Talk came up about projected starters in a recent article and this position may have a larger impact on the season than some of the more true starter roles.

So at times last year I was hoping Coombs would have somebody stand beside Jalin to catch the punt then hand it to him. lol

The punt-returner is such a huge position IMO (thanks Tress), because you generally have an inverse ratio of ability and trust in any one player. When you put a player in the middle of the field by himself it is completely up to the tendencies of the individual to accomplish what you want. It may be an indescribable physiological phenomenon, but the guys with the better hands tend to have slower feet (maybe something to do with fast twitch vs. slow twitch muscle composition and its affect on hand-eye coordination) and the guys who are better in space with the ball in their hands are generally shitty catchers of the ball. The guys who know they are better in space also tend to take more risks to break that one last tackle once they have the ball. So, do you just want to manage the game and cash on that 3 and out? Or do you want to roll the dice and take advantage of the longest single play in a football game? It depends on the personnel you have.

So who do we know that has the ability? Dontre definitely has the home run potential, but I'm not sure about his hands. Torrance Gibson is a big play waiting to happen and you would kinda like to see the ball in his hands as much as possible IF he can get comfortable at a new place on the field. Then Parris Campbell is an "experienced" player that probably has that better mix of sure hands and mediocre big play ability. EGW could be an X-factor, as my retinas will never allow me to forget his punt return in the Army All-American game, even though I blinked and missed most of it. And then what about Malik Hooker?? He looks like he's the older brother in the backyard football game when he's returning an INT - simply unstoppable.

I've just gotta believe that with the amount of outside players we have on the roster (DB/WR), there has to be that one player who just understands the return game. Everybody remembers that guy on their adolescent football team - slow, big, not a physical specimen, but for whatever reason can bust the game wide open on a return. Traits that are favored during the return are 99% mental: vision, understanding of angles, ability to setup blocks, etc. So the guy who wins that responsibility may be very surprising to those on the outside, but I would like to see Urban be a little more aggressive in the return game.

My vote: start with more aggressive options that aren't true starters - Torrance first to see if he can handle it. Parris Campbell, IMO would get the second crack at it and he may never give the job back because he comes off as a risk-averse option. I would love to see multiple players get a chance on opening day just to see if there's anything special on the roster. I think EGW needs to get at least one chance on day 1, 3/4 of his highlight film were 80 yard TD returns. It seems that he was recruited here to have that type of role in special teams - at least initially.

Mod Edit: Forum title cleaned up to match the conversation, as it's as much about punts as it is kick returns.

This Mod Edit was brought to you by pure B1G speed.