Refugee Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 1 minute ago, mtsportsfan1 said: Would love to know what took so long to move on from Amari , maybe we wouldn't be do or die in the last game , the return game has seemed to really give this team a jolt ! When Nixon was asked about it he gave a diplomatic answer saying sometimes there are bigger picture things going on and the decision doesn’t always come down to one person. I read between the lines as that saying the management wanted to give their 3rd rounder every chance to step it up and justify his spot. The thing is, Nixon was not a returner in high school, college or the pros so it’s not like we were dealing with a known talent. What he is is a physical talent from a size/speed/slipperiness who has played a lot of special teams so knows what is needed out there. Hanging on to Amari looks bad now but no one could have predicted what we’re seeing now. I don’t even believe it’s sustainable but let’s keep the party going as long as we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsportsfan1 Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 1 minute ago, Refugee said: When Nixon was asked about it he gave a diplomatic answer saying sometimes there are bigger picture things going on and the decision doesn’t always come down to one person. I read between the lines as that saying the management wanted to give their 3rd rounder every chance to step it up and justify his spot. The thing is, Nixon was not a returner in high school, college or the pros so it’s not like we were dealing with a known talent. What he is is a physical talent from a size/speed/slipperiness who has played a lot of special teams so knows what is needed out there. Hanging on to Amari looks bad now but no one could have predicted what we’re seeing now. I don’t even believe it’s sustainable but let’s keep the party going as long as we can. Very plausible , thanks . But don't u think that saw anything during practice , I mean Biaccia had him on special teams last year with the raiders, but your probably right that they wanted their 3rd round pick to do something , hopefully it doesn't cost us if they didn't do this earlier . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zycho32 Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 56 minutes ago, mtsportsfan1 said: Very plausible , thanks . But don't u think that saw anything during practice , I mean Biaccia had him on special teams last year with the raiders, but your probably right that they wanted their 3rd round pick to do something , hopefully it doesn't cost us if they didn't do this earlier . I doubt Nixon was really on any coach's radar as a prospective returner due to that utter lack of experience, which totally shows in Nixon's still embryonic sense of fundamentals. Returners try not to take kickoffs deep in their end zone(actually seeing Nixon take a touchback last game was a shocker), they don't come at one-hoppers on a dead run, they don't generally eschew the Fair Catch when a gunner's zeroing in on them... I mean Nixon's a Heart Attack on virtually any return. His main experience at ST in the NFL is as a gunner/wingblocker, and he was an excellent #2 in that department early in the season alongside Rudy Ford, and then upgraded to top gunner after Ford got elevated to the starting lineup. That's what Bisaccia knew him as going in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refugee Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 2 hours ago, Zycho32 said: I doubt Nixon was really on any coach's radar as a prospective returner due to that utter lack of experience, which totally shows in Nixon's still embryonic sense of fundamentals. Returners try not to take kickoffs deep in their end zone(actually seeing Nixon take a touchback last game was a shocker), they don't come at one-hoppers on a dead run, they don't generally eschew the Fair Catch when a gunner's zeroing in on them... I mean Nixon's a Heart Attack on virtually any return. His main experience at ST in the NFL is as a gunner/wingblocker, and he was an excellent #2 in that department early in the season alongside Rudy Ford, and then upgraded to top gunner after Ford got elevated to the starting lineup. That's what Bisaccia knew him as going in. I think the green light to take it out is straight from the coach. He has been preaching staying aggressive, for every time you get taken down at the15, hopefully you get another one at least to the 35 and give yourself a chance for a big one. Even with Rodgers you could see they wanted him to take it. He was clearly not comfortable with that and Nixon has crazy confidence bordering on foolhardy. I hope there is some balance depending on the situation, I don’t mind a touchback every now and then. After seeing the fallout of tonight’s tragedy, I wonder how long the kickoff will be in the game. It’s the play with the most potential for a high speed hit with both sides running completely in the opposing direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svp Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 I want more gadget plays. Not ones that don't work but ones that do work. Like the Tim Mathsay fumble forward or the Quarelless fake kick. People like surprises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemike778 Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 On 1/3/2023 at 12:19 AM, mtsportsfan1 said: Very plausible , thanks . But don't u think that saw anything during practice , I mean Biaccia had him on special teams last year with the raiders, but your probably right that they wanted their 3rd round pick to do something , hopefully it doesn't cost us if they didn't do this earlier . He probably wasn't returning kicks in practice - if he has never done at any other level then you probably wouldn't be wasting reps on some random like Nixon having a go. Given how dangerous kick returns are health wise - how many full speed/impact returns do we do in practice ? Probably not enough to give many to players not in the mix for doing it in a game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemike778 Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Obviously Amari - bad returner Nixon - good returner But aside from that, how much of this is the blocking on returns ? Its so rare to get long returns - generally speaking (until this year), virtually every time you saw a long kick return in a game (not just our games), it was followed by yellow flags. The exception of course being teams returning against us. Nixon clearly is good but how much of it is the blocking ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 1 hour ago, mikemike778 said: Obviously Amari - bad returner Nixon - good returner But aside from that, how much of this is the blocking on returns ? Its so rare to get long returns - generally speaking (until this year), virtually every time you saw a long kick return in a game (not just our games), it was followed by yellow flags. The exception of course being teams returning against us. Nixon clearly is good but how much of it is the blocking ? Wild it could be beginners luck, his cuts, died and decision making seem predinatural Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zycho32 Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 5 hours ago, mikemike778 said: Obviously Amari - bad returner Nixon - good returner But aside from that, how much of this is the blocking on returns ? Its so rare to get long returns - generally speaking (until this year), virtually every time you saw a long kick return in a game (not just our games), it was followed by yellow flags. The exception of course being teams returning against us. Nixon clearly is good but how much of it is the blocking ? I would say blocking accounts for a portion of the improvement. If you wanna go into bull[BLEEP] percentage numbers, I'd put it at say, thirty percent or so. The blocking's generally more disciplined, but in the case of Amari, it didn't matter much because the dude lacked burst and seemed to be the slowest guy on the field once the defenders converged. Once Nixon took over, it was like going from 0-60 in 3.5(now shut up and drive), which made the blocking look even better because defenders were being attacked far sooner than before, much like how a typically fast boxer meets a faster opponent and instead of dictating the pace, he's forced to be defensive and counter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incognito_man Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 4 hours ago, Sandy said: Wild it could be beginners luck, his cuts, died and decision making seem predinatural preternatural I got u 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 2 hours ago, incognito_man said: preternatural I got u I was wondering why my phone didn't recognize it was a word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 29 minutes ago, Sandy said: I was wondering why my phone didn't recognize it was a word Well at least for a while you got to believe you were smarter than your phone's dictionary! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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