Gunner Olszewski

[ctpatsfan77]

He says it exactly as I described. You don't hear the "l" and "v" sounds?

Besides, I'm not guessing or playing it by ear, I'm telling you how the name is pronounced in Polish.

Well, you can tell GRONK he's pronouncing his name wrong, then.

I don't hear the /l/ or /v/, and even the Patriots media guide doesn't have them.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Watson could not beat out LaCosse or Izzo ... that's the story.

Gunner is a different story and his role is valuable to date ... stay tuned.

 

[Wax Frog]

I miss these guys, silent letters or not...

 

[luuked]

But seriously.....
Rookie
Fumbled once
Blowout games
Preservation

Lots of reasons for BB to manage the risk / reward of returning a punt

Agreed. Best thing to do when you are in control of the game in terms of score and pace is to reduce variance.

Take fewer risks on returns, give teams the short and intermediate area in exchange for being safer against deep completions, milk the clock.. and so on.

 

[Oswlek]

Well, you can tell GRONK he's pronouncing his name wrong, then.

I don't hear the /l/ or /v/, and even the Patriots media guide doesn't have them.

I'll have to take that up with Bob and Stacey. BRB.

(In all seriousness, I hear the sounds and I don't think I'm imagining them. I'm pretty sure his family uses the traditional pronunciation, unlike the Gronkowskis.)

 

[makoute]

People seem to forget how the Patriots brought Edelman along.
2009 11 games 37 rec 359 yds & 6 punt returns for 63 yds
2010 15 games 7 rec 86 yds & 21 punt returns for 321 yds
2011 13 games 4 rec 34 yds & 28 punt returns for 296 yds
2012 9 games 21 rec 235 yds & 17 punt returns for 263 yds

So why did we keep Edelman again?

That's 12 yds per punt return. That's something to work with.

 

[makoute]

Doesn’t being 1st in the league in punt returns 2nd in the league in yardage and 12th in average return yardage mean to are 1 of the top punt returners in the league?

Not when you are 12th in avg return yardage.

 

[DaBruinz]

Snide. I am watching but don’t recall him on ST other than PRs.

No. Legitimate question since you seem to be off in la-la land in regards to football in general, but particularly the Patriots. You're the same guy who claims that White and Michel are just OK "Average" RBs. So, you'll have to forgive everyone if they take your posts with a grain of salt. Especially when you start throwing out spin in an attempt to make yourself look intelligent.

My take on your comment is that you can't be bothered to actually watch all aspects of the game and you try and make up for it by asking others. And then you throw your little tantrum like you did in the Bills thread if someone calls you out for stupid comments.

 

[Sciz]

Punt return average is a weird thing. Should a returner call for a fair catch if he can only get three yards in order to maintain a higher average, or should he go get those three yards?

 

[DaBruinz]

Not when you are 12th in avg return yardage.

12th in "average return yardage" has a much to do with the blocking on the Punt Returns as it does the player running it back.

Opposing teams have punted to the Pats 38 times already. This has resulted in :
16 Returns for 137 yards with a long of 20.
13 Fair Catches.
2 TBs
4 downed
1 blocked.
2 OOB.

So, of the 33 possible Punts, Olszeski has returned just shy of 50% of them.

I've been very happy with him outside the one Fumble that resulted in the Jets TD.. Let's not pretend like Edelman has been perfect as a Punt Returner. And Edelman was one of the best the league has ever seen. .

 

[Nehalem]

Doesn’t being 1st in the league in punt returns 2nd in the league in yardage and 12th in average return yardage mean to are 1 of the top punt returners in the league?

Because that really has nothing to do with being a good punt returner.

The 12th in average return yardage is the best simple measure available. Obviously highly flawed with small sample size, and dependent on which punts returned as well as blocking.

In theory you would want something like a "punt return yards above expected" or some such measure.

 

[Nehalem]

Punt return average is a weird thing. Should a returner call for a fair catch if he can only get three yards in order to maintain a higher average, or should he go get those three yards?

This is actually an interesting question.

Obviously its better to get the 3 yards then not. Although, one would guess that a punt return where you can only get 3 yards probably has a high than average chance of a TO as well. So is risking a TO for 3 yards worth it?

 

[borg]

Because the NE defense has dominated the dregs of the NFL, Gunner is leading the NFL in punt returns (16) and second in yards

Conclusion: he’s tired

But seriously.....
Rookie
Fumbled once
Blowout games
Preservation

Lots of reasons for BB to manage the risk / reward of returning a punt

To emphasize just how good NE’s D has been, factor in the 12 turnovers created by the D which dramatically reduced the punting opportunities for opponents..... and still NE has been punted to more than any other team.

