It is obviously Fleck’s choice, because “more games are lost than won.” Chance of a poor return or a fumble outweighs freebie to the 25 yard line? Kickoffs have marginally better hang time now (less free space before coverage hits)? But a good KO return is a field flipper just like a great punt. It takes a special guy to return KOs. In last decade or so, Troy Stodermire, Jalen Myrick, Marcus Jones, Rodney Smith—all changed the complexion of many a game. We just don’t do that anymore.
Interesting contrast: We have Dragan kick touchbacks whenever possible because of the perceived threat posed by a good KO return by our opponent. But, on the flip side, we don’t consider a KO return by the Gophers to pose a threat to the other team; we consider it to be a latent Gopher liability. I’d say PJ is double conservative on this count. Might be a personnel issue, too. Many teams use a key starter or a unique, freaky athlete for KO returns. We don’t.
Punt returns are a different matter. I can see not returning them. But if we are never going to return them, why not put two guys back, one short—one deep, so we didn’t have so many unfielded punts hit ground a roll another 15 yards?
Maybe communication problems in a noisy stadium militate against two returners. But the way we play punts costs us a lot of valuable field position in some games.
