Sunday, August 26, 2007

RIVALS ranks Special Teams

Our good friends at Rivals (actually, we don't even know the guys) have been making our jobs easy and ranking the Top Special Teams Players. They've updated their list and it's not that bad, honestly.

Yes, you'll see that Special Teams includes punters and kickers, thankfully no deep snappers, and no gunners. Of course, the part that we care about is the punt returners.

Yes, they hit the obvious ones- DeSean Jackson, Felix Jones, Sammie Stroughter- but they hit some great stories in there as well, such as:

Jeremy Trimble @ Army. This kid gets 1 guaranteed TV game a year. The Navy game is his chance on the big stage, but it's only about a week before the Heisman is decided. Besides, it's always great to be able to talk about the history of the Army program and wax poetically about Michie Field and the Black Knights of the Hudson. Usually TV folks are talking about some kid that is there to go one to be a career army officer and happens to play ball. The fact that Trimble is dangerous is great because it means that TV broadcasters won't be patronizing him when they talk about how much heart and talent he has.

Marcus Thipgen @ Indiana. The late Terry Hoepner was spot on with this talent. Yes, the Hoosiers are on TV-- but usually only when playing Michigan, Ohio State or Penn State. This program hasn't produced a winning season in 12 years (and even that was a 6-5 1994), so it's not like their players get a lot of looks. Still, Thigpen has the chance to take it to the house on every kickoff.

Parrish Cox @ Oklahoma State. Cox was a big blue chipper out of Waco, TX last year and he made impacts in the special teams. Mike Gundy has been landing quality recruiting classes in Stillwater, and one has to wonder if Cox will continue to play on special teams as he logs more time on the field. Just like Cox benefited from playing on special teams last year, Star Signees WR Dex Bryant or CB William Cole could get the chance to return kicks.

But my question is why no mention of Brandon Tate? The JR WR at UNC is a proven returner--he holds single season and career school marks for touchdown returns for scores and is one of only 9 players in the NCAA HISTORY to score on both a kickoff and punt return in the same game (vs Duke last year).

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