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As the Pittsburgh Steelers attempt to pump up a so-so special teams unit, they’ll be using one of their first-day picks for the punt-return team.
But receiver Limas Sweed, a second-round pick last month, won’t be returning punts. He’ll be trying to block them.
“Coach [Bob Ligashesky] said he likes me coming off the edge, using my speed to block punts,” Sweed said Wednesday. ”I never did special teams in my life until I came here, and I actually like it.”
Though some teams don’t like to expose key players to injury on special teams, the use of second-stringers necessarily creates (at times) a second-string result. So why not use the best athletes on the team to assist with these often overlooked phases of the game?
May 29th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Good for him, great attitude from the kid. Especially after the last two stories.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Makes sense, its part of the reason the Bears have been so good on special teams. Starting corner Charles Tillman plays and has blocked some punts, i think he got one against the broncos and i know for sure against the packers.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Calling the Steelers special teams unit so-so is certainly generous.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Richard Seymore starts and has 8 career blocked kicks. But I am sure those didn’t impact the game as much as the third video assistant did.
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Rating: 2.8 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 8:54 am
The Steelers special teams problems really is about too many veterans for depth and their Round 4-7 picks over the last 3 or 4 years not panning out. They have no core special teams players like Sean Morey or Chidi Iowoma as they used to. Now they have Mewelde Moore for returns and I’m all for infusing some youth and life into that unit. Hopefully it pans out as special teams blew their season last year (though I don’t think would have won the SB with better special teams, they certaintly would have looked better)
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 8:59 am
If Pittsburgh wants to straighten out their special teams they should do whatever they have to do to get Bobby April. Our special teams have sucked since he left and he’s done a great job everywhere else he has gone.
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May 29th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Legions of Brown’s fans have taken a back seat for the better part of 30 years to the Steelers[other than the late 80s & early 90s]. The
Steeler mystique is still there but will get thoroughly tested this year by the Brownies.
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May 29th, 2008 at 9:58 am
William Gay, Kemoatu, and Colon are not bad 4-7 round picks for 2005-2007. One per year ain’t bad for those picks.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 10:06 am
The Steelers should look to their division rivals the Browns for a lesson in this. Kellen Winslow Jr. lost a promising rookie season because he was being used on special teams.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 10:49 am
joepinion: I agree, but the only guy capable of playing special teams on that list is Gay. Hopefully Humpal and Mundy the saftey they drafted this year are special team demons. They are lacking youth and explosiveness on their cover units.
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May 29th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Seems more like a lesson not to draft players who are made of glass.
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May 29th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
*cough* Jason Sehorn *cough*
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 29th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
“So why not use the best athletes on the team to assist with these often overlooked phases of the game?”
Because when your #2 Cornerback blows out his knee after getting clipped on a return play, you stand a much better chance of getting killed on the phase of the game that takes up ~40% of the snaps.
Besides… now that Shaun Alexander is a 2nd-stringer, I’d like to see him run/poke/tentatively shuffle back a punt return.
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May 29th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
TCLARK says:
“Richard Seymore starts and has 8 career blocked kicks. But I am sure those didn’t impact the game as much as the third video assistant did.”
Great point, since “Seymore” knew the blocking schemes for NE’s opponents kicks.
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May 30th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I recall Ed Reed being used on numerous occasions to both block and return kicks.
I dont know if Sweed will ever be as impactful as Reed or Seymour, but maybe he’ll make a name for himself as punt blocker before he makes one as a receiver
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June 2nd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
i HATE the steelers but you guys had an awesome draft. This guy is going to be a stud thats why its stupid to put this guy on special teams.i’m just sitting back watching the success of your franchise decline with this new head coach. to prevent your future star players from being injured on special a smart coach would utilize hungry athletic college free agents and late round picks for this job.i’m a life long bengals fan. we’ve been on the bottom for the past 20 years we have nothing to do but come up especially with the great drafts we got this year. obviously sweed would be open to try this new position because he’s a rookie trying to make his mark in the league but that doesnt mean its a smart idea
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