Special teams

[Arky]

Seems like special teams has always been a bit of a downer with the Texans. I'm hoping with this regime change, that the powers that be take a hard look at all the special teams play.

Punting: Don't have too many complaints with punter Shane Lechler. He's a top 5 punter in some categories (total yards, avg., inside the 20). The only place he is really lacking is his punt return yardage avg of 12.3, 6th worst in the NFL. This can probably be attributed to poor coverage and crappy tackling, so not entirely his fault... Lechler is 37 so hopefully, he's got a few good years left.

Kicking: Newbie kicker Randy Bullock had a FG percentage of 74.3 (26/35) which places him approx 30th in the NFL. He was good inside the 40 going 13/13. Outside the 40 he was yippy only making 13 of 22 (1 of 5 from 50+). Good on extra points - 26/26. If he's the kicker on opening day, only time will tell if he gets it figured out.

Kickoff returns: Keshawn Martin took the bulk of the kickoff returns and was fairly decent to middle-of-the-pack at it. Roughly, he placed 13th with a 26.3 avg. among kick returners who had more than 10 kickoff returns. He was 4th in total yards (947) but the Texans were being kicked off to a lot last year. No TD's but only a handful of players (6 total) ran back kickoffs for TD's last year. Cordarelle Patterson of the Viking had 2.

Punt returns: Again, Keshawn Martin took bulk of the punt returns last year. He was 3rd in attempts (39), 6th in yards (345) but tied for 20th with an 8.8 avg (among those who had 10 or more attempts). He did have an 87 yard punt return TD in the Oakland game which helped his numbers immensely. Only 12 players had punt returns for TD's last year and Dexter McCluster of the KC Chiefs led the pack with 2. (For those wondering, Trindon Holliday had just 1 each kickoff return and punt return for a TD last year). Will be interesting to see which way the Texans go in this area...

Not sure how the Texans can improve in the special teams coverage/blocking/tackling depts. other than to coach 'em up better and use better/faster/smarter players. Obviously, some of the recent special teams players have been way down the depth chart fill-ins and not very good at it....

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Pop quiz:

Q: Who led the Texans in tackles last year?

A: Darryl Sharpton with 87 in 15 games. Mr. Sharpton is currently employed by the Washington Native Americans.

[HPF Bob]

Lechler: I think the yards per return does reflect, in part, how long his punts are. Punter A gets 40 yds/punt. Punter B gets 45 yds/punt. If Punter A's team gives up 7 YPR and Punter B's team gives up 10 YPR, the A's look like they have better special teams even though the B's tackled their man two yards further down the field (35 to 33).

Bulloch: I'm fine with giving him an extra year. He had the yips early and I think he had a disadvantage by having so few easy FG attempts those first few games. A lot of very good field goal kickers sucked with their first club and only found success with another team that was willing to be patient.

Martin: He seems to put up respectable numbers even though I am never impressed. He has neither top flight speed nor elusiveness. I want to see someone who can either outrun his opponents if given a seam or has enough wiggle to make guys miss in the open field. I hope O'Brien finds a better fit.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Lechler: I think the yards per return does reflect, in part, how long his punts are. Punter A gets 40 yds/punt. Punter B gets 45 yds/punt. If Punter A's team gives up 7 YPR and Punter B's team gives up 10 YPR, the A's look like they have better special teams even though the B's tackled their man two yards further down the field (35 to 33).

Bulloch: I'm fine with giving him an extra year. He had the yips early and I think he had a disadvantage by having so few easy FG attempts those first few games. A lot of very good field goal kickers sucked with their first club and only found success with another team that was willing to be patient.

Martin: He seems to put up respectable numbers even though I am never impressed. He has neither top flight speed nor elusiveness. I want to see someone who can either outrun his opponents if given a seam or has enough wiggle to make guys miss in the open field. I hope O'Brien finds a better fit.

Re: Lechler, ya, I believe you're speaking of the "net" yards per punt. Lechler was 14th in the NFL with a 40.0 net avg on punts. He does sometimes outkick his coverage but I think if he had faster guys and better coverage, it wouldn't happen so much... One of Lechler's great skills is his ability to hang a dead fish inside the 20 and often, inside the 10... The ball is usually fair caught or downed before it has a chance to go into the endzone....

I forgot to mention Bullock's kickoffs. He averaged 67.1 yards per kickoff which was 2nd best in the NFL. However, he was 28th in touchbacks. 29 of his 67 kickoffs were touchbacks. That is 43% which rated 23rd in the NFL. So, he was kicking them long but the return guys were running them out. Return guys got 25.8 yards per return on his kickoffs, 6th worst in the NFL. Poor coverage could be the culprit but in all fairness, there's just a few yards difference between 6th worst and say, 12th best. The good news is there weren't any return TD's from his kickoffs....

I agree about K Martin.

[Nconroe]

I don't know , I read somewhere that KMart has been timed as fast as 4.34, not sure that passes eye test .

I do think the biggest trouble on punt and kick coverage was the coverage calls or coverage guys, poor results on coverage.

If return team knows kick return will likely get to. 25 yard line then bring it out.

Right now have to believe this will be better in 2014.

Hopefully Bullock is better this year on over 40 yarder FGs.

[Arky]

Video - O'brien mic'ed up, running time 1:50

Eheh, note @ 1:08 O'Brien jacking with Keshawn Martin about running a 4.38....