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.