To flip the switch a bit, NE has punted 4th most ... and double the number of punts than many of the highest scoring teams in the league..... demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the NE offense for large portions of several games

 

[Tony Cahncuhd]

There are at least 32 punt returners in the NFL (more if some teams have multiple players doing it). Some people are making it sound like being the 12th out of 32 is bad. That's better than average. >62% of NFL punt returners are doing worse. Once he breaks a long one the numbers will look even better. That's nothing to sneeze at for an undrafted rookie. Could Jules do better? Probably. Do we want the wear and tear on him? I don't think so.

 

[patfanken]

We kept Edelman because he was the best punt returner in the NFL

If Gunner were one of the best punt returners, I too would be supporting the idea of keeping him on the 53.

EDIT: We are keeping Gunner to play ST's. He is on almost 1/2 of the ST reps. We have lost King and Develin for the season. Ebner, Chung and Burkhead have been playing injured. And yes, Edelman has been injured. Gunner seems safe for now as a special teamer.

That reminder by Bresna of Edelman's production from the start of Edelman's career, only points out how Julian was an overnight success, 4 years in the making.

When I first saw Gunner in preseason and compared him to Berrios, I noticed right away that Gunner seemed more "sudden" and quicker than Braxton. It wasn't surprising to me when Gunner became the 53rd man and not Braxton.

But SO FAR, here's what I have noticed about his play. He still looks "sudden" when he makes his cuts. He definitely has the ability to go from zero to 100% faster than most. HOWEVER, what he doesn't have is the kind of top end quickness (Edelman, DLewis, etc) that makes you both "sudden" AND evasive.

What it looks like that he DOES do well is to catch the ball smoothly and confidently, AND be decisive and sudden in selecting the vertical opening that will gain him the most initial yards. To me right now he looks like a competent NFL punt returner, but he isn't any Julian Edelman.

But he'll stick for now. I'm pretty sure the other ST he's on is the KO coverage, and he'll likely the #3 gunner on punt coverage....as well as the #5 WR. That's a pretty full plate for a kid who was a DB at Bemidji State last fall.

He's a limited and raw player right now who's main attributes are his attitude, fearlessness and versatility. But it would be a mistake to look at him at this moment and assume that this is all he is and he can't become more.

 

[Oswlek]

There are at least 32 punt returners in the NFL (more if some teams have multiple players doing it). Some people are making it sound like being the 12th out of 32 is bad. That's better than average. >62% of NFL punt returners are doing worse. Once he breaks a long one the numbers will look even better. That's nothing to sneeze at for an undrafted rookie. Could Jules do better? Probably. Do we want the wear and tear on him? I don't think so.

It also needs to be remembered that Julian was a running QB whose rookie skill set was very translatable to punt returns. So while they were both raw, Gunner is still making up ground even at that position.

 

[Angelpats]

He won’t last long with the way he is taking hits. The blocking, is a major factor into why he is 12th in return yards, he really needs that elusiveness Edelman has to avoid the big hits and the extra yards that comes with it.

 

[Double TE]

No. Legitimate question since you seem to be off in la-la land in regards to football in general, but particularly the Patriots. You're the same guy who claims that White and Michel are just OK "Average" RBs. So, you'll have to forgive everyone if they take your posts with a grain of salt. Especially when you start throwing out spin in an attempt to make yourself look intelligent.

My take on your comment is that you can't be bothered to actually watch all aspects of the game and you try and make up for it by asking others. And then you throw your little tantrum like you did in the Bills thread if someone calls you out for stupid comments.

White and Michel are average RBs. Yes, that is my opinion. Dion Lewis was exceptional with the Pats too and Shane Vereen was very good and both got contracts that outpaced their ability. Your Ad Hominems aside explain to me how an opinion may be wrong and in this thread many agreed with me on Gunner. Maybe I should look at ST more closely, hence the thread.

I think if Michel and White were in Cleveland playing with Baker Mayfield or in Jax or in Houston you would consider them average. Because they are in NE with Brady and Co., and they win they are viewed as above average then receive big contracts from other teams and guess what, play like average players.

Only stupid one around here, is you, little man.

 

[moosekill]

Not when you are 12th in avg return yardage.

12th out of what, 50 or 60 players who have returned punts? It is awesome to have the best player at every position, however it isn't feasible. 12th of course means 20 teams wish they had him.

 

[moosekill]

To flip the switch a bit, NE has punted 4th most ... and double the number of punts than many of the highest scoring teams in the league..... demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the NE offense for large portions of several games

Actually it doesn't actually show that. It shows that NE punted more. If NE allowed long sustained drives they wouldn't get the ball as much, and therefor couldn't punt as much. They are getting the ball a lot, lots and lots of 3 and outs, so even if they are converting a regular amount of drives, they will still punt the ball more than other teams.

Simply. If NE gets the ball 10 times in a game and punts 50% they punt 5 times. If they get the ball 20 times and punt 50% of the time they punt 10 times. It doesn't show how bad their offense is.