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Question: next years kick/punt returner

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bharsa

BamaNation Citizen
Jul 21, 2009
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Who do yall think will get the job?

I would like to see DeAndrew White or Demarcus Miliner

thoughts?
 
I would look for Julio at kick returner, not punt returner though. Maze would be another guy to possibly put back there. Eddie Lacey might get some time. I can see Dee return only if he has already played somewhere else because I don't think CNS would burn a redshirt on him just so he can return kicks. Corey Grant could contribute as well. What about Kenny Bell?
 
yea kenny bell is another guy i was thinking about. We actually have a great arsenal of options. I just hope one can at least come close to filling javi's shoes....
 
I just don't think they're gonna risk Julio in too many kick return situations. He's too valuable to the team to get a knee hammered on a return. Granted, he's tough and fast but he's also a much bigger target and not as shifty in the open field to avoid a lot of the direct hits that Arenas was able to avoid. I expect to see a smaller, faster guy pulling those duties. Milliner would be my guess.
 
Julio is good if you want a guy who will catch the ball and be difficult to bring down. He is not shifty at all though...which is what you need if you want the first guy to miss you. This is what made Javy so amazing...that he could make the first guy miss him about 90% of the time...even when it seemed impossible.

One reason Julio is open so much on comeback routes is because he blocks so well...that the DBs first instinct is to backpedal to avoid contact in case we are running the ball that way. It's why you almost never see bump and run coverage on Julio.

Anyway...back to the returners...I say Richardson or Maze. Richardson because he is shifty and puts a lickin' on people and Maze because he has great hands and can take it to the house if he gets the right seam.
 
I don't favor tiring out Richardson by letting him return punts or KOs. Same re Julio. I'm hoping someone amongst Maze, C.Grant, D.White, Bell, or Belue (qualified?) will seize the role.
 
We have seen several options both in game when we were up by a bit (North Texas and FIU) and during the A Day game. Your guess is as good as mine right now.
 
well if you believe what Saban says, he is not NOT going to put Julio back there for fear of him getting hurt.

and also, not so sure the tiring out of richardson or julio is much of a factor. I mean Javy was just as important to the defense....plus RBs and WRs return kicks all the time.

But having said that - Julio and/or trent back there would make me very nervous. Although i would love to see what Trent could do.

If he would qualify, from what i've heard about him - would love to see Belue back there.

But I miss Javy already :( just not possible for anyone we have to be as exciting as the past 4 yrs have been with 28 back there.
 
Like I said before...the two most important things a punt returner MUST do:

1) Catch the ball

2) Make the first guy miss


If we can find someone who can do both of those...he will be our return guy.
 
Black Warrior said:
I just don't think they're gonna risk Julio in too many kick return situations. He's too valuable to the team to get a knee hammered on a return. Granted, he's tough and fast but he's also a much bigger target and not as shifty in the open field to avoid a lot of the direct hits that Arenas was able to avoid. I expect to see a smaller, faster guy pulling those duties. Milliner would be my guess.
Click to expand...

Javi was just as important, maybe more so, on defense than Julio on offense. You can't play at this level as if you are afraid of getting hurt you have to play full speed and all out every play. Julio has already seen some time as a return man and may see more. A return man like Javi comes around only so often, I was honored to have been able to see him play for Alabama. :) Javi didn't see himself as a return man, he called himself a cornerback who also returned punts.
 
If Belue does qualify and they do not redshirt him, he is a natural return man. Good hands, lots of speed, lost of shiftiness, and fearless. I would not compare him to Javy, but a few times last year he did remind me of him.
 
gamersfuel said:
if Corey Grant does not RS i think he would be a great return man. I'd love to see Kirkpatrick return kicks.
Click to expand...

If you watch Corey Grant's highlight videos, he looks alot like Javi when he runs the ball. He has tremendous quickness and cutting ability, however, I think he actually has better long speed than Javi did. The big question is, can the new returner come in and play with the same type of swagger and confidence that Javi did at that position? Thats what I loved so much about watching Javi return kicks and punts, you could tell he really loved doing it, and he had the confidence to hang in there and make tough catches in traffic and take a hit.

Until Javi came along, the best Punt/kick returner I've ever seen at Alabama was David Palmer. He had such tremendous quickness that he could literally take it to the house at any time. Javi played one year longer than Palmer, but they were both tremendous return men. Freddie Millons was another really good return man as well, and had that quickness to elude defenders and gain big yards after the catch. He also had the same type of swagger and confidence to play the position well.
 
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bayoutider said:
Javi was just as important, maybe more so, on defense than Julio on offense. You can't play at this level as if you are afraid of getting hurt you have to play full speed and all out every play. Julio has already seen some time as a return man and may see more. A return man like Javi comes around only so often, I was honored to have been able to see him play for Alabama. :) Javi didn't see himself as a return man, he called himself a cornerback who also returned punts.
Click to expand...

What he said.......

Javy is one of my all time favorite Bama players. What a story. Hardly any scholly offers at all, yet one of the best all around college players I've ever seen. Tremendous heart and work ethic. A true warrior on the field. And never a peep of problems off the field.
 
If I'm betting, I'm putting money on Julio.

If I'm playing the fan, picking the guy I'd like to see, I'd pick DeAndrew White. BJ Scott would be a close runner up. I think his redshirt year (combined with his very quiet freshman year) cooled people on him, but he's still a talented dude.
 
I think Julio's hands are a little bit of a issue. My guess, if he does not redshirt is D. White. He is blazing fast and wants to make a impression.
 
I remember hearing Coach Saban say that the number one priority for a kick/punt returner is to secure the ball, second priority would be to advance the ball if possible. This was in response to the direct question of who would replace Javy.

If there is a true freshman that fits the bill, I'm sure we will see him, but I would bet Julio will be the man. He already has game experience, and regardless of the drops we've seen, he does have good hands.

I think Ingram was returning kickoffs during A-Day, so I would not rule out Richardson if he has good hands.
 
Punt return-julio. You may ask why I picked him? Look at the South Carolina game when Javy was injured, Julio was returning punts.

Kickoff- Julio & Richardson
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