First look: Special Teams

It’s the one aspect of football that gets the least attention, the least respect, the least importance. Special teams play is considered by some as an afterthought.

 

The football, or a prolate spheroid to be technical, must be kicked off and punted. Says so right there in the rules book. Is that why it’s called FOOTball?

 

Can’t start a game or a half without a kickoff. The football must be punted (for the most part) if you do not gain the required number of yards in three downs.

 

Offense and defense are unquestionably the most important phases of the game, but special teams, while clearly well shy of the extreme spotlight, should not be snubbed. Think field position.

 

There weren’t many elements of the 2019 season to be sanguine about for the Browns. Special teams was not one of them.

 

The best coaching hire then General Manager John Dorsey made last year brought Cleveland-born Mike Priefer back home after an eight-year stint as special teams boss in Minnesota. He is the son of Chuck Priefer, a native of Parma, a John Carroll alum and a well-traveled football coach.

 

After declining last season to continue as special teams boss with the Vikings, he opted instead to take over a special teams program in Cleveland that scraped the bottom of the rankings in that category.

 

Priefer inherited a 30^th-ranked group and his impact was almost immediate. The Browns’ special teams last season leaped to 14^th, according to the rankings of Rick Gosselin, whose annual ratings are the most respected in the industry.

 

Gosselin, a retired 47-year sportswriter (mostly professional football), reaches his conclusions based on 22 categories encompassing kicks, punts and defense of those actions. He ranked the Browns second in opponent’s starting point (23.1-yard line) and fourth in opponent’s field goal percentage (70%).

 

One of the most important statistics that catches a head coach’s attention is field position. Position of the football to begin a drive often dictates strategy and tactics, both offensively and defensively.

 

Pinning the opposing offense as close to its goal line as possible with a punt at the start of a possession is a major goal. Avoiding that situation is equally important. You do not want to start a drive in the shadow of the goalposts.

 

That’s where special teams come into play. Always try to shorten the field for the offense when on the receiving end and lengthen it for the defense when surrendering possession of the ball.

 

One of Priefer’s first moves last season was handing the starting jobs of placekicker and punter to rookies, a gamble that paid off nicely.

 

Austin Seibert converted a respectable 25 of 29 field-goal attempts (86.2%), missing thrice from 40-49 yards and once from 50+. He strangely had more success kicking field goals than extra points. The squat kicker – he’s 5-9 and 211 pounds – missed five points after (85.7%).

 

Jamie Gillan is a long-haired, left-footed former rugby player whose training camp performance last summer convinced Priefer that veteran punter Britton Colquitt would look better in the uniform of another National Football League team (Minnesota).

 

The aptly named Scottish Hammer with the left foot of Thor averaged an impressive 46.2 yards (42.3-yard net average) for his 63 boots, of which only 20 were returned for a paltry 151 yard, A respectable 28 landed inside the opponent’s 20 and he was 10^th overall in gross average, 13^th in net.

 

There are two elements of note with regard to kicking and punting: Coverage and the return game. Both are key to the aforementioned field position.

 

Last season, the Browns finished 17^th in the league in punt coverage at 7.55 yards a game and fifth in kickoff coverage at 20.37 yards. It’s the return game that needs help, ranking 20^th last season with 21.84 yards a game on kickoffs and 16^th with 7.09 yards on punts.

 

To that end, General Manager Andrew Berry signed return specialist JoJo Natson, The 5-7, 153-pounder, listed as a wide receiver, has bounced around the NFL the last three seasons. He will be challenged by incumbents Dontrell Hilliard, D’Ernest Johnson and Tavierre Thomas and rookie wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones.

 

One last thought. Prefer, who has been coaching special teams in the NFL since 2002, is the only coach on Kevin Stefanski’s staff besides the head coach himself who talks with all the payers because special teams involves the entire team in some way, shape or form, especially those not good enough to play on a regular basis.

Next: Overall picture on offense