The Lions need a guy who you can feel confident will get positve yards on the kick returns and who won't fall to the turf at the first nudge they receive from coverage. Lockett has no lateral quickness and goes down too easily, while Warren needs a heart transplant because it's hard to be an effective athlete when your heart's the size of a pea. Are the Lions looking to remedy this deficiency????
amen!
I like Lockett, Alot of good returners down south in the AFL, and NFLE. But hey we all feel your pain because nobody in the CFL is doing much damage on returns.
Problem with Lockett is as above, a touch, and he falls down. He needs to learn to stay on his feet...AND hold on to the ball.
even though he had a few 'decent' returns against the argos yesterday, I'm still not sold on Lockett and think the Lions should be exploring other options.
At least this might light a fire under him and push him to play better.
You're being too harsh, he could heve taken some of those all the way and as Pokeys pointed out no body is doing too well except for Levingston and he was pretty much invisible.
Levingston had some really good returns yesterday, unlike Lockett. It's not his fault that the Argo offense couldn't do anything with the returns.
I heard the Lions might try that new back Ian Smart returning kicks.
What happened to Ian Smart? he's not on the roster.
the lions should look at Jimmy Farris recently cut by Washington Redskins. In NFL 5 seasons excellent special teams and led redskins in receptions in preseason. Out of Montana
I don't like just pickin up NFL cuts, they're not always as good. People think that the talent for the CFL is NFL cuts. I'm happy with Aaron Lockett for now. Fact is Farris is playing in preseason games against preseason teams. Maybe we can give him a shot and see how he does but i say leave lockett and he'll show us all what he has done and will do again. SO i hope your listenin Lockett because you do need to step it up some. Main thing is be ready for the playoffs.
Kick returner? Can you say "a frustrated Corey Holmes sitting on the bench in Hamilton"? Dunno what the Lions would have to give up for him though.
i trust lockett will do well
The question posed in this thread is a good question and one that Lion coaches should be asking themselves before calling out their guy.
I haven’t seen the kick return game in the entire CFL this less threatening as it has been this season. Some commentators (Glen Suitor for one) point to the new rules on blocking as one of the main culprits for the lack of game breaking kick returns. That seems to be a definite problem as do special team defences and possibly more concentration in practice on what their opponents are doing.
Calling out Lockett is fine but the other night in the Als game Montreal did a successful onside kick that should have been covered and wasn’t and that had zip all do with Aaron Lockett.
I agree that NFL cuts aren’t always the answer and maybe Lockett needs a week to sit out for some other guy. I am not sure but I am sure of this. Aaron Lockett is not the Lions problem on kick returns!
Ian Smart is finally going to get a shot at returning kicks this Sunday. About time, Lockett sure has been a disapointment this year. Wally said on the TEAM today that unless there is an injury you will not see Lockett returning kick this week.
Oh for a return to the days of Leon Bright and Rocky Long.....arguably the best kick returners in the Lion's history.
Lockett was released today and Smart will be activated. Wally believes he has good vision and he has an excellent background. We may even see him at tailback for a couple of series as a change of pace back.
Without taking anything away from the former greatness of Leon Bright or Rocky Long, in terms of the kick/punt return game, the new blocking rules, combined with the two extra coverage specialists on CFL rosters have made punt returns much more difficult.
The new rules are really shutting down one of the most exciting plays in CFL football. There has only been one punt return for a touchdown in the CFL this season.
Lockett was a punt returner whose asset was speed but he needed an initial crease to use that speed in the open field.
Smart has fast feet, stronger, quicker, and will be able to make people miss easier. However, no matter who is back there, if they are going to make some big returns they need some initial blocks and that's more challenging this season with the new punt blocking rules.
Smart was not very highly regarded in Montreal ... too bad about Aaron
The irony in Lockett's demise is that the Lions average returns were something like 1.5 yards less than their opponents.
The other irony was the predictability in the ST Liontamer (Mike Benevides) return game which with the new rules on blocking led to less production from his return guy.
Ian Smart may get better results with the pressure on to perform and win a job and fans will be happy. What a change like this can also bring is imminent disaster as a player coming in late in the season wants to prove they made the right decision and try and get that extra yard ergo a fumble ensues.
There are times to replace players and there are times to leave well enough alone. The question is whether the Lion tamer gets it right and Sunday we shall see.
I hadn't heard that Lockett was cut but if so that is not a surprise as Wally Buono has already axed Antonio Warren and Sam Young since the season began. I have no idea if Buono did this in Calgary or not, but it is proving to keep his Lion charges on edge.
It is a good thing that Buono has made it clear that last year with some unhappy people around that they will be gone. Last year with a number of unhappy guys popping off at times or the issues in the media at a whisper level - it was distracting to say the least. Especially at the end when their 11 and 0 record ended up in a melt down.