Dustin Colquitt question...

[GoVolsDogg]

I've been doing some thinking lately, and I can't seem to figure this out...

Last year, were there a time that a punt returner dropped the ball due to Colquitt's punt? NFL scouts are saying that he has this uncanny ability to punt a knuckleball type abll that is incredibly difficult for returners to field, but I'm having trouble remembering him doing that last year.

Anyone recall a time where the returner dropped a punt due to Colquitt? Or at least how many time he created a funble?

 

[vols2345]

I know the one aginst Miami two years ago was enough fo rme to think he is the greatest punter ever.

 

[GoVolsDogg]

Originally posted by vols2345@Jun 23, 2005 4:05 PM
I know the one aginst Miami two years ago was enough fo rme to think he is the greatest punter ever.

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That is right, but I'm trying to think of last year and if he caused any fumbles.

 

[utvolpj]

It was also kicked left-footed. This spins the ball opposite of what every returner is used to. It really becomes difficult to judge a ball spinning away from its normal direction. I never heard about the knuckle ball though.

 

[milohimself]

Originally posted by utvolpj@Jun 23, 2005 1:37 PM
It was also kicked left-footed.  This spins the ball opposite of what every returner is used to.  It really becomes difficult to judge a ball spinning away from its normal direction.  I never heard about the knuckle ball though.

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Or the toe knuckle ball...

 

[holdemvol]

Originally posted by utvolpj@Jun 23, 2005 3:37 PM
It was also kicked left-footed.  This spins the ball opposite of what every returner is used to.  It really becomes difficult to judge a ball spinning away from its normal direction.  I never heard about the knuckle ball though.

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They say the same thing about Craig Hentrich of the titans. Apparently it is very difficult to judge.

 

[Peanut]

I'm kind-of a newbie, i have been a member for a few months but this is my first post.

I don't know if it was because of his kick or not but I do remember a fumbled punt in the Cotton Bowl. I heard about his ability to kick the knuckle several times last season by broadcasters.

 

[IBleedOrange24/7]

I believe its mostly caused by his left foot punting.
Most teams like to prepare their returners for this, but its difficult unless the team has a really good left foot punter.

You'd have to imagine as a return man, it wouldnt be the first thought, until it bounces out of your hands.
On the knuckle ball notion, Ive heard it called that. Some of his punts looked as if not to rotate or tumble, just fly through the air with an awkward angle. Maybe where that came from?

 

[GoVolsDogg]

Makes sense, there was an article yesterday from the KC Chiefs training camp overview, they said that Colquitt had a knuckle type punt to his kicks, so much that Daunte Hall and Eddie Kennison couldn't control them.

Daunte Hall said he even tried using gameday concentration on the ball, and he was still dropping them and fielding them wrong.

 

[IBleedOrange24/7]

WOW! :thumbsup:
From a return man like him thats GREAT!
Id love to see Colquitt a rookie pro-bowl punter, and we just might.
Hope his lil brother has the same knack.

 

[GoVolsDogg]

Originally posted by IBleedOrange24/7@Jun 23, 2005 6:36 PM
WOW! :thumbsup: 
From a return man like him thats GREAT!
Id love to see Colquitt a rookie pro-bowl punter, and we just might.
Hope his lil brother has the same knack.

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here's the article;


Colquitt could kick Chiefs’ punting woes

By ADAM TEICHER
Kansas City Star

The high, arching punts of rookie Dusty Colquitt were an offseason delight for the Chiefs. His kicks gave them reason to believe their punting problems of recent years are finished.

But the show doesn’t end when Colquitt’s kicks begin their journey back to earth. They inevitably do a dance that leaves returners staggering just to make a clean catch, much less bust loose for long yardage.

Colquitt’s kicks consistently baffled even veteran and sure-handed returners such as Dante Hall and Eddie Kennison. In offseason practices, both players fought Colquitt’s punts with all they had.

They had little success. Their attempts to field the kicks were a collection of drops, fingertip grabs, last-second lunges and belated efforts to merely get out of the way of the falling ball.

“Dante dropped one every day, and Dante never drops one,” coach Dick Vermeil said. “This is the first time he’s ever had problems. He told me he’s been using his game-day concentration and he was still having problems.”

That’s just the sort of mayhem the Chiefs had in mind when they drafted Colquitt near the end of the third round. One of the biggest reasons was returners’ inability to get a consistent grip on his punts.

“We saw it when we watched him in college,” said special teams coach Frank Gansz Jr. “A lot of returners were mishandling his punts. I stood under a few of them when I went to work him out. I’ve seen a lot of punts, but this guy’s punts move around a lot.”

It’s a new and exciting phenomenon for the Chiefs, who have gone through a dizzying collection of mediocre punters since Vermeil arrived in 2001.

It’s nothing new for Colquitt, who as Gansz indicated was tough to catch in college at Tennessee.

“I know that if guys are catching my punts and they’re not having much problem with them, there’s something in my technique that I need to tweak,” Colquitt said. “I kind of have a different way of doing things than most punters. I hold the ball at a little bit of an angle. I tilt the nose up a little bit, and when the ball gets to its peak, it doesn’t really turn over. That makes it a difficult ball to catch.”

Colquitt is left-footed. Left-footed punts rotate differently and take some getting used to.

“But that doesn’t explain all of it, because we’ve played against lefties before,” Gansz said. “It’s not like that kind of guy is new to us. Both Eddie and Dante have great ball skills. They know how to handle lefties.”

Colquitt also generally gets good hang time on his punts.

“Any time you see a ball up that high and there’s any kind of wind at all, it’s going to do some pretty funny things,” Gansz said. “The returner spends a lot of time first of all just trying to figure out whether he’s going to catch the thing.

“It’s definitely going to be an advantage for him and for us. A turnover in the kicking game is always huge.”

Running back Sam Gado had the misfortune of being sent back as the returner during the Chiefs’ spring rookie camp. The poor fellow had no idea what he was in for.

“I don’t know what it is about his punts,” Gado said. “It just hangs up in the air so high that it’s hard to adjust. You almost lose your bearings a little bit. You just can’t get a good grasp or a good feel for where it’s going to land. I was back there for about 10 or 12 of his punts. The first eight or nine, I dropped every single one of them.”

That shook Gado’s confidence as a returner. It lasted until the Chiefs began a series of full-squad practice sessions.

Now he knows his problems had more to do with Colquitt instead.

“At first, I thought it was just me,” Gado said. “But then I saw Dante Hall and Eddie Kennison having problems with it. That made me feel a lot better.”

 

[LadyinOrange]

Originally posted by Peanut@Jun 23, 2005 4:14 PM
I'm kind-of a newbie, i have been a member for a few months but this is my first post.

I don't know if it was because of his kick or not but I do remember a fumbled punt in the Cotton Bowl. I heard about his ability to kick the knuckle several times last season by broadcasters.

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Hi Peanut!! Welcome to the board!

:wavey:

 

[Vol67]

Remember Colquitt was hurt for most of the season last year.