Our return game has been brutal for years. Hopefully Taaffe and Desjardins are working on it. Wouldn't it be nice to actually think a Ticat kick returner could realistically take one all the way back to the house?
Apparently Richard Alston was a kick returner when he was in the NFL, and a good one. I wonder if the Cats will ask him to do that in Hamilton, too? (in addition to being a receiver).
A great guy to retain with the team, he'd be my choice to do the returns, and "school up" a lower cost player on the technique, while staying within the salary cap.
I grant the point we can't have him hurt, but this salary cap is going to take some getting used to, and we really need the money in other places, too.
(Which is why Troy Davis cannot be asked back! We have a LOT of RB's that are good)
If I'm not wrong didn't K. Hill take a punt or something back year before last? And he almost ran a kick return back last year vs. B.C. Folks ran a punt back for a TD last year vs. Edmonton. So at least we still have one of them coming to camp this year. C. Holmes didn't do that well returning kicks for us last year for whatever reason.
What the team really needs to do is provide adequate blocking for our returners. We could sign the fastest, most agile man on earth and it wouldn't matter a lick if all 12 opponents have ample opportunity to tackle him. We'll see what happens this season when we revert to the old blocking rules.
Our best returner is Corey Holmes, IMHO. We need to build the special teams units to help spring him. More to the point, I expect better things in the post-Jerome Erdman era in the coaching department.
Guaranteed: we will not have a special teams coach on the tube during game action who varies from being totally clueless to grimacing as if passing a brick.
That DOES ring a bell from this vantage point, so I’ll stop there! LOL
Then again: just having a coach who is going to tell all new import players IN ADVANCE what the no-yards rules are about will be a refreshing change.
That attention to detail is simply being professional about one's job and that reinforces good habits in the players to compete. Mariuz and Hitch are two guys who are special teams standouts who bucked the trend of having the rudderlessness of last year's approach infect their play.
Give Corey a disciplined, improving unit to block for him and look out!