

personally would love to see robert foster get a few shots this year but we'll see
 

BigEasyTider

FB | REC Moderator
Nov 27, 2007
10,029
0
0
Re: the drop-off that Palmer supposedly had after his freshman season, I think a lot of people might be remembering it bit incorrectly after so many years.

Did his raw numbers drop? Absolutely, and by a wide margin, too. But most of that was by the design of opposing teams, who tried to eliminate him entirely from the game with max cover and short sky punts, or by just punting it directly out of bounds. Just to give you some firmer numbers, I think in his last couple of years opposing teams punted something like 80-90 times per year, and that Palmer only had about 25 returns each year, which ought to tell you what they were doing. Given how anemic our offense frequently was in those years, opposing teams weren't too worried about trying to maximize field position against our offense, they were more worried with giving away cheap points on a big play.

Some of the dip in his numbers, too, can be explained by him trying to make something out of punts that he should have just called for a fair catch on, because obviously we had offensive woes at the time (which dovetails with the above, also). Teams, of course, tried to kick away from Arenas, too, but they couldn't be quite as aggressive about it, because our 2008 and 2009 offenses could move the football well and score points in the way 1992 and 1993 could not.
 

imauafan

All-American
Mar 3, 2004
3,619
977
232
Huntsville, AL
I loved watching David Palmer highlights on the Friday night high school football shows.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I remember those highlights. He was nearly unstoppably as a high school player. I remember it was a big deal when we got him and Damien Jeffries around the same time.
 

New Posts

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.